CRITERIA for choosing exercises

From SenseThinkAct

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1. Something that can be done safely without specialised equipment or skills.

2. The exercise should as far as possible focus on a particular ELEMENTAL aspect of human ability that fits the schema of Sensing, Thinking, Acting.

3. The guidance of a teacher is not necessary to at least begin a useful and safe practise.

4. Exercises may lead to improved skills, improved health or efficiency. Some exercises may be of use simply because they allow us to experience a particular aspect of our human ability.

5. Theoretical discussion of a particular faculty gives only one type of abstracted knowing. Practise gives rise to an embodied knowledge. Practise is part of the traditions of oral culture - theory tends to be a literary discourse.

6. Particular cultures and the fashions of different eras highlight different aspects of human ability. The aim here is to create a complete and universal picture of human ability that escapes the constraints of particular times and places and is culturally eclectic.

7. There are anomalies that do not easily fit the sense think act schema - rythmn and our perception of time, emotions and perhaps pain.

NOTE: Elemental means that for practical purposes the area could not be further divided. Sticking with the elemental idea has advantages but does leave out exercises that deal with the body/ mind as a whole. These are often a part of disciplines of practice, like Tai Chi, and it may be appropriate to include these through the external links page.