14,118 research outputs found
Meditation Experiences, Self, and Boundaries of Consciousness
Our experiences with the external world are possible mainly through vision,
hearing, taste, touch, and smell providing us a sense of reality. How the brain is able to seamlessly integrate stimuli from our external and internal world into our sense of reality has yet to be adequately explained in the literature. We have previously proposed a three-dimensional unified model of consciousness that partly explains the dynamic mechanism. Here we further expand our model and include illustrations to provide a better conception of the ill-defined space within the self, providing insight into a unified mind-body concept. In this article, we propose that our senses âsuper-imposeâ on an existing dynamic space within us after a slight, imperceptible delay. The existing space includes the entire intrapersonal space and can also be called the âthe bodyâs internal 3D default spaceâ. We provide examples from meditation experiences to help explain how the sense of âselfâ can be experienced through meditation practice associated with underlying physiological processes that take place through cardio-respiratory
synchronization and coherence that is developed among areas of the brain.
Meditation practice can help keep the body in a parasympathetic dominant state during meditation, allowing an experience of inner âselfâ. Understanding this physical and functional space could help unlock the mysteries of the function of memory and cognition, allowing clinicians to better recognize and treat disorders of the mind by recommending proven techniques to reduce stress as an adjunct to medication treatment
The Oneiric Reality of Electronic Scents
This paper investigates the âoneiricâ dimension of scent, by suggesting a new design process that can be worn as a fashion accessory or integrated in textile technologies, to subtly alter reality and go beyond our senses. It fuses wearable âelectronic scentâ delivery systems with pioneering biotechnologies as a ground-breaking âscience fashionâ enabler. The purpose is to enhance wellbeing by reaching a dayâdream state of being through the sense of smell.
The sense of smell (or olfaction) is a chemical sense and part of the limbic system which regulates emotion and memory within the brain. The power of scent makes content extremely compelling by offering a heightened sense of reality which is intensified by emotions such as joy, anger and fear. Scent helps us appreciate all the senses as we embark on a sensory journey unlike any other; it enhances mood, keeps us in the moment, diverts us from distractions, reduces boredom and encourages creativity.
This paper highlights the importance of smell, the forgotten sense, and also identifies how we as humans have grown to underuse our senses. It endeavours to show how the reinvention of our sensory faculties is possible through advances in biotechnology. It introduces the new âdata sensesâ as a wearable sensory platform that triggers and fine tunes the senses with fragrances. It puts forward a new design process that is currently being developed in clothing elements, jewellery and textile technologies, offering a new method to deliver scent electronically and intelligently in fashion and everyday consumer products. It creates a personal âscent waveâ, around the wearer, to allow the mind to wander, to give a deeper sense of life or âlived realityâ (verses fantasy), a new found satisfaction and confidence, and to reach new heights of creativity.
By combining biology with wearable technologies, we propose a biotechnological solution that can be translated into sensory fashion elements. This is a new trend in 21st century âdata sensingâ, based on holographic biosensors that sense the human condition, aromachology (the science of the effect of fragrance and behaviour), colour-therapy, and smart polymer science. The use of biosensors in the world of fashion and textiles, enables us to act on visual cues or detect scent signals and rising stress levels, allowing immediate information to hand.
An âoneiricâ mood is triggered by a spectrum of scents which is encased in a micro-computerised âscentâcellâ and integrated into clothing elements or jewellery. When we inhale an unexpected scent, it takes us by surprise; the power of fragrance fills us with pleasurable ripples of multiâsensations and dreamâlike qualities. The aromas create a near tranceâlike experience that induces a daydream state of (immediate) satisfaction, or a ârevived realityâ in our personal scent bubble of reality.
The products and jewellery items were copyrighted and designed by Slim Barrett and the technology input was from EG Technology and Epigem
Towards a Phenomenological Theory of the Visceral in the Interactive Arts
This is a digitised version of a thesis that was deposited in the University Library. If you are the author and you have a query about this item please contact PEARL Admin ([email protected])Metadata merged with duplicate record (http://hdl.handle.net/10026.1/2319) on 20.12.2016 by CS (TIS).This thesis explores the ways in which certain forms of interactive art may and do elicit
visceral responses. The term "visceral" refers to the cardiovascular, respiratory, uro-genital
and especially excretory systems that affect mind and body on a continuum of awareness.
