Darviri Christina
University of Athens, Greece
Title: Pythagorean Self-awareness Technique for Stress Management and Self-Empowerment Related to Healthy Lifestyle in Healthy Volunteers: A Pilot Study.
Biography
Biography: Darviri Christina
Abstract
Coping with stress and making healthy choices become increasingly difficult for individuals with low self-empowerment. The goal of this pilot study was to assess a new technique dubbed "Pythagorean Self-awareness Technique" (PSAT), based on Pythagorean philosophy. This is a mental technique, performed twice per day, with three stages: sequential recall of daily events, primary contemplation on thoughts-emotions related to each event and the critical appraisal of the individual's attitude. A sample of 34 healthy volunteers (13 males, 21 females, mean age: 49, from 23 to 72 years old) attending this program for 8 weeks was assessed. We followed a heuristic approach by measuring various aspects of mental and physical health both prior and after the end of the program. Significant beneficial effects were categorized in terms of d effect sizes: medium (0.3 or below), moderate (0.3-0.5), high (over 0.5). High effect sizes were note for the following measures (in decreasing effect sizes): perceived stress (d=0.78), mental fatigue (d=0.74), negative emotions (d=0.70), sleep disturbances (d=0.68), emotion control (d=0.67), control of anger (d=0.66), self-control (d=0.64), management of self-emotions (d=0.63), scheduled physical exercise (d=0.63), pride (d=0.63), speed of cognitive tasks (d=0.58), cognitive fatigue (d=0.58), sleep onset (d=0.56) depression (d=0.55), self-awareness (d=0.51), daily routine (0.50) and dietary healthy choices (d=0.50). Moderate effect sizes were found for anxiety (d=0.49), guilds (d=0.48), restful sleep (d=0.47) and for systolic blood pressure (d=0.43). In conclusion, PSAT can be validated as a potent technique since it benefits both mental and physical aspects of health.