Static Stretching Combined with Conscious Slower Breathing May Increase Parasympathetic Activity and Reduce Stress in Adult Women

Background: Women are thought to be more susceptible to stress than men in a stressful society, and reducing stress is crucial for women to maintain their health. Static stretching (SST) is applied in various fields to not only increase muscle flexibility but also reduce stress. Additionally, conscious slower breathing (CSB) predominates parasympathetic activity, causing a relaxing effect. These results indicate that combining SST and CSB may be more useful in reducing stress. However, to the best of our knowledge, the effect of this combination remains unclear. Objective: This study aimed to elucidate the effects of the combination of SST and CSB on autonomic activity and stress in adult women. Methods: Eleven healthy Japanese adult female participants performed SST with nonconscious natural breathing for 20 min. The same participants performed SST in combination with CSB (2 s inspiratory and 4 s expiratory) for 20 min on another day. Salivary cortisol and chromogranin A levels were measured before and after stretching as stress markers of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and sympathetic nervous system. The coefficient of variation of the R-R interval (CVR-R) and high-frequency component (HF), which reflect parasympathetic nerve activity, and heart rate and low-frequency component (LF)/HF ratio, which reflect sympathetic nerve activity, were measured before, during, and after stretching. Results: SST decreased cortisol levels but with no significant changes in chromogranin A, heart rate, CVR-R, HF, or LF/HF ratio. The combination of SST and CSB increased CVR-R and HF levels in addition to decreasing cortisol levels but with no significant changes in chromogranin A, heart rate, or LF/HF levels. Conclusion: These results indicate that the combination of SST and CSB may increase parasympathetic activity and reduce stress. However, future randomized controlled trials with larger sample sizes should support this conclusion.

The Claimed Revolution to Understand Consciousness:Information Plays the Driving/Essential Role for the Structuration and Behavior of the Living Organisms

A prestigious conference claimed recently a revolution in neuroscience to understand consciousness.In this paper it is shown that this revolution already came,revealing the determinant role of information for human and living structures,both for their structuration and behavior,explaining consciousness at human as the result of the activity of the Informational System of Human and Living Structures.For this,it is emphasized and discussed the informational structure of the eukaryotic cell,the basic/representative composing unit of the multicellular body of human,animals,and plants,showing that the composition and functions of the informational system are basically similar with that of human.To reveal the driving role of informational mechanisms in human and subhuman organisms,it is introduced the concept of matter-related information,showing that information can be hidden/“embodied”or released/“disembodied”in or from the elemental micro/macro components of the body,during the multiple chain/cascade interactions including transduction processes.It is shown that such interactions are initiated from two main categories of informational sources:implicit(genetic)and explicit(external/internal)sources,the first category leading to structuration of the body and the second the reactive behavior.Consciousness in human and subhuman organisms,expressed by two corresponding informational relations,is the result of the release of information by the mind,acting as an informational operator/device,the development degree of mind and consciousness depending on the complexity degree and adaptation.An analogy of this Informational Model of Human and Living Structures(IMHLS)with the ancient model of chakras is highlighted,showing that these models support each other,applied with beneficial effects in Reiki technique and music-based cognitive multi-task therapy for neuro-rehabilitation.

When Conscious Consumerism Backfires:A Critical Study on Social Exclusion,Partnerships,and White Saviorism

Purpose:What factors influence conscious consumerism,especially related to race and gender identities?This scholarship explores three white women-led social responsibility organizations’(SROs)aspirations to encourage conscious consumerism as well as factors that influence conscious consumerism.Design/methodology/approach:Using the Black feminist thought and sustainability development theory,the data were analyzed using a thematic analysis to explore the activation of the white savior industrial complex(WSIC)in SROs.Interviews provided in-depth knowledge of the SRO culture including,but not limited to,insight on social exclusion and partnerships.Findings:Noonday Collection,Sseko Designs,and Trades of Hope,all SROs,aspire to be dedicated to people,planet,and profit and encourage conscious consumerism as a means for their customer base and sales consultants to“do their part”,and yet,an unintended consequence of the SROs’work is social exclusion and white saviorism.Originality:This scholarship investigates what can be done to dismantle the overreliance of conscious consumerism in an effort to finally strip white saviorism,and its role in the white savior industrial complex(WSIC),of its power.