The "visceral" is mentioned in the field of interactive arts, but it remains systematically
unexplored and undefined. Further, interactive artworks predominantly focus on the
exteroceptive (stimuli from outside) rather than the interoceptive (stimuli arising within the
body, especially the viscera) senses.
The existentialist phenomenology of Maurice Merleau-Ponty forms the basis for explorations
of the visceral dimension of mind/body. New approaches to understanding interactive art,
design and the mind/body include: attunements to the world; intertwinings of mind/body,
technology and world; and of being in the world. Each artwork within utilizes a variation of the
phenomenological methods derived from Merl eau-Ponty's; these are discussed primarily in
Chapters One and Three. Because subjective, first-person, experiences are a major aspect of a
phenomenological approach, the academic writing is interspersed with subjective experiences of
the author and others. This thesis balances facets of knowledge from diverse disciplines that
account for visceral phenomena and subjective experience.
Along with the textual exegesis, one major work of design and two major works of art were
created. These are documented on the compact disc (CDROM) bound within. As an essential
component of each artwork, new technological systems were created or co-created by the
author. User surveys comprise Appendices Two, Three and Four, and are also online at:
www. sfu. ca/-dgromala/thesis. To access the URL: login as , and use the password
. Numerous talks, exhibitions and publications that directly relate to the thesis
work is in Appendix One.
This work begins with an introduction to Merleau-Ponty's ideas of flesh and reversibility.
Chapter Two is the review of the literature, while Chapter Three is an explication of the
hypothesis, an overview of the field, and a framing of the problem. Discussions of each artwork
are in Chapter Four (The Meditation Chamber), Chapter Five (BioMorphic Typography) and
Chapter Six (The MeatBook). Chapter Seven forms the conclusion. References to the
documentation on the CD are found throughout the thesis, and italicized paragraphs provide
an artistic context for each chapter
Body Matters:Exploration of the Human Body as a Resource for the Design of Technologies for Meditation
Much research on meditation has shown its significant benefits for wellbeing. In turn, there has been growing HCI interest for the design of novel interactive technologies intended to facilitate meditation in real-time. In many of these systems, physiological signals have been mapped onto creative audiovisual feedback, however, there has been limited attention to the experiential qualities of meditation and the specific role that the body may play in them. In this paper, we report on workshops with 24 experts exploring the bodily sensations that emerge during meditation. Through material speculation, participants shared their lived experience of meditation and identified key stages during which they may benefit from additional aid, often multimodal. Findings emphasize the importance of recreating mindful physical sensations during moments of mind-wandering; in particular for supporting the regulation of attention through a range of embodied metaphors and haptic feedback, tailored to key transitions in the meditation process
Recommended from our members
Emotional Biosensing: Exploring Critical Alternatives
Emotional biosensing is rising in daily life: Data and categories claim to know how people feel and suggest what they should do about it, while CSCW explores new biosensing possibilities. Prevalent approaches to emotional biosensing are too limited, focusing on the individual, optimization, and normative categorization. Conceptual shifts can help explore alternatives: toward materiality, from representation toward performativity, inter-action to intra-action, shifting biopolitics, and shifting affect/desire. We contribute (1) synthesizing wide-ranging conceptual lenses, providing analysis connecting them to emotional biosensing design, (2) analyzing selected design exemplars to apply these lenses to design research, and (3) offering our own recommendations for designers and design researchers. In particular we suggest humility in knowledge claims with emotional biosensing, prioritizing care and affirmation over self- improvement, and exploring alternative desires. We call for critically questioning and generatively re- imagining the role of data in configuring sensing, feeling, âthe good life,â and everyday experience
A Personal Relationship with the Mysteries:(Re)discovering the Enchanted Garden Through Movement and the Body
