Soma in the City: How does listening and responding to a ‘somatic podcast’ affect one’s relationship to urban space?

This article describes a small piece of research carried out as part of an MA in Dance and Somatic Well–being at the University of Central Lancashire.

The basis of the research was: a) An interest in bridging the gulf between somatic perceptual/movement practice and being in a challenging urban environment. b) Curiosity in how using digital technology can possibly create more, rather than less, connection to psychophysical self and environment.

It assumed embodied person–environment mutuality and reciprocity, and was influenced by ecopsychology, the value of attending to movement, and by the somatic practices, particularly the Alexander Technique. The research methodology is influenced by Moustakas’ heuristic approach and involved an embodied first–person practice–led development of the content of the podcast. There were six participants and research ‘data’ was drawn from the time we shared together ‘post–podcast’. Conclusions were drawn from extracting themes from the subjective experience of the individuals.