Connecting the P300 to the diagnosis and prognosis of unconscious patients

The residual consciousness of unconscious patients can be detected by studying the P300, a wave among event-related potentials. Previous studies have applied tones, the subject＇s name and other names as stimuli. However, the results were not satisfactory. In this study, we changed the constituent order of subjects＇ two-character names to create derived names. The subject＇s derived names, together with tones and their own names, were used as auditory stimuli in event-related potential experiments. Healthy controls and unconscious patients were included in this study and made to listen to these auditory stimuli. In the two paradigms, a sine tone followed by the subject＇s own name and the subject＇s derived name followed by the subject＇s own name were used as standard and deviant stimuli, respectively. The results showed that all healthy controls had the P300 using both paradigms, and that the P300 in the second paradigm had a longer latency and two peaks. All minimally conscious state patients had the P300 in the first paradigm and the majority of them had the P300 in the second paradigm. Most vegetative state patients had no P300. Patients who showed the P300 in the two paradigms had more residual consciousness, and patients with the two-peak P300 had a higher probability of awakening within a short time. Our experimental findings suggest that the P300 event-related potential could reflect the conscious state of unconscious patients.

Efficacy of acupuncture to regain consciousness in patients with traumatic brain injury: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background:Traumatic brain injury(TBI)is a leading cause of death and disability worldwide,and consciousness disorder is a common problem in TBI patients.Acupuncture has been used to improve neurological deficits in patients with TBI.This meta-analysis aims to evaluate the effects and safety of acupuncture in improving consciousness in patients with TBI when compared with other therapies.Methods:A systematic search was conducted in electronic databases PubMed,EMBASE,Web of Science,the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials,Allied and Complementary Medicine Database,WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform,ClinicalTrials.gov,and Google Scholar for randomized controlled trials that investigated the effect of acupuncture on patients with TBI.From the inception of databases to March 2023.Results:A total of 653 participants were included in nine trials.We found that acupuncture adjunct to routine treatment significantly improved the wakeup rate of patients in TBI when compared with routine treatment alone(relative risk=1.36,95%confidence interval:1.16 to 1.59,I2=4.78%,P=0).Additionally,we found that acupuncture is significantly associated with reduced impaired consciousness after TBI when adjunct to medicine therapy.As a safe intervention,acupuncture can also improve the activities of daily living for people with TBI(mean difference=15.71,95%confidence interval:9.19 to 22.22,I2=0%,P=0).Conclusion:Acupuncture can improve consciousness and braise wakeup of patients with TBI when adjunct to conventional treatment compared with routine treatment alone.Further high-quality studies are needed to confirm these findings and to determine the optimal acupuncture treatment parameter for TBI.

Correlations between the Global Earth Healing and Global Consciousness Projects—Brain-Mind-Matter-Interactions through Physical Noise Generators

Inspired by Roger Nelson’s Global Consciousness Project (GCP), the Global Earth Healing Project (GEHP) uses a network of several hundred physical noise generators to amplify the combined intentions of their users in order to infuse positive affirmations into the global consciousness. As mentioned in the original study design, it was intended to use the GCP as a reference for the effectiveness of its activities. The data of the GEHP consisting of 21 events from 2013 to 2020 is analyzed and statistically compared to the data of the GCP. An astonishing synchronicity was observed, which suggests an interaction between the brain states of the observers and the physical noise generators of the GCP.

