Kinesthetics, Physical Learning, Embodiment and Muscle Memory

19 min readMar 27, 2023

Advance callouts, watchouts, out takes and hot takes from our Craft-Building Series Edition #54 on Physical Intelligence (Part One)

Authored and hosted by: Sean Moffitt, Founder, Grey Swan Guild, MD, Cygnus Ventures

We’re convening a Grey Swan Guild craft-building session #54 on Monday March 27th, 2023 covering the full universe of physical intelligence. We hope you will join us.

For too long, the subject of how the mind meets the body has been treated as a quasi-intelligence and dismissed merely as an influence among some cold calculating and rationalistic camps of philosophers and human beings. We want to change that notion.

Let’s ground ourselves on some terminology first:

Kinesthetics (also called tactile, hands-on or physical learning)— the intelligent capacity to manipulate objects and use a variety of physical skills; intelligence and learning that involves a sense of timing and the perfection of skills through mind–body union (either conscious and unconscious in nature)
Physical Learning — (also called kinesthetic learning) characterized by utilizing the body and sense of touch to understand the world around us
Embodiment (also called embodied cognition) — the process of becoming present, rooted, sensitive, and alive in the body; it is a sense of being at home in one’s skin
Muscle Memory — (also called kinesthesis) a neurological process that allows you to remember certain motor skills and perform them without conscious effort, exercising neurons in the brain and muscles.

To join us, pre-register for our Grey Swan Guild LinkedIn Live webinar link on March 27th, 1pm ET/5pm UTC : Click here.

Pre-register: https://www.linkedin.com/video/event/urn:li:ugcPost:7016863464153395201/

“For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.” — Aristotle

Here is a backdrop of seventeen different areas we thought were compelling on the subject; we likely won’t cover all of them in our discussion so let’s serve them up here:

A. Kinesthetics and Physical Intelligence— Context

Kinesthetics and physical intelligence is often termed learning by doing. Strong kinesthetic thinkers are often termed rightly and wrongly as doers.

Depending on which sources you consult, physical intelligence is one of many types of intelligence. With reference to Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences (visualized below) — kinesthetics is one important, although often-overlooked form, of nine different intelligences (Gardner introduced 8 intelligences in 1883 and two more in 2009 — existential and moral, which explains frameworks with 8, 9 or 10 sub-segments).

Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences, and the 7pm bodily-kinesthetic hour on his intelligence clock

We thought we’d spend some time broadening our minds and incorporating the kinesthetic world into our holistic view of intelligence — learning from a wide and developing variety of related sciences, psychologies, technologies, education and self-development disciplines.

Often, kinesthetics, physical or bodily intelligence gets studied in pre-school and K-12 education settings (e.g. the impact of Phy Ed. on formative minds and bodies), but the entire area of study has far reaching effects for how all of us — from ages 0-to-125 — creating greater capacity for ourselves. Professionally, think about the very overt impact kinesthetics has on the work of: craftspeeople, dancers, construction workers, artists, actors, surgeons, athletes, lab chemists, technicians or mechanics. More indirectly, we are all corporate and student athletes & artists that can benefit from stronger mind-body intelligence.

The elevation of physical intelligence and kinesthetics was boosted by Howard Gardner and his study of multiple intelligences published in 1983. Gardner proposed the differentiation of intelligence into specific modalities of intelligence, rather than defining intelligence as a single generalized ability — body-smart kinesthetic intelligence was viewed as one of eight specific intelligcnces.

Gardner qualified that each of the eight criteria listed below needed to be in place for an intelligence to be isolated, kinesthetics made the cut :

potential for brain isolation by brain damage
place in evolutional history
presence of core operations
susceptibility to encoding (symbolic expression)
a distinct developmental progression
the existence of savants, prodigies and other exceptional people (note: Michael Jordan, I.M. Pei, Jim Carrey, Rodin, Helen Keller, Harry Houdini, Bruce Lee were all well developed in kinesthetic intelligence)
support from experimental psychology
support from psychometric findings

Upticked interest in muscle memory was accelerated with psychologist Edward Thorndike and his study of industrialized skills during and post WWI and the realization that motor learning could be stored in the brain as memory.

Embodiment has had critics and proponents dating back to the 17th century. More recently, the confluence of new forms of behavior science, psychology, cognition, neuroscience and other disciplines coming together (visualized in the Venn diagram below) has built a wellspring of fused interests in embodied cognition and the undeniable links between body and mind.

