191
DOI: 10.1201/9780429440939-20
17
Calibrating the Body
Embodied Research Strategies for
Attuning to Subtle Information
Eline Kieft
Clover Trail, University of Winchester,
Coventry University
Our hope, says philosopher David Abram, is to reinvigorate the language of the body, learn to let
our muscles, sinews, blood, and bones sing again in harmony with the wild chorus of the land, sea,
and air—to feel again the pulse of natural kinship. We need to open the vital channels between our
words—even our written words—our bodies, and the articulate flesh of the world. We need to feel and
respond to the deep intelligence of the matter of the planet and cosmos from which we are born. We
need to pay attention to the stirrings of mind in matter, to the symphony of universal meaning—to the
deep narrative of matter itself.
( de Quincey, 2002: 104, ital. in original).
CONNECTING WITH THE OTHER- THAN-HUMAN
This chapter proposes ways to sensitise and educate the body to perceive intangible aspects of the
natural world. It shows how we can recognise and interact with the deep intelligence and narratives
of matter all around us. My journey of understanding the body as an antenna is informed by four
strands of study: the general disciplines of consciousness studies and shamanic techniques, and
two more specific approaches of ECOintention and Movement Medicine. Each of these ( which are
briefly introduced below) have ways of addressing and exploring the intricate connections between
matter ( particles), energy ( waves) and consciousness ( information): aspects that feature strongly in
the relatively young field of quantum agriculture, or quantum-informed agriculture ( Q( I) A), which
builds on traditional models of agriculture, including, yet going beyond, matter and particles ( soil
management, chemical compounds, food production). Waves, in the form of sound and other electromagnetic techniques, for example, are being used for increasing crop production, or managing
CONTENTS
Connecting with the Other- Than-Human ...................................................................................... 191
Information Exists All Around Us ................................................................................................. 193
Broadcasting between Body and Environment .............................................................................. 194
Opening Up to Different Ways of Knowing and Learning ............................................................ 195
Calibrating the Body as Instrument: Towards Multi-Levelled Literacy ........................................ 196
Deeper Familiarisation with the Body .................................................................................. 196
Territory of the Heart and Emotional Literacy ..................................................................... 197
Cultivating Right-Brain Abilities and Expanding Consciousness ........................................ 198
Nature Immersion ................................................................................................................. 199
Closing ........................................................................................................................................... 199
References ......................................................................................................................................200
DOI: 10.1201/9780429440939-20
17
Calibrating the Body
Embodied Research Strategies for
Attuning to Subtle Information
Eline Kieft
Clover Trail, University of Winchester,
Coventry University
Our hope, says philosopher David Abram, is to reinvigorate the language of the body, learn to let
our muscles, sinews, blood, and bones sing again in harmony with the wild chorus of the land, sea,
and air—to feel again the pulse of natural kinship. We need to open the vital channels between our
words—even our written words—our bodies, and the articulate flesh of the world. We need to feel and
respond to the deep intelligence of the matter of the planet and cosmos from which we are born. We
need to pay attention to the stirrings of mind in matter, to the symphony of universal meaning—to the
deep narrative of matter itself.
( de Quincey, 2002: 104, ital. in original).
CONNECTING WITH THE OTHER- THAN-HUMAN
This chapter proposes ways to sensitise and educate the body to perceive intangible aspects of the
natural world. It shows how we can recognise and interact with the deep intelligence and narratives
of matter all around us. My journey of understanding the body as an antenna is informed by four
strands of study: the general disciplines of consciousness studies and shamanic techniques, and
two more specific approaches of ECOintention and Movement Medicine. Each of these ( which are
briefly introduced below) have ways of addressing and exploring the intricate connections between
matter ( particles), energy ( waves) and consciousness ( information): aspects that feature strongly in
the relatively young field of quantum agriculture, or quantum-informed agriculture ( Q( I) A), which
builds on traditional models of agriculture, including, yet going beyond, matter and particles ( soil
management, chemical compounds, food production). Waves, in the form of sound and other electromagnetic techniques, for example, are being used for increasing crop production, or managing
CONTENTS
Connecting with the Other- Than-Human ...................................................................................... 191
Information Exists All Around Us ................................................................................................. 193
Broadcasting between Body and Environment .............................................................................. 194
Opening Up to Different Ways of Knowing and Learning ............................................................ 195
Calibrating the Body as Instrument: Towards Multi-Levelled Literacy ........................................ 196
Deeper Familiarisation with the Body .................................................................................. 196
Territory of the Heart and Emotional Literacy ..................................................................... 197
Cultivating Right-Brain Abilities and Expanding Consciousness ........................................ 198
Nature Immersion ................................................................................................................. 199
Closing ........................................................................................................................................... 199
References ......................................................................................................................................200