Reflection Of Embodied Discourse

As I signed up for a class called “Embodied Discourse” I had no idea what to expect; the only information I knew was that I was about to take a Goal 1 course. If someone asked me on week one or even two what “embodied discourse” meant in terms of this course, I believe my response would be something along the lines of: “I don’t know, but we do yoga every day!” As the course progressed, if someone asked that same question, my response transformed more to: “It’s about integrating your mind and body into writing,” but I always remembered to mention we did yoga every time we met as a class. It has taken me awhile to realize that embodied discourse is more than just a class I’m taking to help me incorporate my mind and body together into writing. …show more content…
After all, we see a doctor when there is something wrong with our body and a psychologist if there is something wrong with our mind. In reality, our minds and bodies are entwined; in an On Being interview with Krista Tippett, Arthur Zajonc proves this when discussing how meditation plays a role in his tremors. Have you ever been so upset about something that you evoke a headache, upset stomach, or just feel sick in general? Or maybe you remember getting ready for a job interview and tried to appear calm and collected, but in reality you are sweating just about everywhere sweat can be produced. That is because your mind and body are working together without you even noticing. Langer performed an experiment where she looked at chambermaids who viewed their tasks as work, but this work required them to be constantly moving all day. When these chambermaids named their activity as “exercise,” their obesity and diabetes percentages decreased. How is this possible? By renaming their everyday work activities, they tricked their minds and bodies into thinking they were exercising rather than working. This is just another example of how our minds and bodies are working together in ways we don’t even notice. So why do our conscious mind and body split, and how can we resist this split? It all ties back into simple awareness of our thinking and …show more content…
More often than not, people don’t even know what default mode is. This is why it’s so important for everyone to be aware they have the choice to think. If everyone begins checking in with themselves by acknowledging their being mode rather than just the doing mode, built up anger, stress, fear, and other negative emotions can be resolved. Resolution of the negative can make a massive impact on the world. I feel happiness is one of the most valued aspects of life. It’s a wonderful thing that awareness, mindfulness, integrating mind and body – whatever you want to call it – can lead us in the direction of happiness and peace. Before this course, I knew of mindfulness, but not how it works or the reasoning behind it. I believe everyone should know they have a choice to think about their thinking. Something as small as stopping to be in the moment or more advanced as yoga and/or meditation can lead to happier people at peace with themselves. After all, giving mindfulness a shot can’t hurt. As cheesy as it may sound, each individual in this world has an impact. This might sound ridiculous considering I am one of seven billion people in this world and counting. But if each person in the world collectively strives for happiness and peace within ourselves, the difference we could collectively make is almost unimaginable. We