Embodiment
mindandlife.org
Embodiment
We in the West are used to thinking of the mind and the body as separate. But a burgeoning field called “embodied cognition” is demonstrating that thinking is actually a full-body experience.
Annie Murphy Paul • The Extended Mind: The Power of Thinking Outside the Brain
My life’s work has taught me that the ability to notice, experience, and tolerate the sensations in the body that accompany the thoughts in the mind is critical to empowering wholeness and well-being. We dwell so much in our thoughts, our interpretations of our experiences, our strivings, and our expectations that we register very little of what is
... See moreNan Wise • Why Good Sex Matters: Understanding the Neuroscience of Pleasure for a Smarter, Happier, and More Purpose-Filled Life
The contemporary phenomenologist Maurice Merleau-Ponty characterized his thinking as a philosophy of the lived body or the body subject. Key to his analysis was the notion of embodiment, which draws a distinction from the objective body, which is regarded solely as a physiological entity, and the phenomenal body, which is not just any body, or
... See moreRichard Strozzi-Heckler • The Art of Somatic Coaching: Embodying Skillful Action, Wisdom, and Compassion
a brain without embodiment is “a disease comparable to cancerous growth or tumor” (what a prophetic indictment of AI), a body without a mind is “an empty fibrous bundle of glands,” and an over-mind without the other two is madness. A healthy body, therefore, is not a conglomeration of certain parts, abilities, and attributes, but a harmonious... See more
Maria Popova • The Marginalian
separating our sense of self from our bodies alienates us from the most powerful and rich aspects of who we are.