Survey and clinical considerations of gender identity in lower primary school children

BACKGROUND Gender consciousness directly affects the development of gender identity,which is a continuous and lifelong process.Meanwhile,hospitalization is a part of many children's lives and has an impact on their gender development.AIM To investigate the current situation of gender identity in lower primary school children by conducting a survey of 202 hospitalized children in the lower grades and to provide a theoretical basis and foundation for the cultivation of gender identity and medical treatment of children based on the results.This study aims to inspire clinical medical staff to scientifically and reasonably arrange hospital wards for lower primary school children and pay attention to gender protection during the medical treatment process and to help children shape a unified and clear gender identity,which will enable them to better integrate into society and promote their personality development.METHODS The gender consciousness scale for elementary and middle school students was RESULTS Gender identity was already present in lower primary school children.The children's gender roles and gender equality consciousness were strong,exceeding the critical value,but their gender characteristics,gender identity,and gender ideal consciousness were weak.Children aged 6 had the weakest gender identity,and girls had significantly stronger gender identity than boys.CONCLUSION Gender identity is already present in lower primary school children,providing a basis and inspiration for the cultivation of gender identity and medical treatment of lower primary school children.Clinical medical staff should be aware of and understand these results and should scientifically and reasonably arrange hospital wards for lower primary school children.

In vivo imaging reveals a synchronized correlation among neurotransmitter dynamics during propofol and sevoflurane anesthesia

General anesthesia is widely applied in clinical practice.However,the precise mechanism of loss of consciousness induced by general anesthetics remains unknown.Here,we measured the dynamics of five neurotransmitters,includingγ-aminobutyric acid,glutamate,norepinephrine,acetylcholine,and dopamine,in the medial prefrontal cortex and primary visual cortex of C57BL/6 mice through in vivo fiber photometry and genetically encoded neurotransmitter sensors under anesthesia to reveal the mechanism of general anesthesia from a neurotransmitter perspective.Results revealed that the concentrations of γ-aminobutyric acid,glutamate,norepinephrine,and acetylcholine increased in the cortex during propofol-induced loss of consciousness.Dopamine levels did not change following the hypnotic dose of propofol but increased significantly following surgical doses of propofol anesthesia.Notably,the concentrations of the five neurotransmitters generally decreased during sevoflurane-induced loss of consciousness.Furthermore,the neurotransmitter dynamic networks were not synchronized in the non-anesthesia groups but were highly synchronized in the anesthetic groups.These findings suggest that neurotransmitter dynamic network synchronization may cause anesthetic-induced loss of consciousness.

The Great Cholesterol Quandary and Global Consciousness Awakening

Ancestors of human species have been living on the planet earth for about six million years while the modern form of humans only evolved about 200,000 years ago. Civilization is only about 6000 years old, and industrialization started in the 1800s. World population interconnectedness is enhanced with love and mercy but disrupted with dishonest, lies and wars. Human species has been feeding on animal fat as the finest and prime source of energy for all human history. In 1953 Ancel Keys and collaborates illusionized human kind that their historical source of energy is toxic. Massive health, behavioral as well as economic consequences followed. Human hearts known historically to be the seat of spirit, soul and emotions is proven by our group to orchestrate with global energetic fields. Global consciousness as represented by the planetary electromagnetic fields is in critical need to be feed with awakening merciful information. Documents refuting Ancek Keys dogma and reverting humanity to the truth in their energy source is presented in this review. The harmony we expect is not only physiological but will affect our global planetary environment for the wellbeing of human species in earth.

Creative Activity and the Development of Consciousness:A Discussion With Piaget and Rudolf Steiner

This study aims to discuss the possibility of becoming conscious of certain aspects of one’s own existence through creative activity.The discussion involves Piagetian constructivism and Steiner’s ideas about human development and is justified by the contribution of creative activity to the development of autonomy,according to Piaget,and to the development of an ethical individuality,according to Steiner.The participation of adults in sessions of creative process,as well as the questions posed after this activity,asking for the relationships between what they created and their life,is evidence of practices favourable to increasing the grasping of consciousness of self and of the process of developing an ethical individuality.

