Thursday 17 February 2011

Embodied Knowledge

Today marked the end of my taught sessions on a module called Embodied knowledge, it also marks the end of my taught sessions with my fellow MA students. It's been an emotional and touching day. One of my colleagues spoke of finding herself and allowing herself to be seen; I remembered looking back on a session, the 1st session that I really saw her and how it had an effect on me; we were spending time in a space and allowing one and other to be observed, I had become agitated by the way I felt that I had to behave like a performing chimpanzee, I had become a caricature and everything that irritates me about performance (while trying to do the opposite). She came into the space and sat, she commanded my attention; her eyes spoke of fear and determination, I know that this was not a performance it was a demand however; it was an essential part of the process.
I want to say thank you for this shared experience; the overpowering level of hormones in the room gave me the freedom to be honest in a way that may not be required in my future practice. We were united in our gender and liberated by the understanding of our bodies, the loss of embarrassment and in the knowledge that we were safe in each others company.

so here's to many more beginnings and endings, the continuation of learning and making sure that the knowledge becomes embodied.

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