Body-mind Interactions in Arts, Health, Literatures and Sciences:
Asian & Indo-Oceanian Perspectives

Asia Week –5^th-8^th November 2024

     The Body-mind Interactions in Arts, Health, Literatures and Sciences: Asian & Indo-Oceanian Perspectives symposium will be held at Kyushu University (Fukuoka, Japan) as a research activity included in the 2024 Asia Week. The symposium is one of the first major milestones of the cross-disciplinary Well-Being with Arts research project, active from March 2024 at Kyushu University Institute for Asian and Oceanian Studies (Q-AOS).

Through interventional research based on body-mind practices, the Well-Being with Arts (WBA) research module aims at studying and promoting the benefits of mindful holistic practices with arts or perceived as arts (in the broad sense of performance, sound, text, visual arts, arts of balance, Ways) for a better emotional, spiritual, psychological and physical health, and at providing tools for affected people to process challenging times – e.g. the Covid-19 shockwave or eco-anxiety. The goal is to highlight the multimodal roles of arts in this process and to assess the benefits of the practice of arts of balance, e.g. yoga and meditation, for more peacefulness, relaxation and sense of coherence.

Thus, in this view, well-being is perceived as a subjective conception (relationships, self-love, aesthetic sense, imagination, inner richness, environmental connection…), whose value has long been neglected at the benefit of well-being perceived as an objective conception (prosperity, goods, consumption…). Common nowadays in sociology and health studies, this distinction already appeared in Ancient Greece philosophy. In Gorgias, Plato shows that eudaimonia (the feeling of happiness) cannot only focus on the pursuit of the satisfaction of pleasure: physical and material gratifications are also associated with a mental reflexivity. In Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, well-being is highlighted as subjective and said to be found through peace of mind and life balance. It is a flourishing of the mind and a mental activity. Nonetheless, even if contemplation is needed to reach well-being, Aristotle underscores the fact that this state of mind can only be accompanied by a physical state, e.g. fulfilment of the senses and physical desire, which can also be found in Plato’s Philebus evocation of a mixed life (Guibet Lafaye, 2007).

In traditional East Asian medicine, as described in The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine, human beings are seen as a balanced unity of interconnected elements tying body and mind (Ohashi, 1991): a healer, perceived as being capable of analyzing the body like a piece of music drawn by an orchestra, should know that “a symptom indicates physical, psychological, and spiritual characteristics” (Ohashi, 1991, p. 9). Ohashi adds that: “Oriental diagnosis and healing is an art. More precisely, it is a spiritual practice. It is learning to foster the quality and art of life” (1991, p. 13). This relationship between the body and the mind is a dynamic life force, called ki in Japan, chi in China, prana in India. When unbalanced, it calls for restorative practice. “This balance is a dynamic equilibrium that is appropriate and specifically possible in the particular circumstance and development phase of a person’s life” (Kaptchuk, 2000, p. 19) – i.e. there is no notion of ‘normality’, only individual-based adaptation.

In biomedicine and psychology, studies have shown that a sustained and regular sport practice was beneficial for the mood, had an impact on behavior, and increased overall happiness and life satisfaction (Fujiwara, Kudrna & Dolan, 2014; Wheatley & Bickerton, 2017), especially during the Covid-19 pandemic (Brand et al., 2020, as cited in Budișan, Cosma & Chifu, 2023). Research highlights the fact that mental well-being is connected to physical well-being, enhancing aspects of life such as a better positive thinking, expression of emotions, self-esteem, sleep and resilience to stress (Budișan, Cosma & Chifu, 2023; Lades et al., 2020, as cited in Budișan, Cosma & Chifu, 2023).

Trying to bring together clinical trials with modern criteria and traditional East Asian medicine, Ted J. Kaptchuk writes that “the perceptions of the two traditions reflect two different worlds” in the same way as Michel Foucault perceived the medical system impacting the healer’s gaze through ages; Kaptchuk nevertheless adds that “both can affect and often heal human beings regardless of their cultural affectation” (2000, p. 3). Yet very few studies focus on a transcultural and integrative body-mind approach (mainly from Asian and Indo-Oceanian perspectives) of subjective well-being through practising the arts of balance and experiencing artworks. This perspective has been permitted by a major increase of studies in the field of art-therapy in the last two decades (Fancourt & Finn, 2019). It has also been allowed by recent dialogues between Eastern and Western traditions regarding cross-cultural and body-mind relationships, despite the complexities involved in establishing standardized measurements and a common taxonomy, further compounded by the separation between academic fields (Hanley, Mehling & Garland, 2017).

