Abstract
It is tempting to conceive of mindfulness as taking place in the mind alone, but mindfulness is both a state of mind and an embodied way of being in the world. Though a growing body of research focuses on formal mindfulness practice as integrated into mindfulness-based interventions, preliminary research offers insight into the benefits of mindful movement as an informal practice. This chapter seeks to explore these benefits with particular attention to the physiological and interpersonal dimensions of mindfulness that are enhanced by mindful movement and dance. We present mindful dance as a potential nonclinical intervention for clients to increase mindfulness, positive affect, and social connectedness and as a tool for therapists to develop deeper levels of presence and awareness in their “dance” with clients.
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de Sousa, S., Shapiro, S. (2018). The Dance of Presence: Mindfulness and Movement. In: Kirkcaldy, B. (eds) Psychotherapy, Literature and the Visual and Performing Arts. Palgrave Studies in Creativity and Culture. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75423-9_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75423-9_7
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