Home | Sitemap | Contact | 中文 | CAS
Search: 
About Us
Research
Scientists
International Cooperation
News
Education & Training
Join Us
Societies & Publications
Papers
Resources
Location:Home>Research>Research Progress
 
Scientists Identify Effects of Tai Chi Chuan Practice on Mindfulness Level
 
Author: Dr. WEI Gao-xia      Update time: 2021/04/27
Close
Text Size: A A A
Print

Mindfulness, a psychological concept that originated from Buddhism with a long history, emphasizes present moment awareness, focus on purpose, and non-judgmental thinking. It is well established that mindfulness-based interventions are beneficial for alleviating stress and improving psychological well-being. Tai Chi Chuan (TCC) is a mindfulness-based exercise that involves maintaining a state of attentive presence and an enhanced sense of spatial perception during complex movements and the intentional use of breathing patterns. However, the evidence on the effects of TCC practice on mindfulness has been controversial.

Dr. Gao-Xia Wei and her team from the CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology have conducted a longitudinal study to explore whether TCC practice with an emphasis on interoceptive awareness could improve mindfulness levels in a healthy adult population. The research team recruited 61 healthy adults without mind-body practice experience, and divided them into the TCC and control groups. Participants in the TCC group received classic Yang-style supervised TCC practice for 8 weeks, whereas those in the control group did not receive any intervention. The Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire and Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness were administrated at baseline, the end of week 8, and the end of week 24.

Their finding showed that in terms of mindfulness, significant interaction between group and time was found in describing, acting with awareness, nonjudging, and nonreactivity. For interoceptive awareness, there were marginally significant interaction effects of time and group in attention regulation, self-regulation, and trust. TCC practice significantly improved the above-mentioned dimensions of mindfulness and interoceptive awareness. Moreover, they still observed increased describing, acting with awareness, and nonjudging in mindfulness, and trusting in interoceptive awareness for the TCC group at the end of week 24.

Taken together, this study indicated that 8-week TCC practice with a component of interoceptive awareness could increase mindfulness levels, which could still be observed in the 24th week. These findings provide meaningful insights for advancing the understanding of the association of mind-body practice, mindfulness, and interoceptive awareness. They can be applied in mind-body interventions for health promotion in healthy populations and in the clinical treatment of neurological disorders.

The study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation China, and the CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology.

This study was published online on March 19, 2021 in Mindfulness.
Chen, L.-Z., Dai, A.-Y., Yao, Y., Si, R., Hu, Z., Ge, L., Du, X., Li, A., & Wei, G.-X. (2021). Effects of 8-Week Tai Chi Chuan Practice on Mindfulness Level. Mindfulness.

Fig.1 Results of mindfulness level after 8-week TCC practice. Image by Dr.WEI Gao-xia.


 Fig.2 Results of interoceptive awareness after 8-week TCC practice. Image by Dr.WEI Gao-xia.

LIU Chen
Institute of Psychology
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Beijing 100101, China.
E-mail: liuc@psych.ac.cn

16 Lincui Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101, China. All Rights Reserved