Skip to main content

Call for papers - Mind-body interventions: mindful movement practices

Guest Editors:
Marcelo Demarzo: The Brazilian Center for Mindfulness and Health Promotion, Department of Preventive Medicine, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Brazil.
Linda Zhong: School of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

Submission Status: Open   |   Submission Deadline: 28 February 2024


BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies is calling for submissions to our Collection on mind-body interventions: mindful movement practices. 
Albeit more commonly associated with meditation and relaxation, mindfulness practice exists in many forms, including mindful movements. Movement is a fundamental aspect to human life and has been used as a form of both physical and mental therapy since the beginning of time. Mindful movement practices have repeatedly been shown to result in significant health benefits. This includes improved joint and bone function, improved brain and mental health, pain management, cardiovascular conditioning, prevention of injuries, improvement in respiratory functions. As a mindfulness practice, mindful movement-based therapies promote relaxation, increased awareness and improved emotional regulation. 

Meet the Guest Editors

Back to top

Marcelo Demarzo: The Brazilian Center for Mindfulness and Health Promotion, Department of Preventive Medicine, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Brazil.

Marcelo Demarzo is Associate Professor of the Escola Paulista de Medicina (São Paulo School of Medicine), Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP), and M.D., Ph.D., and Family doctor specialized in Mindfulness, Family and Community Medicine, and in Sports Medicine and Exercise. He is permanent Advisor in the Master's Program and Doctorate in Population Health of UNIFESP, Senior Fellow of the International Primary Care Research Leadership Program (Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford) since 2012, and Senior Fellow of the International Complementary & Integrative Medicine Research Leadership and Capacity Building Program since 2021. Dr. Demarzo is also Coordinator of the Mente Aberta ("Mind Open") - Brazilian Center for Mindfulness and Health Promotion.


Linda Zhong: School of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

Linda Zhong  is currently Associate Professor and Director of Chinese Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Dr. Zhong has worked in Chinese Medicine education, research, and service for more than 20 years. Her research focuses mainly on integrative medicine and globalization of Chinese Medicine. She is also a Visiting Professor of Integrative Medicine Centre, the University of Toronto, and Visiting Fellow of Australian Research Centre for Complementary and Integrative Medicine, the University of Technology Sydney. She serves as the Vice President of Hong Kong Association for Integration of Chinese-Western Medicine. In 2020, she was awarded a Qi Huang Young Scholar by the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine in recognition of her excellence in clinical practice and studies of Chinese medicine.



 



About the collection

BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies is calling for submissions to our Collection on Mind-body Interventions: Mindful Movement Practices. 

Albeit more commonly associated with meditation and relaxation, mindfulness practice exists in many forms, including mindful movements. Movement is a fundamental aspect to human life and has been used as a form of both physical and mental therapy since the beginning of time. Mindful Movement practices have repeatedly been shown to result in significant health benefits. This includes improved joint and bone function, improved brain and mental health, pain management, cardiovascular conditioning, prevention of injuries, improvement in respiratory functions. As a mindfulness practice, mindful movement-based therapies promote relaxation, increased awareness and improved emotional regulation. 

BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies has launched this collection calling for research on all aspects relating to broad movement practices as therapy, including but not limited to, mindfulness-based programs, dance therapy, yoga, qigong, martial arts, tai chi, moving and walking meditation, and restorative movement. We welcome clinical studies, basic research, study protocols, studies on patterns of use, knowledge and prevalence, systematic reviews, and studies addressing implementation science. 

In support of UN Sustainable Development Goals 3 of ensuring healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages, BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies has launched this collection calling for research on all aspects relating to broad movement practices as therapy, including but not limited to, mindfulness-based programs, dance therapy, yoga, qigong, martial arts, tai chi, moving and walking meditation, and restorative movement. We welcome clinical studies, basic research, study protocols, studies on patterns of use, knowledge and prevalence, systematic reviews, and studies addressing implementation science. 

This collection is a part of the “Mind-body interventions” collection series by BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies. Other collections in the series include: Mind-body interventions: mindfulness and meditation and Mind-body interventions: creative art practices.


Image credit:  Thao LEE / Unsplash

  1. Lack of exercise is often a major cause of chronic disease. Osteoporosis (OP) is a chronic disease with multifactorial co-morbidity. Baduanjin (BDJ) exercise may be a powerful tool for modifying risk factors. ...

    Authors: Chuanrui Sun, Ming Chen, Xiaoyang Wang, Baoyu Qi, He Yin, Yingxia Ji, Na Yuan, Shangquan Wang, Liguo Zhu and Xu Wei
    Citation: BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies 2023 23:325
    Content type: Study Protocol Published on:

  2. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can occur after trauma. While PTSD management strategies include first-line pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy, mind–body therapies, such as yoga, are applied in the PTSD po...

    Authors: Nina Laplaud, Anaïck Perrochon, Matthieu Gallou-Guyot, Maarten Moens, Lisa Goudman, Romain David, Philippe Rigoard and Maxime Billot
    Citation: BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies 2023 23:258
    Content type: Research Published on:

  3. Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is a common public health problem and a leading cause of long-term pain, decreased muscle strength, and even disability. Tai Chi has been proved effective and highly recommended for K...

    Authors: Hongyu Yue, Yang Li, Jianwen Ma, Chaoqun Xie, Fangfang Xie, Junhao Cai, Min Fang and Fei Yao
    Citation: BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies 2023 23:256
    Content type: Study Protocol Published on:

  4. Falls are a global public problem and may be an important cause of death in older adults. However, older adults with mild cognitive impairment(MCI) are more likely to fall and suffer more damage than older adu...

    Authors: Ziyi Wu, Yuxing Kuang, Yiwen Wan, Jiao Shi, Shuqian Li, Rui Xia, Mingyue Wan and Shangjie Chen
    Citation: BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies 2023 23:233
    Content type: Study Protocol Published on:

  5. Chemotherapy is associated with a wide range of physical and psychological side effects, so complementary and alternative therapies may be practiced as an independent treatment or combined with the standard on...

    Authors: Mohammad Namazinia, Seyyed Reza Mazlum, Samira Mohajer and Violeta Lopez
    Citation: BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies 2023 23:192
    Content type: Research Published on:

  6. In this study, we will combine the traditional Baduanjin with Yijin Jing and Wuqinxi to create an optimized Baduanjin exercise program with three different forms (vertical, sitting, and horizontal) to adapt to...

    Authors: Zenan Wu, Zehao Hu, Shiwen Ke, Lisha Mo, Mingliang Qiu, Guoshuang Zhu, Wei Zhu and Liangji Liu
    Citation: BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies 2023 23:155
    Content type: Study Protocol Published on:

Submission Guidelines

Back to top

This Collection welcomes submission of Research Articles. Should you wish to submit a different article type, please read our submission guidelines to confirm that type is accepted by the journal. Articles for this Collection should be submitted via our submission system, Snapp. During the submission process you will be asked whether you are submitting to a Collection, please select "Mind-body Interventions: Mindful Movement Practices" from the dropdown menu.

Articles will undergo the journal’s standard peer-review process and are subject to all of the journal’s standard policies. Articles will be added to the Collection as they are published.

The Guest Editors have no competing interests with the submissions which they handle through the peer review process. The peer review of any submissions for which the Guest Editors have competing interests is handled by another Editorial Board Member who has no competing interests.