The embodied nature of stress reduction: Exercise, body schema, HPA axis

Title : The embodied nature of stress reduction: Exercise, body schema, HPA axis

Abstract:

Over one in five US adults experience mental illness yearly with the highest prevalence being among young adults and women. Common first-line treatments of anxiety disorders include pharmacotherapy, psychological interventions, and transcranial stimulation. Given the limitations of such brain/cognitive-oriented therapies (e.g., associated medical costs, adverse effects, treatment resistance, limited evidence based on rigorous interventions, short-term effects, and high relapse rates), it is important to examine the embodied nature of stress reduction. Therefore, the purpose of this concept-based paper and mini review was to analyze how different exercise programs (e.g., challenging endurance training and holistic body-mind movement exercises) modulate the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis via improvements in body schema (motor habit or habitual body). A critical narrative review was conducted for the effects of exercise on the HPA axis among healthy adults. This paper was based on Merleau-Ponty’s philosophical underpinnings of embodiment, whereby body and mind act in unison for health and well-being. Instead of viewing mental health only linearly (unidirectional stimulus-response model from brain to body), in this paper an embodied approach is embraced, in that a balanced body schema can holistically strengthen the HPA axis resilience for stress reduction. The function of the HPA axis does not involve only linear stimulus-response pathways (e.g., stimulation of the adrenal cortex via the pituitary gland); rather, it is regulated via improvements in body schema (embodied consciousness), which connects in-itself (e.g., cortisol secretion) and for-itself (e.g., perceptions and breathing techniques) body structures for the healthy functioning of the human organism. Public health officials need to advocate for holistic, physically challenging, and long-term exercise programs to reshape body schema and thus holistically modulate the HPA axis for health and wellness.

Biography:

Dr. Kosma’s research interests include evidence-based and practical ways to promote physical activity and public health across the lifespan. She has used such philosophies as phronesis and embodied consciousness to facilitate understanding of physical activity, lifestyle choices, and health. She has published quantitative and qualitative studies, mixed-methods designs, concept-based papers, reviews, and humanistic analyses examining the links among multi-modal exercise programs, body schema, long-lasting exercise participation, and health She is the Head of the Sport Unit for ATINER and an editor for the Athens Journal of Sports Other editorial appointments include guest editing for Frontiers in Public Health, the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, and OBM: Integrative and Complementary Medicine.