      In line with the WBA project, the Body-mind Interactions symposium will be devoted to two main transversal and intersecting research axes:

1) The first research axis will investigate the field of body-mind practices and of holistic theories (especially Asian and Indo-Oceanian, but we also consider comparative approaches with other regions in the world), from both a quantitative and qualitative viewpoint. Such practices and theories insist on the fact that the audience may benefit from a specific atmosphere, an imaginative experience and an emotional response, reconnecting body and mind as a whole, and fostering a sense of being immersed in (engagement level) and/or transcending the here and now. In addition, they show a considerable degree of cross-cultural influences and circulations, and their actual and potential impact on the global well-being should not be underestimated by the research community. Indeed, the World Health Organization (WHO) indicates that very little has been made in a cross-cultural direction, despite numerous studies (more than 3000 in the last two decades in Europe) on the role of arts and holistic practices as a way to prevent, to manage and to treat for better health and well-being, e.g. regarding the effects of stress and anxiety (Gard et al., 2014; Sharma & Rush, 2014; Cahn et al., 2017; Fancourt & Finn, 2019; Budd, 2020).

2) The second research axis will address the field of arts, either material and/or experiential, transcending cultural boundaries and taken in the broad sense of performance, sound, text, visual arts, arts of balance, Ways. The aim is to investigate how the experience of art – especially considering its performative and transformative effects – contributes to increasing well-being within a specific social, material and/or natural environment. The symposium will encourage a study of these kinds of artworks – from literature to music to performance – aiming at creating new “forms of life” (Leibovici, 2012), sometimes able to trigger a “re-enchantment of the world” through the “transformative potential of performance” and its power to convert “binary oppositions” into “dynamic gradations” and “liminal experiences” (Fischer-Lichte, 2008, pp. 190-204). The performative power of such artworks may also highlight and enhance our embodied experience of space, tying together perception, cognition and the experience of the ‘environment’ as a rich and dynamic circulation of diverse and interrelated processes (Goatly, 2021).

 

In order to submit a proposal, please consider the following topics of interest:

 

●      Empirical investigations on the body-mind interactions based on cognitive, psychological, psychiatric, neuroscientific, biomedical disciplines, but also on sport and health disciplines. We encourage a transversal and holistic approach to shed light on the links between holistic practices, their ‘informal’ theories, and their measurable effects on the practitioner.

 

●       Interdisciplinary research on the therapeutic values of arts and holistic practices, especially based on specific case studies possibly carried out within the Asian & Indo-Oceanian cultural context, or with a comparative approach.

 

●  Anthropological/sociological/historical research on relevant holistic practices, such as yoga, meditation and kikô (Okinawan Qigong). Insights on the cross-cultural community engagement that these practices may foster are particularly welcomed, together with a focus on the cultural circulations, connections and influences between Asia, Indo-Oceania and other regions in the world.

 

●     Aesthetical reflections or case studies that foreground the performative and “transformative power of art” (Fischer-Lichte, 2018, p. 2), with a special concern for multimodality. Whether literature, music, performance or another type of art, the focus should be on the power of art to trigger an event that engages and re-orients the audience’s body-mind as a whole, both individually and collectively.

 

●      Specific research on the literary text considered as an interplay of fictional and performative elements. Reception studies, stylistic, cognitive and embodied approaches are encouraged, in order to investigate how the reading experience is modelled on and affects the body-mind relationship, eventually augmenting our experience of the world.

 

To apply for a presentation, please send via email a single pdf file in English including a short abstract of your paper proposal (max 200 words) and an academic bio (max 100 words) that explains your scholarly background. The envisioned length of papers is 20 minutes, followed by a discussion. The preferred language is English, but papers delivered in Japanese and French might also be accepted. The event is planned on-site; however, online presentation and attendance will also be possible. Participation in this conference is free. We plan to publish the proceedings in a scientific journal with peer-review.

