Frank Schumann, Post-Doctoral Researcher, Laboratoire Psychologie de la Perception, Université Paris Descartes
Given the mind–body connection implied in many mindfulness practices, it is surprising that mindfulness research has largely overlooked the role of motor control and motor learning. Here I present a theory of skilled control of attention grounded in higher-level motor control as a model of mindful awareness (Clark et al.,2015). The model proposes that practices such as Tai Chi or Feldenkrais situate mindfulness training directly within the embodied organisation of the sensorimotor loop. It suggests mindful observation of how one executes movement as a profound mechanism for shaping joint co-organisation processes between volitional movement, skilled attention and body awareness. I also provide neuroimaging evidence that this process can be enacted intersubjectively when a trained practitioner applies his own sensorimotor skills to aid functional improvements in the sensorimotor organisation of a student, here improving the student’s body awareness (Verrel et al., 2015).
