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c h r i s t o p h e r e c c l e s t o n
E M B O D I E D
The psychology of physical sensation
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For Zoe
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Many people helped me find my way on this journey. Particular thanks go to those
who allowed me to peer into their lives and ask them questions about how they
live with their bodies and their sensory worlds. I am grateful to all of those striving to
push themselves to their limits. Hopefully their voices will speak for many people. In
the order they appear, thank you to Luna Othnin Girard, Debbie Hollingsworth, Luke
Rendell, Jeremy Clark, Emma Roy, Marni Elder, Sam Kirby, Ian Taylor, Kerry Sutton,
Sarah Prior, IIana and Crispin Wigfield, Rupert Fingest, James Reynolds, Neil Car-
rier, Alex Coode, Euphemia Graham, Jean Christophe Slowik, Tom Strawson, Arthur
Smith, and Connie Webber.
I am also grateful for the help of many colleagues and friends. Thank you to Anna
Broderick who invited me to the Central Ballet School in London. She has a won-
derful energy and enthusiasm for helping people achieve their dreams. Resmi Malko
allowed me to observe his dancers. His quiet authority and connection with their
movement was inspiring. Anna Hobson suggested I talk with Debbie Hollingsworth
and made the introductions. Richard Tite encouraged me to think about acrobatics
when thinking about movement, and introduced me to Luke Rendell. Jeremy is an
old friend. Amanda Williams suggested I talk with Sam Kirby as a fellow champion
freediver, and Mike Osborn and Jackie McCallum were very kind in introducing me
to the amazing Ian and Pat Taylor. Caro Taraskevics suggested I talk with Emma Roy,
and Isabelle Sully encouraged the remarkable Marni Elder that it might be fun to talk
to me. Zoe Eccleston suggested I talk to Kerry Sutton who trains in Bath and had just
completed her jungle run. Thank you to Anne Johnson from the Chronic Fatigue Ser-
vice at the Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases NHS Trust in Bath. Their
service is second-to-none internationally; their understanding of the needs of people
with chronic fatigue is remarkable. Mike Osborn suggested to the Wigfields that a
psychological approach to the marathon might add an interesting aspect. Rupert Fin-
gest I have known for a very long time. Thanks to Nicolette Craig from the education
department of the Cotswold Wildlife Park for being interested in the idea and suggest-
ing I talk to James Reynolds. And Janet Bultitude introduced me to Neil Carrier. I am
grateful to her for thinking so carefully about the book and who might be able to help.
Euphemia Graham is a family friend, and Will Hawking gave me the idea of forge
working that led to the fascinating Alex Coode. Dawn Hawking was kind in tracking
down Jean Christophe and for the ice-cream ideas. And I am very grateful to Emma
Fisher for persuading Tom Strawson that talking to a psychologist was not so weird a
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acknowledgments
thing to do. Arthur Smith I cold-called. I am grateful he could not resist talking about
flatulence. And, finally, Sarah Dalrymple took me seriously when I wanted to talk
about vomiting and introduced me to Connie Webber.
Many other people made connections and suggestions, and so helped me ask
the right questions. From OUP, Charlotte Green, Martin Baum, and Matthias Butler
were patient with my bombarding them with drafts. There were many conversations
with friends and colleagues along the way, in particular Geert Crombez, Amanda
Williams, Nina Attridge, and Emma Fisher, who read unpolished versions. I am also
grateful for the individual chapter reviews from the busiest of experts: Andrea Evers,
Omer Van den Bergh, Kim Delbaere, Bob Hockey, and Martin Burton. I corresponded
with many of the authors of the papers referred to. I am repeatedly amazed at how
generous people are in sharing their work and discussing ideas within the papers.
It would not be possible without their primary research. Ulrike Bingel and Thomas
Tölle gave me invaluable advice in exploring the ideas of das unkörperliche.
Finally, thank you to Zoe for living with The Body, as it was known, for more than a
year, for journeying with these chapters, for the home experimentation, for editing,
and for staying positive as it emerged out of its shell.
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CONTENTS
List of Figures xv
List of Tables xvi
List of Boxes xvii
1. The ten neglected senses 1
The big five senses 2
Methods of inquiry 4
Personal stories 5
The physical senses 5
References 6
2. Balance 8
Learning to stand on your own two feet 9
A psychology of falling 9
Deliberate falling 10
Fear of falling 11
Accidental falling 14
Achieving balance (equilibrium) 15
Natural balance awareness 16
Interview: Luna, the dancer: “when you are on balance you can
grow, almost out of the ground” 17
Losing balance (disequilibrium) 19
Dizziness 19
Vertigo 22
Interview: Debbie, living with vertigo: “your mind can play amazingly
cruel tricks on you” 23
Height intolerance 25
Height intolerance autoscopy 26
Summary 29
References 29
3. Movement 33
Proprioception 34
Developing movement control 34
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