Nondual Awareness, Body Boundary Perception, and Creative Attitudes in Japanese University Students Through a Brief Paired Martial Arts Exercise: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

Mind–body practices such as meditation, yoga, and martial arts have been suggested to enhance flexible self-experience and psychological well-being. However, few studies have examined short-term effects of contemplative bodywork rooted in traditional martial arts on perception of self–other boundaries and relevant psychological states. The present study employed a three-arm randomized controlled design to examine psychological effects of the Wakame Exercise, a paired body–mind practice derived from a school of martial arts in Japan. Seventy undergraduates were randomly assigned to a 45 min session of wakame exercise (N = 25; 20 females, 5 males; M age = 19.4, SD = 0.64), a control practice, Push-Hand Sumo (N = 25; 15 females, 10 males; M age = 19.5, SD = 1.20), or rest (N = 20; 17 females, 3 males; M age = 19.4, SD = 1.09). Outcomes included nondual awareness, perceived body boundaries, creative attitudes, decentering, and positive/negative affect. The wakame exercise group showed significant increase in nondual awareness (p < 0.001, Cohen’s d = −1.74) and decrease in the salience of perceived body boundaries (p < 0.001, Cohen’s d = 1.25) following practice, which were more apparent than controls. Within the wakame exercise group, nondual awareness was significantly positively correlated with creative attitudes, and higher creative attitudes were associated with greater decentering following practice. These findings suggest that brief paired practices rooted in Eastern martial arts can promote nondual awareness and temporary boundary dissolution, potentially enhancing creativity (Approved by the Ethics Review Committee on Research with Human Subjects of Waseda University, No. 2022–397).