Dear Alison, thanks for your post and invitation to share.
I used to talk in terms such as "our body connect with its intelligence and
read the information of the space", and people at workshops share examples
about the times when their bodies "knows the answer" before their "head".
I also like "embodied perception", even I don't use it as a regular term.
In the other hand; when we are working with dolls there's another kind of
challenge with clients that shows resistance to acknowledge this kind of
phenomena; doesn't it?
Big hug from Peru,
Julio
2012/8/6 Alison <maitreya71@xxxxxxxxx>
**
The terms "family constellation" or "systemic constellation" have a kind
of poetry that I can appreciate, but as every constellator knows, they
still need further explanation to be fully understood.
I've been seeking a term that would be self-explanatory, or at least
closer to describing the unique phenomena of a constellation. I have tried
"field consciousness," and heard Dan Booth Cohen talk about "representative
perception," but the language that I like the most and have started using
in my explanations is "embodied perception".
Embodied Perception is a term that is currently used in the field of
cognitive science to describe the way the body affects our interpretation
of the world. For example, as described in the wikipedia entry on embodied
cognition, when a pencil is held between a persons teeth creating a
"smile", pleasant sentences are understood faster than unpleasant ones.This
holds true in reverse: a "frown" increases the time it takes to comprehend
pleasant sentences.
However, this particular use of the term still places the knowing inside
the mind. It can even be interpreted as "when the body is experiencing
this, it warps our perception like this."
Embodied perception in constellation work locates the body as the source
of knowing, and the mind as a tool for interpretation.
The term embodied perception is a generalization of Dan's term
"representative perception." I consider it a description of the sense
perception that Eugene Gendlin describes in his focusing work, which also
has a variety of terms to describe it: "bodily felt sense," "embodied
knowing," or just "embodiment". I don't know how many focusers are also
constellators, but I would be curious to know Gendlin's reaction to the
fact that the felt sense can be picked up by others as representative
perception.
Being new to constellation work, I have not been privy to the evolution of
the language of this field. Perhaps some of you use this very term.
However, if these thoughts are helpful to anyone, it is a privilege to
share them.
May you all be well,
Alison