This entire area of Kinesthetics study has implications on:

Accessibility: do we ensure a different but equal opportunity experience for those that are neurodivergent or sensorially impaired?
Diagnosis and Treatment: how intelligence gets impaired, the neuroscience behind it, and how to overcome it?
Education: how we educate and learn in formal institutional and professional settings?
Elite Performance: how we develop mastery and witness excellence of physical intelligence, particularly among athletes and performance artists ?
Grading, Testing and Evaluating Achievement: resolving disputes in how we measure intelligence accurately, holistically and culturally (see below on the news headline refuting IQ as a standard measure)
Mental Fitness: how all of us can improve our athleticism when it comes to mind-body connections?
Mental Health: how can we be aware of and overcome our stress and anxiety, and build our resilience and endnrance to crises?
Philosophy : how do we define and ontologize intelligence and reasoning?
The Value of Arts and Movement to Human Capacity: how these skills are not just alternatives to-intelligence but a distinct type of formidable intelligence unto itself?
Technology: how our media, science and tech can both help and impair us, and how we go about replicating all forms of human intelligence?
The Future: how our brains are being changed by exposure to new environments, new forms of learning and different time spent, and where it will possibly lead us?
Accessibility: do we ensure a different but equal opportunity experience for those that are neurodivergent or sensorially impaired

The Outdatedness of Intelligence Quotient IQ) and the “Flynn Effect” (we are getting better as a society at narrow cognitive-=based tests)

Other related terms to the subject of Kinesthetics, Physical Learning, Embodiment and Muscle Memory include :

Bloom’s Taxonomy, Maslow’s Hierarchy, Haptics, VARK Learning Styles, Multimodal styles, Cognition/emodied cognition, Neuroscience, Motor memory, Sixth sense/proprioception, Philosophy of the mind, Cognitive neuropsychology, Externalism, Phenomenology

B. Kinesthetics and Physical Intelligence: Components

What comprises Physical intelligence?:

Internal dashboard: The ability to listen, identify and respond to internal messages about one’s physical self - depression, fatigue, frustration, hunger and pain are examples
Mind-Body Operating System: Learning about and understanding the mind body connection e.g. the stomach telling mind it is time to stop eating; understanding the difference between the internal voice of wants vs. needs
Observatioin & Transformation: Determining our body’s perfect weight, fitness level and perfect diet, and how we observe and manage our energy, stamina, sleep patterns, and our overall health

Many believe physical intelligence is foundational and affects all intelligences above it — in this pyramid model intelligence quotient (cognitive), emotional quotient and spiritual quotient are built on the stilts of strong mind-body awareness and use.

C. Kinesthetics and Physical Intelligence — Impact on Learning

Physical learning, also known as a kinesthetic or tactile learning, involves studying new material by moving around and touching or feeling objects. We all have some level of affinity for physical learning, although only 5% of the world are considered core physical learners (you can determine your type of learning style through the VARK survey of intelligence — I was graded mutli-modal — Visual 6, Aural 3, Read/Write 1 and Kinesthetic 6).

Kinesthetic learners need to actively participate — often physically, using touching, hands and body movement — in problem-solving or new tasks; they often have trouble sitting still for long stretches of time, which is a ringing indictment on many of our institutional educational settings.

Utilizing role-playing, group work, walking around, working with flash cards, acting out or tossing a ball back and forth while learning or meeting can provide all the experiential stimulus needed for the kinesthetic learner.

Even though it can be viewed as a niche intelligence, consider what an impact this learning by doing has on retention of learning with average retention rates rising above 75% vs. lecture retention rates at a mere 5%:

NTL Institute of Applied Behavioral Science

Here are some favoured approaches for kinesthetic learning:

D. Are you a Kinesthetic Learner?

Here are tweleve tell tale attributes of a kinesthetic learner, do you have these:

You need to move, frequently can’t sit still, and react quickly to stimulus
You are gifted in physical activities and well-coordinated
You learn best through touch and hands-on activities, and you communicate frequently via your hands
You connect with real-life examples when concepts are explained
You express learning through projects and manipulatives (e.g. coins, blocks, markers, puzzles)
You lose interest frequently, are easily distracted and need to break and refocus before getting back to something
You like role playing and experiment widely
You enjoy taking things apart and seeing what makes them itck
You love music accompanying learning
You are gifted at using tools, ranging from brushes to wrenches, and like producing models
You like field trips and experiments, preferring to do things than read about them
Your attention seems to wander and you generally disdain auditory learning

This sounds like me enough, how about you (some of my former colleagues would also count clicking the ends of pens on this list)?

