What is embodied learning?

There are so many ways to learn, and we have studied a lot about how different types of people learn.

Some of us are more visual learners. Some, more logical and mathematical. Some people learn musically, or through imagery, or by relating to nature. And some of us learn best through the body. 

No matter what your learning style, we ALL learn bodily for the first years of our life. And then, often, school takes over and body learning hits a wall. They expect us to sit and listen to them talk and lecture, and experiential, sense-based learning is no longer the priority.

Embodied learning is learning through the body.

You can learn the shapes of finger patterns on the guitar, but you can also learn the feel of your hand shape.

You can learn a yoga sequence through remembering the order of poses, or you can learn it by feeling through the fluid chains of movement (kinetic chains) in your body.

There is nothing wrong with brain learning. Without it, we’d never have discovered penicillin or landed on the moon! But we ignore the wisdom of the body, especially the body in motion. 

Task for this week: Go for a walk (can be a short walk). Walk slowly and notice the shifts of weight, the movement of your hips, the effect of each step on your balance, and your head atop your body. Decide if your steps are the right size for you. Do you want a longer stride or shorter? To go faster or slower? Listen to your body’s cues for how to walk, and notice what happens when you learn from them.