Basic Body Awareness Therapy for Healthy Young Adults

Summary

Background:

Musculoskeletal pain, impaired postural control, and reduced movement quality are increasingly observed among young adults, partly due to sedentary lifestyles and insufficient physical activity. Basic Body Awareness Therapy (BBAT) is a physiotherapy-based mind-body approach designed to enhance body awareness, movement quality, balance, and postural stability through controlled functional movements. Although BBAT has demonstrated beneficial effects in various clinical populations, evidence regarding its effectiveness in healthy young adults remains limited.

Objective:This study aims to investigate the effects of a 12-week BBAT program on balance, musculoskeletal pain, spinal mobility, and flexibility in healthy young adults.

Methods:This randomized controlled trial will be conducted at the Healthy Living Laboratory of the University of Health Sciences, Gülhane Faculty of Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation, between June 2026 and May 2027. Healthy individuals aged 18-40 years will be recruited through voluntary participation and social media announcements. Participants will be randomly assigned to either a BBAT intervention group or a control group. The intervention group will participate in supervised BBAT sessions once weekly for 12 weeks, with each session lasting 45-60 minutes, while the control group will receive no intervention. Eligible participants will be individuals aged 18-40 years who have not participated in structured body-awareness-based exercise programs, such as BBAT, yoga, or Pilates, within the previous six months and who are able to complete all assessment procedures independently. Individuals with neurological, vestibular, rheumatological, or severe orthopedic disorders, recent surgery or injury affecting the spine or lower extremities, pregnancy, acute infection, or medication use affecting balance will be excluded.

Spinal mobility and flexibility will be the primary outcome measure. Secondary outcomes will include musculoskeletal pain and balance. Assessments will be performed before and after the intervention period.

Conditions

• Young Healthy Adults

Interventions

OTHER

Exercise

Participants allocated to the intervention group will receive a 12-week Basic Body Awareness Therapy (BBAT) program. The intervention will be delivered once weekly on the same day and at the same time each week, with each session lasting approximately 45-60 minutes. The BBAT program will consist of structured exercises performed in supine, sitting, and standing positions, focusing on postural alignment, muscle activation and relaxation, breathing awareness, weight transfer, balance control, and movement quality. Individual and partner-based exercises will be used to enhance body awareness, postural stability, and coordinated movement patterns. All sessions will be supervised and conducted by a physiotherapist who has completed BBAT Level III training. Participants will be encouraged to perform the movements with attention to body awareness, balance, breathing, and movement efficiency throughout the intervention period.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Saglik Bilimleri Universitesi

  collaborator OTHER

• Özge ÇANKAYA

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Özge Çankaya · Saglik Bilimleri Universitesi

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

40 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2026-06-15

Primary Completion

2026-09-15

Completion

2027-05-15

Countries

• Turkey (Türkiye)

Study Locations