Research Study of Labyrinths on Psychiatric Patients

The Orlando Regional Healthcare System (MD Anderson Cancer Center) commissioned a study through the Mind Body Spirit Center explored the value of the labyrinth on hospitalized psychiatric patients. I am not able to tell when the study was commissioned but it appears that it was completed around 2000 or 2001.

For the study, a replica of the Chartres Cathedral labyrinth was used at the Orlando Regional South Seminole Hospital. Patient found in the psychiatric observational unit over a two week period were involved in the study. Participants were provided with no explanation of the intervention to detach assumptions or presuppositions from the study. Participants were divided into a study and control group based on their desire to participate and/or physician clearance.

Physiological data was accumulated consisting of heart rate and blood pressure four times a day including immediately before and after the labyrinth experience. In addition a Hope Index was administered three times per day including immediately before and after as well as four hours post intervention.

Sample size of this study was 73 with 33 being in the control group and 40 in the study group. The patients who participated in walking the labyrinth were found to exhibit a lower pulse rate than those who did not. Regarding the Hope Index, patients who walked the labyrinth were more impacted, either by an increase or decrease than those who who were in the control group. They also found that four ours after walking the labyrinth, both the control group and the study group showed a marked decrease in their Hope Index scores.

According to the research paper published, the pilot study suggests that physiological results of lowered pulse rate that the labyrinth may serve as an effective tool in achieving the relaxation response. In addition, it would appear that this spiritual intervention may strongly impact a patient's sense of hope, stress, loneliness, despair and control (as measured with the Hope Index parameters).

For More Information, contact:
Dr. Beth Boyer Kollas
Director & Research Conductor
Orlando Regional Mind/Body/Spirit Center
1414 Kuhl Avenue
Orlando, FL. 32806

Blog Post & Images (c) 12/5/10 Don Shetterly - use by permission only

Healing Piano Music

WOW – no let’s make that a DOUBLE WOW! This CD, Healing Piano by Steven Cravis, really surprised me. I was expecting the sounds that I had come to know in Steven Cravis’ other CD’s but when I heard this one, I was surprised and amazed. I think this is one of Steven’s greatest works that he has done. Here’s why I say this.

The music is gentle but has flowing ripples of musical notes, as if you were staring across a rippling brook flowing gently through a lush meadow. The songs have delicately placed pauses in them, as if they just knew where exactly to be located to give the mind an opportunity to absorb all that it is receiving. The sounds range from more dominant tones to more mellow, with some tones just following one another in single file that is full of dimension, time, and space. The music is so deep and vibrantly full of life and energy that I find myself wanting to immerse myself in it, as if I’m soaking in a relaxing bath. To say this music is amazing is limiting my description by a vocabulary that can not explain the fullness of the sounds, tones, and inflections.

So I put this music to the test using my pulse meter to measure just what impact it would have on me. Using my iPod and noise canceling headphones, I laid on my massage table and just played the music as I closed my eyes. I took my pulse with the pulse meter and it was around 80-85 before I started. After listening all of the way through to the end of the music, I once again took my pulse. My pulse had gone down to around 69-74. It definitely dropped my pulse rate down about 10-15 points and that is an indicator that the “relaxation response” or parasympathetic mode is being reached, which offers the body a chance to heal through rest and repair.

This music is not only beautiful but so relaxing and inviting that I know you’ll want to check it out. I’m sure my clients will enjoy having relaxing massages to this music and I’m sure I will also be using this in my own relaxation and meditation times. This CD, Healing Piano by Steven Cravis, is truly a piece of art and Steven is going to have a difficult time creating work that outdoes this CD, but knowing his creative ability, I’m sure we will see many more great things in the future.

You can learn more about Steven Cravis at:
http://www.stevencravis.com

You can download music by Steven Cravis on:
iTunes

*For more articles, check out the Mind Body Thoughts Blog