Abstract
The aim of this chapter is to open a dialogue about embodiment and mindfulness education. We begin with a discussion of mindfulness, and mindfulness education in higher education health and social care contexts, followed by a section in which we situate ourselves, and discuss the context of our experiences of teaching mindfulness in a health professions education classroom. We then consider theories of embodiment, and ways in which we employed them in the design of a hermeneutic phenomenological study of mindfulness education and practice. Examples of embodied accounts of mind–body awareness and mindfulness in everyday activities are highlighted drawing on students’ writing about their experiences. A body map** protocol and a body map that explores the embodiment of mindfulness are presented. Finally, we reflect on a few of the benefits and challenges of mindfulness practice as identified by students and share emerging pedagogical insights to support students to embody the space of mindfulness education in the professional education classroom.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to express appreciation to the participants of the study for their generosity in sharing insights. Special thanks to Helen Harrison for helpful feedback on an earlier draft of this paper. Thank you to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for support of this research through an SSHRC Insight Grant.
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Kinsella, E.A., Smith, K.S. (2021). “I Listen to My Body More”: Embodied Mindfulness in Professional Education. In: Loftus, S., Kinsella, E.A. (eds) Embodiment and Professional Education. Debating Higher Education: Philosophical Perspectives, vol 8. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-4827-4_7
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