E. Kinesthetics — Quotes and Food for Thought

Let’s get inspired, let’s think profoundly, from some of the world’s great minds:

“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.” — Benjamin Franklin
“I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand.” — Confucius
“I assume the senses crave sources of maximum information, that the eye benefits by exercise, stretch, and expansion towards materials of complexity and substance, . . . conditions which alert the total sensibility — cast it almost in stress — extend insight and response, the basic responsive range of empathetic-kinesthetic vitality.” — Carolee Schneemann
“The dance is four-dimensional art in that it moves concretely in both space and time. For the onlooker, it is an art largely of visual space combined with time. But for the dancer, and this is more important, the dance is more a muscular than a visual space rhythm, a muscular time, a muscular movement and balance. Dancing is not animated sculpture, it is kinesthetic.” — Baker Brownell
“It’s cool that you hear something, but what did you feel and what was your tactile and kinesthetic response to it? Those songs and creative sessions mean the most.” — Pharrell Williams
“Intelligence and skill can only function at the peak of their capacity when the body is healthy and strong.” — John F. Kennedy
“We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.” — George Bernard Shaw
“Embodiment means we no longer say I had this experience; we say I am this experience.” — Sue Monk Kidd
“Our own physical body possesses a wisdom which we who inhabit the body lack. We give it orders which make no sense.” -Henry Miller
“Our bodies are brilliant that way. They act like compasses, letting us know when we’re headed in the right direction — and when we’re not.”- Lisa Rankin M.D.
“It is surprising how few people really understand or see what goes on around them, and how many fewer can recall it later on. The key is to practice your observational skills.” ― Leticia Supple
“If you can design the physical space, the social space, and the information space together to enhance collaborative learning, then that whole milieu turns into a learning technology.”- — John Seely Brown
“You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.” — Plato

F. The Event — Key Discussion Avenues

Some advance thoughts that may be covered ion our session and follow up:

Reputation — Why is kinesthetic intelligence such an underappreciated facet of intelligence, professional learning and educational circles overall?
Analyzing Actions vs. Words — in accessing new insight and discovery, how much truth and profound understanding can be found in people’s action, feelings and movement, vs. claimed words, didclosures or beliefs?
Soeietal Stasis — Does the obesity and health trends of the past 70 years cause an impact in our overall societal intelligence and capacity?
Tech Enablement — What can technology (e.g. wearable tech, kinetic apps) do to train our kinesthetic intelligence?
Educatiion Individualization — With specialized, bespoke learning, how can we accommodate the kinesthetic learner better?
Interaction with Other Intelligences— As we become more and more digitized, how do our kinesthetic faculties progress or regress?
Bias — Why is there a continuing stigma that people at the height of their kinesthetic game are dumb, ADHD-prone or wasting their brains?
Tactile Ability — What is the popularity of gaming doing to our dextrous, tactile learning abilities and intelligence?
Post-Pandemica — how has COVID affected our kinesthetics and embodiment?

G. Kinesthetics— Seventeen Benefits (ranked)

The top ranked benefits for a kinesthetic mindset, culture, strategies and implementation (have placed in my ranked order of priority):

#1 Retention — kinesthetics has been shown to improve long-term memory retention and recall, playing music can increase memory by 34% alone
#2 Creativity — kinesthetics and physical activity has been linked to increased creativity and problem-solving abilities.
#3 Sophisticated Craft-Building — improves fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination, with a more pragmatic orientation to applying skills
#3 Social, Interpersonal Interaction — participating in kinesthetic activities can be a forum for social interaction and peer connection
#4 Cognitive Function —kinesthetics has been linked to improved cognitive function and reduced risk of cognitive decline
#5 Motivated Learning — kinesthetics provides added stimulus through hands-on learning and physical exploration
#6 Mental Health — kinesthetics and embodiment can help to reduce feelings of stress and anxiety by promoting relaxation
#7 Energy — kinesthetic and regular exercise can increase your energy levels and reduce feelings of fatigue
#8 Accuracy, Control and Tangibility — allowing learners and user to feel more exact, in control and materially understanding their actions better
#9 Complex Problem Solving — tactile learners solve problems and think through complex concepts more easily
#10 Sensory Processing — exercise and kinesthetics can build strong neural pathways and effective sensing and nervous system
#11 Enhanced User Experience and Immersion — kinesthetics provide feedback and heightened engagement to interactions, digital or otherwise
#12 Motivated Learning —kinesthetics provides added stimulus through hands-on learning and physical exploration
#13 Improved Accessablity — certain kinesthetic methods can give better learning or experience to people with disabilities, or impaired functioning or sight
#14 Spatial Intelligence — tactile learning can improve related spatial intelligence and the ability to visualize objects in three dimensions.
#15 Better Mood and Self-Esteem —kinesthetics can improve overall well-being, confidence and optimistic view on life
#16 Enhanced User Experience and Immersion — kinesthetics provide feedback and heightened engagement to interactions, digital or otherwise
#17 Reduced Cognitive Load — can destress cognitive systems by more intuitive using conscious and unconscious kinesthetic powers to process knowledge or tasks

