Expanding the Mind-Body-Environment Connection to Enhance the Development of Cultural Humility

• Published in: International journal of environmental research and public health Vol. 19; no. 20; p. 13641
• Main Authors: Soulé, Isabelle, Littzen-Brown, Chloé, Vermeesch, Amber L, Garrigues, Layla
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 21-10-2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Collectivism; Cultural Competency - education; Culture; Delivery of Health Care; Education; Emotions; Empathy; Ethnocentrism; Health care; Humans; Individualism; Neurosciences; Pandemics; Professionals; Roles; yoga; cultural humility; mind–body; nature-based intervention; mindsight; forest therapy
• ISSN: 1660-4601; 1661-7827; 1660-4601
• DOI: 10.3390/ijerph192013641

The unique health care needs of diverse individuals and communities are complex. To meet these needs, healthcare professionals are being called upon to alter traditional ways of thinking, perceiving, and acting in order to create more inclusive environments. Research shows that using mindsight, a process that increases both insight and empathy, can enhance an individual's mind-body-environment connection, increase self-awareness, and promote the development of cultural humility. This paper will discuss the current perspectives on the mind/body/environment connection from a Western lens that may impact the enactment of cultural humility for healthcare providers. Two evidence-based approaches, yoga and forest therapy, are recommended as effective intervention tools in fostering mindsight and cultural humility. Blending traditional cognitive learning with techniques anchored in the physical body may hold promise in supporting the development of mindsight and cultural humility in healthcare education and practice.