blog idea talking about motor experiences

Talking about emergent outcomes

Trying to describe more abstract outcomes of physical practice may be somewhat challenging, due to the nature of these outcomes. “Abstract” literally means far removed from the concrete. everybody understands what strength is. But when you feel a change in a behavioral pattern which feels meaningful to you but you are not sure how to refer to it, it may be difficult to express it precisely because there is no ready-made expression.

Part of our research and educational initiatives is exactly the phenomenology of these more abstract realizations coming from dedicated movement practice.

This is the core theme of our podcast.

If you want to build a mental category for what “emergent outcomes” may look like, check out these articles on our website:

• In “Seasons of Life,” Satoko is describing how abstract concepts can be understood through physical practice
• In “What’s Between The Notes” Patrick is tracing subtle metacognitive states through mediums of movement practices and music.
• In “Disembodied by Dance,” I reflect on an unusual moment during an art performance that temporarily turned off my normal experience of the body.

The shared thread is that dedicated movement practice significantly reorganizes how you experience and perceive the world.

Being able to hike up the mountain without feeling tired or being able to work intensely at my computer for 10 hours straight without shoulder tension are the outcomes on the physical side of the spectrum, and their presence in my life is expressed through a lack of friction or discomfort. But the perceptual changes gained through practice are what colors every moment of my wakeful experience.