A Review on Sustainable Product Design, Marketing Strategies and Conscious Consumption of Bamboo Lifestyle Products

Conscious consumption is a trend that is here to stay since consumers are becoming more aware of their purchasing decision and its impact on their health & environment. To sustain in the market on the move towards sustainability and meet the demands, companies need to re-examine their footprints and incorporate green practices in their products and organization. Using eco-friendly material & processes is one of the remedies to come up with this, and bamboo is one of the most versatile, green and renewable natural resources on planet earth. Traditionally bamboo has been exploited to a large extent but cutting-edge options available for bamboo are still limited and have a scope of indulging fully in the lifestyle of people in India. The global market size of bamboo was valued at UED 53.28 billion in 2020, and it is expected to grow at compound annual growth rate of 5.7% from 2022 to 2028. There is increasing demand for sustainable construction, and furniture and handicraft products also have considerable weightage. Manny brands and craft clusters of bamboo are realizing and promoting this green quotient of bamboo to the market to attract the eco-conscious audience and trying to cope up with the advancement of sustainability, like certifications of being a green organisation. Despite the exceptional qualities of bamboo, it is considered as a marginalized material due to low production rate, high competition with the non-eco-friendly or cheaper alternatives, aesthetics and marketing gaps. There is a gap between willingness to purchase and an actual purchase when it comes to the sustainable products and marketing plays a major role in conversions. The main purpose of the research is to study and understand the product, craft, design, production processes and marketing practices of bamboo lifestyle products and how conscious consumption patterns influence the bamboo products and the industry in relevance to the sustainability. Exploratory research method was applied with the literature survey and reviewing of the research papers from the peer reviewed journals. They were classified and reviewed based on the areas relevant to the bamboo products. The research outcome revealed the research gaps and the results were discussed and presented with the perspectives of product design, conscious consumption and marketing strategies in relevant to the sustainability of bamboo lifestyle products.

Relativity of a Free Will Concept Depending on Both Conscious Indeterminism and Unconscious Determinism

Free will is difficult to classify with respect to determinism or indeterminism, and its phenomenology in consciousness often shows both aspects. Initially, it is felt as unlimited and indeterminate will power, with the potentiality of multiple choices. Thereafter, reductive deliberation is led by determinism to the final decision, which realises only one of the potential choices. The reductive deliberation phase tries to find out the best alternative and simultaneously satisfying vague motivations, contextual conditions and personal preferences. The essential sense of free will is the introduction of personal preferences, which allows a higher diversity of reactions to vague motivations. With an oversimplified model of determinism as a chain of events, incompatibilists define ＂free＂ as ＂undetermined＂ so that determinism becomes incompatible with any free choice between alternatives. In consciousness, free will requires a more complex model of network determinism as well as the consideration of unconsciousness as a causal factor. When ＂free＂ defined as ＂undetermined＂ is applied to the context of consciousness, it should be reinterpreted as ＂unconscious of being determined＂ or not aware of underlying determinism. Lacking information on determinism generates a feeling of ＂free＂ in consciousness and, therefore, gives the impression of indeterminism. Lacking information may be induced by an uncertain future without determined events--an unconscious past with biological reactions suddenly emerging from the unconsciousness or an unknown present unable to distinguish determinism of complex events. Therefore, at the level of human consciousness, the experience of free will is associated with apparent indeterminism although it is based on unconscious determinism. The concepts of compatibilism and incompatibilism are only two different aspects of the same phenomenon and correspond to consciousness and unconsciousness. Nevertheless, they can be considered together with a free will concept based on relativity depending on two different reference frames--the first person＇s experience frame or the Laplace＇s demon frame with knowledge on every molecule of the universe. Only relativity of the free will concept avoids the contradiction between ＂free＂ and ＂unfree＂ for the same phenomenon and could be a compromise for considering compatibilism and incompatibilism equally.