Tom Hanks in “Big” — Kinesthetic Learning on a Grabn Piano Scale

H. Kinesthetics — 11 Challenges (Ranked)

The top ranked challenges of using and implementing kinesthetics:

#1 Siloing Use — applied to only certain occupations
#2 One-size-fits-all Institutions — education settings, typically geared towards visual and auditory learners.
#3 Measurability of Learning — Tougher to test for kinesthetic aptitude
#4 Overselling — claims that any single impairment or the role of embodiment play the only central role in our cognition are frequently exaggerated
#5 Shifting Area of Study — New Emerging Theories from Neural Imaging and Less Invasive Sensors
#6 Context — the effects of environmental factors on kinesthetics and learning style have rarely been considered; the interpretation of learning styles is often decontextualized
#7 New Environments Needed — may need to set up better spaces to make task completion physically active
#8 Limitations — theoretical and abstract topics are tough to get their kinesthetic heads around in the absence of prototypes or models
#9 Hierarchical Organization of the Brain — kinesthetics and embodiment are activated for certain types of intelligence but more cumbersome for others (e.g. abstraction, thematics)
#10 Loud Habits or Non-conventional Mannerisms — can be distracting to others
#11 Require Flexibility — kinesthetic people don’t like to follow a regular calendar

I. Kinesthetics —Interesting Facet of Study — “The Process”

Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence Process — how does physical learning move from stimuli to data to information to knowledge to expertise to self-actualization to universal knowledge to transcendence, and is that process different than other forms of intelligence

The Consciousness-Intelligence-Knowldge Pyramid Source: Research Gate

J. How to Improve Kinesthetics

Here are some strategies for learners to optimize their physical intelligence and kinesthetic learning

Acting and Simulating Ideas Out — it may be easier to process the information and get your ideas eventually heard
Playing with Artifacts of Learning — make flashcards for association or memorized learning
Simultaneous Small Movements — repetitive, physical movement when learning will help to retain more (e.g. flex hands while reading)
Exercise While you Work/Walk While Studying — helps flow and ability to grasp concepts
Practice — trial and error is an important part of believing in the new knowledge
Take Periodic Breaks — stretch between studying
Use a Highlighter — activates the brain
Whiteboard Things — -conceptualization, mind mapping and storyboarding complete the thought circuits
Work Standing up — flexing muscles links to internalizing focus
DIY Videos — seek out instructional videos on how hands on activities are done

Simulating, Practicer and DIY Video

K. Kinesthetics — Three Big Trends

Trend #1 — AI Married with Personalized Education Data:

Trend #2 — Brain-Computer Interfaces — Neuralinks:

Trend III — Challenge-Based Learning:

Trend IV— Haptic Technology (artificial touch):

Haptx — Haptic Glovaes for Realistic Touch — https://haptx.com/

L. The Impact of Technology on Kinesthetics

Six technology areas that are exploding with mind-body experience:

Sentient Kinesthetics — When we consider technology AI, replicating the kinesthetic will be the technology being able to control its own performance, efficiency and response to environment changes

VR and Transferability to the Real World — can virtual reality mimic conditions of the mind, improve cognitive and behavioral skills and help people retain more and fear less?

Embodied Intelligence, Sensors and Robots — can 24/7 real time feedback regulate and make us more aware of our environments and our reaction to them?

Neurostimulation — as seen here by Halo Sport’s offering and Flow, can small bits of electricity accelerate our brain into hyper development?

