I undertook the first intervention on 2nd February 2021 ahead of my group tutorial with the MA students of Applied Imagination in the Creative Industries at CSM.
The students had been made aware of what was coming, what this is for and gave their written consent (more details about my approach to cover ethical requirements can be found in my Ethical Enquiry Form on Workflow).
The intervention started off with me setting the scene and getting everyone to relax in their chairs and close their eyes. I followed on with mindfulness instructions, e.g., as to how to let go of distracting thoughts, becoming a passive observer of thoughts, feelings and emotions etc. Then I went through a series of progressive muscle relaxation exercises after Jacobson: Different groups of muscles are being tensed and subsequently relaxed in turn, until the whole body has been progressively relaxed (Robertson, 2012, p. 122). Including the breathing pattern in this exercise is important and to pay attention to the shifts in muscle tone and posture prior and after tension. For this we still kept our eyes closed as to better be able to focus on the experience and the subtle changes in muscle tone.
Afterwards, still with eyes closed, I walked the students through a body scan exercise. This is based on the ancient technique of Vipassana meditation. You are directing your attention and your awareness through all parts of the body, from top of the head to the tips of the toes and back. This is the way to learn to understand the nature of direct experiencing and to learn to re-inhabit the body. The body is the most accessible ground to our direct experience in the body and bodily sensations form a door to the present (Crane, 2009, p. 49). And Merleau-Ponty even takes this further: “The body is our general medium for having a world” (Merleau-Ponty, 1962, p. 169).
After these exercises I undertook a semi-structured interview with the students. That day these were only three students. Quite a small number, but it was a useful exercise and the small number meant this was an intimate event with a good atmosphere.
Here some anonymised extracts from the data set of the interview:
Student A:
relaxing, peaceful, allowed me to let go of thoughts. When we did the scanning of the body, with the attention I found some areas easier to access than others, e.g., when we got to the toes it got really intense, I could really feel my awareness and I felt a tingling sensation.
Student B:
very relaxing, loved it; At first felt a bit self-conscious as even though we all have our eyes closed, I am aware the camera is on. Not that there’s much to see, just the muscle tensing and relaxing, that part, is a bit… I mean, it doesn’t matter and I know I’m not observed, but somehow are aware that camera is on and so… just a bit of self-consciousness
Student C:
Amazing. The tensing and releasing of muscles, that made me aware, I wasn’t aware that I had so much tension in parts. It somehow made the muscles feel more, more warm.
References:
Crane, R. (2009) Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy. Hove: Routledge
Merleau-Ponty, M. (1962) Phenomenology of Perception. Translated from French by Colin Smith. London and New York: Routledge.
Robertson, D. (2012) Build your Resilience. London: Hodder Education