 

Please email your proposal to both of the following addresses:

●      clonts.charlene.248@m.kyushu-u.ac.jp

●      lorenzo.cardilli@polimi.it

 

Proposal deadline: June 30^th

Acceptance notification after peer-review: July 15^th

2024 Symposium: November 5^th-8^th

Article submission deadline: January 30^th 2025

 

WBA project website : https://wbaresearchproject.com/

Kyushu University Q-AOS research clusters : https://q-aos.kyushu-u.ac.jp/cluster/health/5596/

 

 

References:

Aristotle (2011). Nicomachean Ethics. University of Chicago Press.

Ballesteros-Leiva, F., Poilpot-Rocaboy, G. & St-Onge, S. (2016). Relationships between life-domain interactions and well-being: a comparison between men and women. @GRH, 19. Editions Association de gestion des ressources humaines, pp. 65-96. https://doi.org/10.3917/grh.162.0065

Budd K. (2020). Mindfulness, Meditation, and Yoga. In The Handbook of Wellness Medicine, Ishak, W.W. (Ed.). Cambridge University Press, pp. 345-356.

Budișan, R., Cosma, S. & Chifu I. (2023). Analysing the effect of body, mind and soul state on subjective well-being during Covid-19 pandemic. Studies in Business and Economies, 18 (1), pp. 54-68.

Cahn, B.R., Goodman, M.S., Peterson, C.T., Maturi, R., Mills, P.J. (2017). Yoga, meditation and mind-body health: increased BDNF, cortisol awakening response, and altered inflammatory marker expression after a 3-month yoga and meditation retreat. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 11(315), pp. 1-13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00315

Fancourt, D. & Finn, S. (2019). What is the evidence on the role of arts in improving health and well-being? A Scoping Review. Copenhagen: WHO Regional Office for Europe, Health evidence network synthesis report, 67. https://iris.who.int/handle/10665/329834

Fischer-Lichte, E. (2008). The Transformative Power of Performance. A new aesthetics. London-New York: Routledge.

Fischer-Lichte, E. (2018). Introduction: Transformative Aesthetics—reflections on the metamorphic power of art. In Transformative Aesthetics, Fischer-Lichte, E., Wihstutz, B. (Eds.). London-New York: Routledge, pp. 1-25.

Fujiwara, D., Kudrna, L. & Dolan, P. (2014). Quantifying and Valuing the Wellbeing Impacts of Culture and Sport. London: Department for Culture, Media and Sport. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/quantifying-and-valuing-the-wellbeing-impacts-of-culture-and-sport

Gard, T., Noggle, J.J., Park, C.L., Vago, D.R., Wilson, A. (2014). Potential self-regulatory mechanisms of yoga for psychological health. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 8(770), pp. 1-20. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00770

Goatly, A. (2021). Ecology, physics, process philosophies, Buddhism, Daoism, and language: A case study of William Golding’s The Inheritors and Pincher Martin. Journal of World Languages, 7(1), pp. 1-25. https://doi.org/10.1515/jwl-2021-0002

Guibet Lafaye, C. (2007). Bien-être. In Dictionnaire du corps, Marzano, M. (Ed.). Paris: PUF, pp. 127-131.

Hanley, A., Mehling, W. & Garland E. (2017). Holding the body in mind: Interoceptive awareness, dispositional mindfulness and psychological well-being. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 99, pp. 13-20. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2017.05.014

Kaptchuk, T.J. (2000). The Web that has no weaver. New-York: McGraw-Hill.

Leibovici, F. (2012). (Des Formes de vie): une écologie des pratiques artistiques. Aubervilliers: Les Laboratoires d’Aubervilliers / Paris: Questions théoriques.

Ohashi, W. (1991). Reading the body. Ohashi’s book of oriental diagnosis. New-York: Penguin Books.

Plato (1998). Gorgias. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

Plato (1993). Philebus. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company.

Sharma, M. & Rush, S. (2014). Mindfulness-based stress reduction as a stress management intervention for healthy individuals: A systematic review. Journal of Evidence-based Complementary & Alternative Medicine, 19(4), pp. 271-286. https://doi.org/10.1177/2156587214543143

Stinson, J. (2024). Global Happiness. A 30-country Global Advisory Survey. IPSOS Knowledge Center. https://www.ipsos.com/en/global-happiness-2024

Wheatley, D. & Bickerton, C. (2017). Subjective well-being and engagement in arts, culture and sport. Journal of Cultural Economics, 41, pp. 23-45. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10824-016-9270-0

 

 

Authors: Associate Prof. Lorenzo Cardilli (PhD.) & Associate Prof. Charlène Clonts (PhD.)