Recenzija, Prikaz slučaja
MEASURING THE EFFECTS OF FOREST SPA PROGRAMME IN URBAN PARKS USING ACTIVE IMAGINATION
Gordana Pešelj
; Health College Belgrade, Serbia
Svetlana Uršić
; Health College Belgrade, Serbia
Ivana Jovanović
; Medical Spa Associationof Serbia
Svetlana Zdravković
; Medical Spa Associationof Serbia
Ljubica Presetnik
; Medical Spa Associationof Serbia
Gorana Isailović
; Medical Spa Associationof Serbia
Sažetak
Nature has been shown to be beneficial to our overall health and well-being. We are all connected to nature and it is important
to maintain this vital connection for our health and well-being. Spending time outside in nature or urban parks has been shown to positively affect a person’s emotions and improve their sense of
well-being. Access to nature balances circadian rhythms, lowers blood pressure, reduces stress and increases absorption of Vitamin D. Increasingly, evidence demonstrates that contactwith the living
world around us is an important part of healing and recovery. The natural world’s role in human wellbeing is an essential, yet often forgotten, aspect of healthcare. Of particular importance are the
benefits one can derive through interaction with natural environments. Reincorporating the natural world is practiced to move healthcare toward being more “green”. Spiritual well-being is enhanced
through the experience of greater interconnections, and it occurs when interacting with the natural world. One study examined the physiological and psychological responses to real forest landscapes
as well as the therapeutic uses of forests relative tourban environments. Lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol have
been reported in adults subsequent to performing the same mental activities in a garden setting vs. an indoor classroom. A separate study involving
over 11,000 adults from Denmark showed that
living more than 1 km away from green space
(forests, parks, beaches, lakes) were 42 percent
more likely to report high stress and had the worst
scores on evaluations of general health, vitality,
mental health and bodily pain The landscape itself
offers retreat from daily routine. The aim of our
research was to measure the effects of Forest SPA
programs on attendants’ well-being. Research has
been organized in cooperation between Health
college Belgrade and Medical SPA Association of
Serbia. There were fourteen participants taking
part in the research.Prior to Forest SPA program
all participants, 14 students on specialization in
Medical Wellness were invited to half-an-hour
active imagination (mandala drawing) workshop.
Drawing Mandala is a meditation in motion,dreaming with open eyes, and during the process
of active imagination the unconscious self is active
and not passive like in dreams. Using the data
and research methodology from Henderson’s
Empirical Study of the Healing Nature of Artistic
Expression we designed our investigation. After
90 minutes of Forest SPA program in selected
Urban park, participants were invited to draw
mandala to describe how they feel at that moment.
Several participants (8 of them) attended a
90-minute City SPA program with Tibetan bowls
vibration massage. At the end of the SPA program
they were invited to draw mandala. Analyzing
symbols and colors, number of symbols and their
relationship in presented mandalas we can realize
the effects of the Forest SPA programs in urban
parks on achieving better emotional balance and
enhancing individualization process in participants.
Our pilot research of Active imagination (by
drawing mandalas) revealed that it can be used as
a part of Forest SPA program as ART therapy and
at the same time as an instrument for individual
approach to the client of Forest SPA program as a
medical SPA concept.
Ključne riječi
forest SPA; active imagination; mandala
Hrčak ID:
176220
URI
Datum izdavanja:
31.10.2016.
Posjeta: 1.001 *