This article investigates the possible role of improvised, conscious dance movement in nature as a way of reclaiming our direct experience of the metaphysical. I first discuss some aspects of the body and embodiment, not as contradictory with but absolutely essential to spirituality. I briefly touch on the possibility of embodied ecstasy, as well as various elements of embodiment such as awareness, alignment, presence, and connection. Then, after introducing some notions of dance and spirituality in various contexts, I zoom in on the ingredients of improvised movement as a way of negotiating the unknown, unpacking the possibilities of movement improvisation as a spiritual practice. Thirdly, I consider the potential for waking up to the sacred all around us, when movement practice is brought out into nature. Finally, I weave these threads together in some concluding thoughts on the role that dance can play in enhancing mystical participation in an enchanted world.Cet article explore le rĂŽle possible du mouvement dansĂ©, conscient et improvisĂ©, dans la nature, en tant que moyen de nous rĂ©approprier une expĂ©rience directe du mĂ©taphysique. Je discute dâabord certains aspects du corps et de lâincarnation qui ne sont pas contradictoires, mais plutĂŽt essentiels Ă la spiritualitĂ©. Jâaborde briĂšvement la possibilitĂ© de lâextase incarnĂ©e, ainsi que les divers Ă©lĂ©ments de lâincarnation, tels que la conscience, lâalignement, la prĂ©sence et la connexion. Puis, aprĂšs avoir prĂ©sentĂ© certaines conceptions de la danse et de la spiritualitĂ© dans divers contextes, je me focalise sur les ingrĂ©dients dâun mouvement improvisĂ© en tant que moyen dâaborder lâinconnu, en dĂ©voilant les possibilitĂ©s de lâimprovisation en tant que pratique spirituelle. Ensuite, je considĂšre les possibilitĂ©s de rĂ©veiller le sacrĂ© autour de nous, lorsque la pratique du mouvement est portĂ©e dans la nature. Enfin, je rassemble ces Ă©lĂ©ments en concluant sur le rĂŽle que la danse peut jouer pour stimuler une participation mystique dans un monde enchantĂ©
Lessons from a new science? : on teaching happiness in schools
Recent media reports about new programmes for 'happiness lessons' in schools signal a welcome concern with children's well-being. However, as I shall argue, the presuppositions of the discourse in which many of these proposals are framed, and their orientation towards particular strands of positive psychology, involve ideas about human life that are, in an important sense, anti-educational. © 2008 Journal of the Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain
Authority and Trust: Reflections on Linda Zagzebskiâs Epistemic Autohrity
Our modern egalitarian and individualistic age is suspicious of authority, and in recent times there have been almost daily reports in the press of cases where trust in various authorities, including financial, governmental, political and religious, has been found to have been abused or misplaced. Such disappointments seem to bolster the case for withholding trust in external authority and falling back on oneâs own resources. But if the lessons from Linda Zagzebskiâs groundbreaking work are accepted, 1 self- reliance turns out to be a confused and probably incoherent ideal ; and the rational and self-reflective person is committed to believing and acting on authority. In the second half of this short discussion paper I shall raise some possible concerns about Zagzebskiâs positive case for reliance on authority, focussing on the moral and religious spheres. First however, let me say something about the negative part of Zagzebskiâs work, her critique of self-reliance. Since I find this wholly convincing, I shall confine myself to some supplementary observations, mainly to do with the historical context in which her critique is located
An Interpretation of the Continuous Adaptation of the Self/Environment Process
Insights into the nondual relationship of organism and environment and their processual
nature have resulted in numerous efforts at understanding human behavior and motivation from a
holistic and contextual perspective. Meadian social theory, cultural historical activity theory (CHAT),
ecological psychology, and some interpretations of complexity theory persist in relating human activity
to the wider and more scientifically valid view that a process metaphysics suggests. I would like to
articulate a concept from ecological psychology â that of the affordance, and relate it to aspects of
phenomenology and neuroscience such that interpretations of the self, cognition, and the brain are
understood as similar to interpretations of molar behaviors exhibited in social processes. Experience
with meditation as a method of joining normal reflective consciousness with âawarenessâ is described
and suggested as a useful tool in coming to better understand the nondual nature of the body
- âŠ