In Ambition, Gilbert Brim observes that “we look for the challenges that are right for us, for what we can just manage, and in this way form and shape our lives.” For most of us, however, identifying the “right challenges” is a matter of trial and error. It involves not only assessing the situation, but also assessing our own capabilities.
The latter assessment is the more difficult, for as the novelist Thomas Mann notes, “Our consciousness is feeble; only in moments of unusual clarity and vision do we really know about ourselves.”
Nevertheless, most personality tests depend upon self report and two assumptions: a) that we know ourselves, and b) that we are willing to answer questions honestly. While there is much to be said for self-reflection, it has its limits. To paraphrase the poet Robert Burns, “Oh would some Power give us the gift to see ourselves as others see us! It would from many a blunder free us.”
For this reason, the upcoming Embodied Decision Making course has two parts.The first part is a movement workshop that explores the elements of effort and shape experientially. The aim is to develop a “felt sense” of these movement elements and to tap this bodily awareness as a tool to reach personal goals.
The second part of Embodied Decision Making draws upon the use of movement analysis to articulate personal patterns of movement behavior objectively and to construct an individual decision-making profile for course participants. By combining first person somatic experiences with third person objective analysis, the Embodied Decision Making course aims to help participants identify the right challenges, ones that are matched to the individual’s motivations and capabilities. Learn more….