Kinesthetic awareness

Kinesthetic awareness
Kinesthetic awareness (K.a) is a skill referring to our body’s ability to locate itself in space. Kinesthetic receptors (aka motor neurons) are located all throughout the body. When these neurons are activated, they send information to the brain ranging from where your limbs are in relation to each other to how heavy an object is and registers sense inputs like heat and cold. In return, the brain sends “motor programs” to your muscles to tell them exactly what to do. This system also controls muscle memory, the ability for your muscles to learn patterns.
This is a difficult concept to imagine for people who have never attempted to conceptualize K.a for themselves. For a visual perspective, imagine being able to see a map of your body in your mind’s eye. Now imagine being able to consult with this map in every situation you find yourself. While walking you would never trip, while dancing you would never stumble and embarrass yourself, and you could always have proper dignified posture! These are the very basic benefits of K.a. We see just how essential it is for living a good life, nearly a prerequisite for happiness. To see just how difficult life would be without K.a, picture the most clumsy person you have ever met and imagine living in their shoes. Falling down stairs, dropping phones, spilling water on valuable electronics, twisting ankles, they really are their own worst enemy!
Think of this skill as any other, “practice makes perfect” and “if you don’t use it you lose it.” Whatever pattern you practice and establish will be learned by your body and become your default setting. It is much harder and more time consuming to fix bad habits, so attempt to learn patterns correctly your first time around to save yourself the hardship. A smart person learns from their mistakes, a wise person learns from the mistakes of others. Be wise when making all the small decisions that shape our lives.
Refrences for developing and learning more about Kinesthetic awareness can be found in the following links. Look at my recent posts “Brief Introduction to Meditation” and “Examining The Body”

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/activities-to-improve-bodily-kinesthetic-intelligence.html

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