Enhanced Nondual Awareness and Creativity Through a Paired Eastern Martial-Arts Exercise: A Randomized Controlled Trial

A brief paired body-mind practice derived from Japanese martial arts, the Wakame Exercise, increased nondual awareness and reduced the salience of body boundaries in undergraduates compared to a structured physical interaction or rest. Within the Wakame group, higher nondual awareness correlated with more creative attitudes, which in turn linked to greater decentering. These effects occurred regardless of participants' baseline boundary thinness. The findings suggest that short, meditative paired practices from Eastern martial traditions can temporarily dissolve self-other boundaries and foster psychological flexibility, offering a basis for integrating such methods into modern psychology.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Mind–body practices such as meditation, yoga, and martial arts have been shown to foster psychological well-being and flexible self-experience. However, few studies have examined meditative bodywork rooted in martial traditions or addressed short-term psychological effects related to shifts in self–other boundaries. The present study examined the short-term psychological effects of the Wakame Exercise, a paired body–mind practice derived from Japanese martial arts. Seventy undergraduates were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: the Wakame Exercise, a meditative pair movement emphasizing softness and fluidity; a control practice, Push-Hand Sumo, involving structured physical interaction; or rest. Psychological outcomes included nondual awareness, perception of body boundaries, creativity, decentering, and mood. Compared with controls, the Wakame Exercise group reported significantly greater nondual awareness and reduced salience of body boundaries. Within the Wakame Exercise group, higher nondual awareness was positively correlated with creative attitudes, which in turn were linked to greater decentering. Notably, increases in nondual awareness occurred independently of baseline boundary thinness. These findings suggest that brief paired practices rooted in Eastern martial arts can promote nondual awareness and temporary boundary dissolution, potentially enhancing creativity. Such practices may provide an empirical basis for integrating traditional Eastern methods into contemporary psychology.