Mindfulness has been associated with the use of coloring books for adults; however, the question of whether they do increase mindfulness has not been addressed. In two studies, we attempted to ...identify whether mindfulness is increased, and whether there is a need for ongoing guidance while coloring, similar to mindfulness meditation. In the first randomized controlled experiment, university students (
= 88) were assigned to an unguided mandala coloring group (i.e., described in mainstream literature as a mindfulness practice) or to a free-drawing group. Measurements of state mindfulness and state anxiety were taken pre- and post- experiment. Results indicated no change in mindfulness or anxiety. In the second randomized controlled experiment, university students (
= 72) were assigned to an unguided mandala coloring group (i.e., same as Experiment 1), or, to a mindfulness-guided coloring group (i.e., same as the unguided coloring group with a mindfulness practitioner guiding participants as in mindfulness breathing meditation, with instructions modified and applied to coloring). Results indicated that the mindfulness-guided mandala coloring group performed better in decreasing anxiety, but no change was observed in mindfulness. Exit interviews revealed that some participants did not like the voice guiding them while coloring, which suggested further differing and significant findings. While mindfulness-guided coloring appears promising, guidance or instructions on how to color mindfully may require further development and adjustment to enhance health and wellbeing.
Purpose
Schizophrenia places a heavy burden on the individual with the disorder, as well as on his or her family; this burden continues over the long course of the disease. This study aimed to ...provide an overview of the positive and negative impacts of schizophrenia on family caregivers.
Methods
From April to June 2017, two investigators conducted a systematic review and meta-summary of studies obtained from five electronic databases and the footnotes and citations of eligible studies. Qualitative studies that explored the experiences of family caregivers of individuals with schizophrenia were included. Study findings published between 1993 and 2017 were extracted and synthesised using narrative and summative approaches.
Results
After the removal of duplicates, independent reviewers screened 864 records. Subsequently, 46 full-text articles were assessed for eligibility and 23 papers were included in the synthesis. Negative impacts identified were traumatic experiences, loss of expectation of life and health, lack of personal and social resources, uncertainty and unpredictability, family disruption, conflict in interpersonal relationships, difficulty in understanding, and stigma and heredity. Meanwhile, the positive impacts identified were family solidarity, admiration, affirmation, affection, compassion, learning knowledge and skills, self-confidence, personal growth, and appreciation.
Conclusions
Analysis of the studies suggested that family members of individuals with schizophrenia face a series of traumatic situations during the course of the illness. Their subsequent experiences can be conceptualised as a continuous circle of caregiving, in which the positive impacts can be centrally positioned within the negative impacts.
This study explores the effects of different types of augmented reality (AR) mandala coloring activities on mindfulness and flow in college students.
A total of 76 college students participated in ...the study and were divided into two groups based on their drawing skills: the high-skilled group (
= 38) and the low-skilled group (
= 38). With the help of AR technology, two groups of subjects carried out three mandala coloring experiments with structured mandala, free mandala and cooperative mandala in order. The measurement evaluation in the experimental program included a pre-test before all the experiments (Time 0) and each post-test after three mandala coloring activities (Time 1, Time 2 and Time 3). The balance dimensions of flow and challenge skills of the two groups were measured.
ANOVA results showed that a single 30-min short-term datura coloring activity did not significantly improve mindfulness (
= 2.339,
= 0.074,
= 0.031), but did significantly improve flow (
= 11.918,
= < 0.001,
= 0.139). Linear regression results found positive correlations between mindfulness and certain dimensions of flow (e.g., focus on a task, unambiguous feedback, sense of control, challenge -- skill balance, and automatic experience). Mindfulness was also found to be negatively correlated with the loss of the self-conscious component of flow. We also found that the free mandala was quite challenging for subjects in the low-skill group, while the teamwork in the cooperative mandala helped them overcome difficulties and cope with challenges.
Flow can be quickly and effectively improved through short AR mandala coloring exercises. The contribution of this study is to provide inspiration and reference for further exploring how AR mandola coloring can improve subjects' mental state and promote the perfection and development of positive psychological mechanism.
Mandala drawing was first practiced by Tibetan buddhists and then developed by Carl Gustav Jung, who felt certain that mandala drawing has the function of integrating psychological division, ...enhancing psychological harmony, and preserving personality integrity. Previous studies on mandala drawing have mainly focused on alleviating people's negative emotions, such as anxiety and depression. Therefore, this study explored the effect and mechanism of mandala drawing on the improvement of subjective well-being (SWB), mindfulness, and spirituality from positive psychology's viewpoint and compared the different effects of cooperative mandala drawing (CMD) and individual mandala drawing (IMD) on mindfulness, spirituality, and SWB. A total of 76 students were recruited from Chang Gung University, and the aforementioned three main variables were measured before and after the coloring experiment. The results indicated that both CMD and IMD significantly enhanced the subjects' spirituality. Compared with IMD, CMD has a more significant improvement and promotion effect on SWB of subjects by affecting PA, while IMD had no significant effect on PA, and the enhancement effect of SWB was weaker than that of CMD. Mindfulness, spirituality, and SWB all positively correlated with each other. This study highlights the mechanism of mandala drawing and the theoretical understanding of the relationship between mindfulness and SWB. Mandala drawing especially CMD has a positive effect on spirituality and SWB, which may provide individuals with a simple and easy method to improve their happiness.
Badut Temple is the oldest temple on Java Island and a historical relic of the Kanjuruhan Kingdom that collapsed due to natural and human factors. Therefore, this study aims to determine the ...suitability of the Badut Temple design drawn by B. De Haan. Based on the vastu purusha mandala philosophy, this Hindu-style temple uses repeated divisions of squares to prove that the design of the head of the temple uses Fractal Geometry with the box-counting method. The results showed that the fractal dimension index on the foot, body, and head with a ratio of 1.878: 1.870: 1.872 or be rounded up to 1:1:1. This means that the B. De Haan sketch design is similar to the existing temple. Furthermore, the ratio of the height of the foot, body, and head was 2.35:4.88:6.94 which is simplified to 1:2:3. Therefore, the Badut Temple adheres to the Vastu Purusha Mandala philosophy.
This study explores the development of a cross-cultural primary ontological model that can help self-cultivation practitioners illuminate their path and help researchers identify the complex ...implications, context, and progression of self-cultivation in diverse cultures, especially those associated with Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism. Integrating self-cultivation traditions into social science research from the perspective of subject-object dichotomy is difficult. However, the assimilation of the mutual implication of subject and object in the Avataṃsaka worldview helps resolve this issue. This study employs the Buddhist tetralemmic dialectic (catuṣkoṭi), which goes beyond the limitations of dualistic and reductionist logic, to construct the Dialectical Mandala Model of Self-cultivation as the first of a two-step epistemological strategy. The model provides a universal framework for the multifaceted and systemic analysis of self-cultivation traditions so that future research can further develop additional culturally specific ontologies and psychological models in the second step of the strategy. As in a research map, this model could help researchers make ontological commitments, understand self-cultivation more comprehensively, and determine whether they have overlooked any research domain.
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