Where are you? I’m not asking for a geographical label but a sense of place. Just close your eyes for a moment. Where does it feel like you are?

The realization that the body and mind are one complex system was progress, but further research has shifted the discussion. It’s pretty obvious that the bodymind is situated; wherever you go, there you are! But what does that mean about how we think and feel? How does putting the bodymind in place help make sense of our lives?

In his survey of the field Peterson notes that for a “significant number of researchers … to understand the mind/brain in isolation from biological and environmental contexts is to understand nothing” (Peterson, 2003). This new way of understanding how we think is called embodied situated cognition (ESC).

How does ESC impact on our learning, living & loving? What if there really isn’t any separation between what I call ‘self’ and ‘other’? Are there thoughts you can only have in certain places?

“Indeed, the final overcoming of dualism will be a mending not only of the split between mind and body, but between mind and place.” Andy Fisher, 2002.

You can learn more about ESC and other aspects of human embodiment on the Embodiment Resources website. The Bodymind Place blog is written by Counsellor and Psychotherapist Dr Adrian Harris.

Except where other credit is given, I took all the photographs. More examples of my photographic work are available on my website.