Movement-based embodied contemplative practices: Definitions and paradigms

Cognitive neuroscience has moved from viewing the mind as disembodied and computational toward understanding mental functions through the physical body and environment. In contemplative science, attention to bodily sensations has mostly been studied in seated meditation, but movement-based practices like Yoga, Qigong, and Tai Chi also cultivate interoceptive, proprioceptive, and kinesthetic awareness. These practices likely underlie modern somatic therapies such as the Feldenkrais Method and Alexander Technique. This paper examines how these practices are grounded in embodiment, movement, and contemplation through an enactive approach to cognition, highlighting challenges Western scientists face when studying practices based on a non-dualistic view of mind and body.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Over the past decades, cognitive neuroscience has witnessed a shift from predominantly disembodied and computational views of the mind, to more embodied and situated views of the mind. These postulate that mental functions cannot be fully understood without reference to the physical body and the environment in which they are experienced. Within the field of contemplative science, the directing of attention to bodily sensations has so far mainly been studied in the context of seated meditation and mindfulness practices. However, the cultivation of interoceptive, proprioceptive and kinesthetic awareness is also said to lie at the core of many movement-based contemplative practices such as Yoga, Qigong and Tai Chi. In addition, it likely plays a key role in the efficacy of modern somatic therapeutic techniques such as the Feldenkrais Method and the Alexander Technique. In the current paper we examine how these practices are grounded in the concepts of embodiment, movement and contemplation, as we look at them primarily through the lens of an enactive approach to cognition. Throughout, we point to a series of challenges that arise when Western scientists study practices that are based on a non-dualistic view of mind and body.