Consciousness Field Theory and Antihuman Psychology

Against behaviorism,humanism,and cognitive psychology,this work explores Mocombe’s antihuman psychology as a product of his consciousness field theory.The paper critically assesses Mocombe’s consciousness field theory within the larger body of contemporary ontological debates regarding the nature,origin,and constitution of consciousness,especially human consciousness,vis-à-vis their relations to the psychological theories of behaviorism,humanism,and cognitivism,concluding that consciousness field theory posits an alternative psychological theory of the mind,i.e.,antihuman psychology,to behaviorist,humanist,and cognitivist conceptions of the mind.

Transdisciplinary Team in Rehabilitation of Unconscious Brain-Damaged Persons: Grounds and Practice

The main features of early rehabilitation after severe brain damage are discussed in the article. The most important component for the entire rehabilitation process and the subsequent life of the patient is considered restoration of consciousness. Team seems to be a key factor in regaining consciousness along with the restoration of vital functions, movement, cognition, and behavior in these patients. The basic working principle is feedback to any minimal movement, or vegetative signal of a patient, beyond specific professional targets. A network of feedbacks with a patient and between professionals, that is, free flow of information, can be built only through work in a transdisciplinary team mode. The net of feedbacks with the patient and inter-professional ones builds up the team as Non-linear Complex System. Characteristics of “Team-Patient” system status are energy, entropy, and complexity. Teamwork techniques are individualized for resulting optimization of system condition. Increase of complexity is a powerful tool for propulsion of recovery process. Then consciousness may appear as a result of system self-organization. The article reflects the authors’ view on interdisciplinary studies of the phenomenon of consciousness through its impairment and recovery. It focuses on the work of the “proper rehabilitation team”, the mechanisms of its action and methods for researching the occurring phenomena.

Influence of Unconscious Emotional Control Goals Priming on Anticipatory Anxiety and Physiological Activity

Individuals frequently generate emotion during the anticipation process and the anticipatory emotion has an important adaptive significance, especially the negative anticipative emotion. Many researches used conscious emotion regulation strategy and successfully reduced negative anticipatory emotion. However, it is costly for our limited cognition. In the present study, we used sentence unscrambling tasks to prime unconscious emotion control goal and investigated its effect on anticipatory anxiety, including experience and physiological activity. The results showed that 1) relative to anticipating neutral images, participations’ anxiety experience and skin conductance level were higher when anticipating negative and unknown images;2) participants who had a unconscious emotion control goal primed achieved the same decrease in skin conductance as those explicitly instructed to reappraise, compared to a control group;3) heart rate was not affected by experiment condition and anticipation type. Together, these findings suggest that unconscious emotion regulation may provide an effective mean of regulating negative anticipatory emotion.

What is Mind,What is Consciousness,and Where This Resides

The main purpose of this paper is to respond to the questions what is mind and consciousness and where this resides.The answers are based on the frontline Informational Model of Human Body and Living Structures(IMHBLS),which shows that mind and consciousness can be described by the activity of the Informational System of the Human Body and Living Structures(ISHBLS),consisting of seven informational components,each of them with specific activity and functions,inter-correlated to support the immaterial/informational manifestation of the body expressed by mind and consciousness.The basic concept of matter-related and virtual information results as a consequence of the operability of the physics,chemistry,biologic,or mathematics laws,which actually act as informational operators,such processes are informationally driven and manifested finally as a“media-like functions”of mind and consciousness,on the“screen/display”of prefrontal cortex.The mind is therefore described as the capacity of every individual to access the data field of own life experience,where the thought acts as an informational operator,which can activate the required information from internal/external reality.Consciousness is the result of the info-representation of the explored reality,accumulated by the momentary connection,and compared/combined with the life experience,serving as judgment reference/criteria.The question is discussed in relation with the localization of consciousness,showing that this resides in the brain,as a result of the activity of ISHBLS.The discussion on the experimental evidences concerning the minimal basic components necessary and sufficient to sustain consciousness,compared with the results of the informational model,indicates the cortico-thalamus axis,in a full agreement each other.One of the basic findings is that the activation of consciousness is operated in two steps,one consisting in a feed-forward reception and another in feedback perception for recognition of the info-significance,which is fully supported by the recently reported experimental results.The phenomena of intuition,inspiration,premonition,“deja vue”,retrocausality,and intentionality are discussed.This model unifies the eastern and western concepts/models on consciousness and mind,explaining the energetic Yung/Yin Chinese model by YES/NO-informational Bit-type behavior,the Plato’s ideas/forms by“information”concept as a participating component of reality,Aristotle’s materialist view with matter structuration(assisted by information),and archaic model of the seven“chakras”at human,as vital informational centers connected with the body.

