We often talk about "learning by doing". This way of knowing happens through physical movement and through the “knowings” of our physical body.
The body knows a great deal that is not necessarily known by the conscious, logical mind, such as how to ride a bike, parallel park a car, dance the waltz, catch a thrown object, maintain balance while walking, and type on a computer keyboard.
Business knows the power of providing “hands-on” or "field training" for employees ranging from how to operate certain machines, to learning how to run a new piece of software, to role-playing new styles of management.
You can purchase a mind-boggling array of do-it-yourself videos which lead you through the performance of everything from country western line dancing, to gourmet cooking, to weight loss, to origami, and meditation.
Some of the highest paid professionals in our society are athletes, actors and actresses, and individuals skilled in the art of dance. Just consider what you are willing to pay for the services of a plumber, electrician, auto mechanic or a skilled carpenter – all of which require a high degree of BodySmart. How many of the following are true for you?
You have a keen sense of body awareness.
You like physical movement—dancing, making and inventing with your hands, and role-playing.
You communicate well through body language and other
physical gestures.
You can perform a task much better after seeing someone else do it first and then mimicking those actions.
You like physical games of all kinds
You like to demonstrate how to do something for someone else.
You find it difficult to sit still for long periods of time.
You are easily bored or distracted if you are not ac-
tively involved in what is going on around you.
There are two sides to your BodySmart – the bodily side and the kinesthetic side.
On the bodily side you are dealing with everything which makes up your real, physical body, namely, arms, legs, head, torso, hips, and shoulders, as well as the full range of internal organs from the heart, brain, kidneys, blood flow, and bio-neurological connectivity all the way down to the tiniest cells and their miraculous composition.
On the kinesthetic side of BodySmart you are dealing with the full range of your body’s movement potential. This includes not only all those things which humanity has achieved with the body such as choreography which astounds us, mind-boggling physical feats in professional athletics, or theatrical performances which can transport us beyond the mundanities of daily living.
The kinesthetic side also includes heretofore unrealized potentials of our innate kinetic potentials such as the infant’s potential to walk, the ability to develop and train both gross and fine motor skills at almost any stage of our development, and the subtleties of what we can express through facial expressions, posture, and other so-called “body language".
