MINDFULNESS AMONG BHARATANATYA DANCERS

Abstract

Mindfulness is a conscious experience of the present moment without being judgmental about the thoughts, feelings, and behavior. Mindfulness training has found to be extremely effective in promoting and enhancing psychological well being. The aim of the study was to explore the relationship between practice of Bharatanatya and presence of mindfulness. A pilot study was conducted to determine the sample size. The study population (N=240) was consisted of dancers and non dancers. The main study recruited dancers (n=120) from three different dance schools of Manipal, Udupi & Sirsi and non dancers (n= 120) from general population using purposive sampling strategies on the basis of inclusion and exclusion criteria. They were assessed on Five facets of Mindfulness Questionnaire. The session lasted for 10-15 minutes for each participant. Statistical analysis was conducted using descriptive statistics, Student's t-test and One way ANOVA. Results indicated statistically signicant difference between Mindfulness and Bharatanatya practice. The results also showed that Mindfulness increases as the number of years of practice increases, but there was no statistically signicant difference found among the groups regarding number of years of practice.