The application of somatic practices into the praxis of being a teacher educator: how can I take better care of myself?

Abstract

This paper presents the findings of an action research project which makes my embodied knowledge explicit in order to contribute to the growing interest in somatic practices and their application to the wider field of teaching and learning. This paper proposes that in order to increase wellbeing within the work environment, the factors which enhance and improve the health of educators must be understood and researched. As somatic practices study direct bodily experience as a source of knowledge, they offer the field of education the opportunity to reposition the body as central to this enquiry.  By broadening the concept of wellbeing to encompass the subjective experiences of educators, somatic practices of self-care are evaluated. Evidence of improved wellbeing can then be fed back in to the professional field of education for the self-improvement of educators. Thus the research further aims to make a wider contribution to the field of education and the relatively new and not-yet-mainstream field of somatics. 

Key words:  Somatic; Self-care; Educator; Health: Wellbeing.