MIND/BODY UNITY COURSE

CONTENT AND SCHEDULE FOR TED DIMON’s COURSE AT COLUMBIA TEACHERS COLLEGE: Principles of Mind/Body unity and their role in education and health

WEEK 1 – Thursday 24th January 2013

Lecture 1:

 Introduction: Mind/body Unity and the Role of Psychophysical Education

An explanation of the course, its structure and aims

  • Definition of a new field of work with its own subject of study.
  • Defining “the self” as a psychophysical concept.
  • Learning by means of the self and the concept of division and duality.
  • Experiential work as a new aspect of study.
  • Understanding the human operating systems objectively and experientially with the goal of achieving a new level of control based on knowledge of the working of these systems.
  • Motor systems, proprioception and the autonomic system – their relation to this new field.
  • How skill, health, and mindfulness are addressed in the course.
  • Overview of the course work and an introduction to the daily experiential work.

Experiential lab 1:

Discovering our “use” of ourselves: actions and how we perform them harmfully

The head/neck/trunk pattern.
Kinesthetic awareness of harmful tension patterns.

WEEK 2 – Thursday 31st January 2013

Lecture 2:

First Principles: Use and a New Concept of Education

The concept of “use”.

  • The psychophysical nature of activity.
  • The difference between physical patterns and psychophysical actions.
  • How “use” affects learning, health, and development.

Elements of the self in learning

  • Attention to the self – a new philosophical approach based on process not ends.
  • “End-gaining approaches” – what they are and why they are problematic.
  • Freedom from being right or wrong.
  • Definition of kinesthesia, proprioception, and control.
  • Why this field of study comprises fundamental knowledge and why it can be mistakenly conceived to be a method.

Experiential lab 2:

How thinking affects use

“Direction” and muscle length – our personal biofeedback system.
Muscle length and coordinated action.

WEEK 3 – Thursday 7th February 2013

Lecture 3:

The Muscular System in Upright Posture and Coordination

  • How we got this way – evolution of the head/neck/trunk and muscular system.
  • The role of tensegrity in the musculoskeletal system.
  • The role of the head/neck/trunk in upright posture.
  • The role of reflex activity and muscle length in upright posture.
  • Emergent functions relating to the human upright design.

Experiential lab 3:

Self awareness and “positions of mechanical advantage”

What are “positions of mechanical advantage”?
How can we use them?

WEEK 4 – Thursday 14th February 2013

Lecture 4:

Sensory/Motor Systems and Proprioception in Activity

  • Muscle tone and how it is affected by sensory input.
  • Kinesthesia, muscle function, and stretch reflexes.
  • “Directing” and how it affects the head/neck/back pattern.
  • Sensory and motor maps in the cortex.
  • The proprioceptive system and the control of action.
  • The relation of reflex and voluntary systems in action.

Experiential lab 4:

Exploring our psychophysical conception of ourselves

The inaccuracy of kinesthetic feedback.
The pitfalls of faulty kinesthetic awareness in relation to use.
Kinesthetic awareness and “thinking in activity”.

WEEK 5 – Thursday 21st February 2013

Lecture 5:

Ideomotor Action

  • Definition and explanation of ideomotor action.
  • Ideomotor action and psychophysical unity.
  • How ideomotor action affects behavior.
  • The difference between a unified approach and mind/body methods.

Experiential lab 5:

A practical introduction to the ideomotor predicament

Inhibition and the need for stopping.
Breaking actions down into component parts.

WEEK 6 – Thursday 28th February 2013

Lecture 6:

John Dewey and Habit

  • Defining habit and its relation to mind/body unity.
  • Changing habits through psychophysical education.
  • Assessing Dewey’s philosophy of ends and means.
  • The unified concept of the self and the work of F. Matthias Alexander.

Experiential lab 6:

How to overcome habit in action

Definition of the “means-whereby principle” and how to use it.

WEEK 7 – Thursday 7th March 2013

Lecture 7:

Explaining the Holistic Functioning of the Muscular/Motor System

  • The evolution and function of the arms and legs.
  • Breathing and how it works.
  • Muscle tone and its importance to function.
  • The relation of specific parts to the coordinated whole.

Experiential lab 7:

Exploring natural breathing

The use of the “controlled exhalation” to change breathing habits – theory and practice.

WEEK 8 – Thursday 14th March 2013

Lecture 8:

Skill and “Non-Doing”

  • Definition of skill and “non-doing”.
  • Indirect learning and its benefits.
  • The reflex element of skill.
  • The relationship between habit and skill.
  • The role of the self in mastering skills.

Experiential lab 8:

Mind/body coordination and its contribution to skilled action

How to approach learning problems.
How to break activity down into manageable components.

WEEK 9 – Thursday 28th March 2013

Lecture 9:

Education and Child Development

Use of the self and children – a new concept in education.

  • The muscular system and poise – why they are important in the classroom.
  • Motor function and control – recognizing coordination problems ‘below the surface’ which affect learning.
  • Attention – how to define it in psychophysical terms and how it affects learning.

Experiential lab 9:

Overview and consolidation of work so far.

WEEK 10 – Thursday 4th April 2013

Lecture 10:

Health and Prevention

  • Use of the self: how use affects function.
  • Defining a psychophysical standard of health.
  • Prevention, cure, and belief.
  • Musculoskeletal problems and their causes.
  • The autonomic nervous system and stress.
  • Stress and lifestyle.
  • Conscious control – what is it and why is it the ultimate goal?

Experiential lab 10:

Reflex elements in walking

Understanding how we are designed to walk.
The relation of walking to upright poise.

WEEK 11 – Thursday 11th April 2013

Lecture 11:

Mindfulness in Activity

  • What is “mindfulness in activity”, why is it important and how does it differ from normal definitions of mindfulness?
  • How is awareness of use of the self related to mindfulness?
  • Mindfulness in activity as an educational goal.

Experiential lab 11:

Mindfulness in activity.

WEEK 12 – Thursday 18th April 2013

Lecture 12:

A New Philosophical Perspective on Evolution and our Unique Human Design

  • Our upright design and why it is important.
  • How key changes in evolution led to the emergence of unique human functions, and what these functions are.
  • The importance of understanding holistic functioning in mind/body work.
  • Man’s unique potential for developing awareness and conscious action.

Experiential lab 12:

Developmental movement

A practical evolutionary overview of movement and how it evolved.
The use of developmental movement in mind/body work.

WEEK 13 – Thursday 25th April 2013

Lecture 13:

Student presentations and discussion.

Experiential lab 13:

Consolidation.

WEEK 14 – Thursday 2nd May 2013

Lecture 14:

Student presentations and discussion.

Experiential lab 14:

Consolidation.

WEEK 15 – Thursday 9th May 2013

Lecture 15:

Student presentations and discussion.

Experiential lab 15:

Consolidation.