If you have little experience with an embodied practice, it can feel challenging to experiment with incorporating the body into your science education. How do you get into the body into a playful mindset, and how do you approach it so that you can overcome those barriers?
Many of these exercises employ the use of the senses through play and imagination, to think about patterns and archetypes as a means to explore deeper dynamics of scientific phenomena. If this kind of play is new to you, start by experimenting with some of these activities on your own. See what helps to light up your imagination and curiosity and how it might be adapted for your own course work
The best way to think about this is by not asking too much from yourself. You don’t have to start with a leap into dance performance and gymnastics or hugging trees and rolling around in the dirt. It’s more about creating a practice of many small steps, like choosing the right kind of music, a single song you feel comfortable to move to. For people who get overwhelmed by too much possibility and open space with improvisation, it can be helpful to set a few boundaries for themselves in order to have a container. To get a sense of security, define a small number – two or three – rules for yourself to create a safe container that will keep you focused.
Your practice can also start with asking yourself: How can we build awareness around the information that’s coming through our senses? Practicing this type of awareness can be very simple: it can start with breathing, sitting and breathing and feeling our bodies, which many of us don’t do. Try by starting to listen to what comes through when you do that in a natural environment or in a silent environment, become more aware and to become more tuned in to how much information our senses detect.
Check out our Activities & Exercises page to try out some activities on your own