Kezia's Consciousness and Unconsciousness in The Doll's House

The Doll's House is one of the most famous representatives of Katherine Mansfield. She makes use of simple words to tell the story, but she vividly depicts the reality that the discrimination to the poor still exists. This phenomenon influences not only the world of adult but also the world of children. Kezia is the protagonist in The Doll's House. She is different from other members in her family. Although she is influenced by the canons in the adult world, she is not totally assimilated by these invisible principles. Kezia's consciousness and unconsciousness play important roles in indicating Katherine Mansfield's attitude towards the discrimination which she doesn't express directly. By analyzing Kezia's these two aspects in her mind, people's attention to the poor can be called and people's kindness and sympathy to them can be aroused.

What Happens in Organizations When Enhancing Organizational Culture Toward Being More Conscious?

The purpose of this study is to offer a better comprehension of what happens in organizations when enhancing organizational culture through consciousness by linking the market-oriented ecosystem variables and analyzing their relationship with a conscious organization.Design and methodology:Two questionnaires were used to test the hypotheses,the market-oriented ecosystem 38-item(Yeung&Ulrich,2019),and the conscious organization model 7-item adaptation(Sisoda,2018).Pearson correlations were calculated to measure the strength of the linear relationship among the variables involved in each one of the hypotheses,and coefficient alpha(coefficient𝛼)was used to analyze the reliability,to measure the internal consistency of the scales.Relevant findings:Context,ecosystem organizational structure,governance,and people ecosystem were positively correlated to a conscious organization.The originality of this study is based on use of the interaction among the variables of the market-oriented ecosystem model(continuous changing context,ecosystem organizational structure,governance,and people ecosystem)and a conscious organizational culture.Finally,the practical implications of having high levels of the market-oriented ecosystem variables predict high level of consciousness in organizations.These variables require careful consideration,a proactive planning process to enhance organizational culture through consciousness.

A Contradiction of Collective Unconscious and Personal Unconscious in Daisy in The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby written by Fitzgerald is an influential classic in American literature,and its author Fitzgerald is consid ered as a chronicler of the“Jazz Age”.There are three main women characters in the novel and they all play important roles in re vealing the theme.Undoubtedly,these women are all the victims of the society in American twenties.This paper tries to analyze the contradictory characters in Daisy based on Jung Carl Gustav’s collective unconscious and personal unconscious.

Maggie＇s Dream and George Eliot＇s Concept of＂Unconscious＂

This paper is to explore Maggie＇s dream in The Mill on the Floss （1980） and how it both discloses the complicated inner world of the protagonist and forecasts the plot development. In this episode, Maggie has to be faced with all the important relations of her life, each making different claims on her conscience. It is also the critical moment when Maggie achieves sober self-knowledge, therefore coming to the hardest decision in the choice between family, love and friendship. It juxtaposes illusion and reality through multiple levels of overlapping in images and scenes, which illustrates how unconscious feelings work effect on Maggie＇s conscious action. This episode is typical of George Eliot＇s literary presentation of unconscious, which not only reveals her keen observation of human psyche, but also demonstrates the general achievement of the 19th century psychologists in the related field.