Body as a Research Tool
Why an embodied practice can help our creative thinking
The I-body relationship
Scrolling, scrolling, scrolling. My body has almost entirely left the scene, as my presence reduces itself to a pair of eyes and a brain, manically reading and absorbing information. Giving my undiluted attention to unfolding current events is driven by a sense of not wanting to abandon my fellow humans in their suffering, but I don’t think I’m even aware of the tension building up in my muscles anymore.
Now that many of our lives have become primarily screen-based we consider our bodies less and less, as our gaze is sucked into our devices during both work and leisure time. Only when they are hungry, when they hurt, or when they stop working perfectly do our bodies grab our attention again. In writing this essay, I want to remind people that the physical frame is not just a vehicle to transport our mouth to the fridge.
The question is, can we take the time to listen to the internal sensory experience when there is so much external noise all around us. If I take just a few seconds to shift my focus away from the screen, I will notice my shoulders are hunched, my knuckles are white, and my heart rate is elevated by the content I am ingesting.
Our bodies are constantly communicating with us, they have deep wells of information that we’re not tapping into. They hold all our life experiences, both joyful and traumatic. The body is a creative resource, it is a research tool, and through my work I am encouraging people to engage in that dialogue with themselves.
