Health prevention: psycho-physiological effect of traditional breathing exercises on stress Management

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Title: Health prevention: psycho-physiological effect of traditional breathing exercises on stress Management
Directors: Sophie BERTHOUZE, Lin LI & Marceau CHENAULT
Discipline: Health studies
Status: Incubating Project
Starting date: 2020

Directors

Summary

 

Purpose

The aim of this research is to observe the impact of a regular training with mind-body breathing techniques (from meditation, Chinese qigong and Indian yoga) on the self-management of stress, on group of young students, for the first years, and elderly groups in the second year. 

Context of the research project

In May 2019, Marceau Chenault was invited at the Faculty of STAPS Lyon1, to give a conference about "Traditional Chinese somatic techniques", in the curriculum program of Somatic Education. Marceau Chenault and Sophie Berthouze met then and start to exchange about their research interest about Asian traditional exercises and health prevention, well-being and stress management. After exchanging ideas for a research program to evaluate the impact of breathing techniques, Marceau Chenault and Gao Qiang decide to develop further this project with another colleague of ECNU, Pr. Lin.

Research topic

  • Anthropological studies of the diffusion on Asian mind-body breathing techniques like meditation, qigong and yoga describe various elements to explain the contemporary integration of those techniques in Western Fitness and Medicine: political and cultural interests of Asian nations to globalize their inheritance (Van Der Veer, 2007; Alter 2006), social and new spiritual movements at the end of the 20th century (Palmer, 2005), well-being needs of industrialised countries (Brown and Leledaki, 2010; Liogier, 2009), the development of autonomous and personal health management (Andrieu, 2012) and the current wish of Western patients and doctors to complement biomedicine with non-conventional traditional medicine. This study will help us to describe contemporary representations of young students and later elderly people about those traditional movement breathing techniques.
  • About psycho-physiological perspectives, the increase of scientific publications show that breathing techniques based on meditation, qigong or meditation can have positive impact on reducing anxiety (Cicek, 2017), chronic pain for older adults (Mornone, 2007), reduction of pain and cardiac activity, psycho-physiological stress-reduction (Forbes and Pekala, 1993).
  • But few studies show also that these impact are often not enough significative and should have further development (Chen, 2016; Lee MS, 2011). We postulate that in most of the studies, the teaching-learning program of movement breathing techniques is not well adapted and therefore not designed for educational process. That something we would like to improve and test in our research program.

 

Subject(s)