Technology in Education — can our education and learning tools get smart enough to individualize learning of the same material across different pace and learning styles, see the Journal of Athletic Training for more

Brain Scan Breakthroughs — until recently, we could only understand rudimentary things about the brain given imaging and technology, with brain scan advancements, are we in an era where we can optimize, step change and assess cognitive ability in from a cranial view like this, this, or this

Artificial Intelligence — Source: Columbia University

M. The Biggest Debates in Kinesthetics

A number of debates have surfaced over the last decade over physical intelligence and learning:

Gender-bias — are our school systems biased against restless, kinesthetic-seeking boys?
Learning Styles — do people need multimodal forms of learnings or would they be more effective receiving their own preferred form of learning?
The Well — how much of intelligence development is hereditary, early formative learning or environmentally-based?
Accelerants — can we accelerate our brains neural networks to become super developed in a number of kinesthetic areas or are we forever limited as humans?
Training the Mind — is “practice make perfect” really true or are there quite a few other factors involved in how kinesthetic intelligence works?
Exceptionalism or Compensation — how is it that significantly physically impaired people have become some of our world’s best thinkers e.g. Stephen Hawking, Frida Kahlo, Helen Keller, Lousi Braille)?
Programmability — can we develop kinesthetic intelligence in robots and sentient computers?
Where do “yips” comer from — the brain, the muscles or some combo?
Eureka moments — are they usually associated with some collision of the brain with the physical world?
Cognitive Tech Preferences — given a greater outsourcing of our brain abilities to computers, what is it being replaced by?

N. Alternate Models/Methodologies in Kinesthtics

Education professor Catherine McLoughlin studied a range of different learning style paradigms and found five different success criteria in learning:

Learning preference favouring one method of teaching over another
Learning strategy adopting a plan action in the acquisition of knowledge, skills or attitudes
Learning style adopting a habitual and distinct mode of acquiring knowledge
Cognitive strategy adopting a plan of action in the process of organising and processing information
Cognitive style a systematic and habitual mode of organising and processing information

Despite many different learning variable and models put forward by thought leaders, 90% of teachers agreed that individuals learn better when they receive information tailored to their preferred learning styles (Howard-Jones. 2014) Here are some alternate models of thinking about kinesthetics:

Neil Fleming’s Vark Learning Model — codified four dominant learning styles with each person have a preferred method

Malcolm Knowles Andragogy: assumed adult learners are self-guided, draw upon past experiences, have an increased readiness to learn, more often transition teaching into practice, and are internally motivated to learn

Kolb’s Four Stage Learning Styles — Kolb offers both a way to understand individual people’s different learning styles, and also an explanation of a cycle of experiential learning that applies to us all.

O. Top Solution Providers in Kinesthetics

I’ve provided eleven examples of kinesthetics learning in practice here:

Sparknotes Flashcards: https://www.sparknotes.com/:

Classmarker Online Quizzes: https://www.classmarker.com/online-testing/how-to-create-online-quiz/

ClassVr Virtual Reeality Experiential Learning- https://www.classvr.com/virtual-reality-in-education/

Curiosity Machine Experiments: https://www.curiositymachine.org/challenges/

Inkflow Visual Thinking — https://www.qrayon.com/home/inkflow/

Lumosity Brain Games —https://www.lumosity.com/en/brain-games/#problem-solving-games

HomeCourt Jump Shot Muscle Memory App: https://www.homecourt.ai/

Embodied Labs Empathetic Experience App : https://www.embodiedlabs.com/

Musce Embodiment headband & App: https://choosemuse.com/

Oura Ring Embodiment Ring & App: https://ouraring.com/

SeeSaw Multimedia Learning App: https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/seesaw/id930565184

P. Top Helpful & Inspiration Resources & Media in Kinesthetics

The Books:

Physical Intelligence :Harness your body’s untapped intelligence to achieve more, stress less and live more happily, Claire Dale & Patricia Peyton (Simon & Schuster, 2020)

Muscle Memory: Memory habits to strengthen your mind to be more productive, Frank Knoll, (Amazon 2017)

The Wisdom of Your Body : Finding Healing, Wholeness, and Connection through Embodied Living, Hillary McBride (Collins, 2021)

Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain, John J. Ratey MD and Eric Hagerman (Little Brown, 2011)

The Articles:

What is Physical Intelligence? (Companies in Motion)

What is Kinesthesis? (Verywell Mind)

What Is Embodiment & How Can We Use It For Self-Care? (The Good Trade)

Learning by Doing — When Does it Work and When Doe it Fail? (Scott Young)

Understanding the Meaning of Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence (Thought Co.)

Kinesthetic Strategies (Vark-Learn)

Q. The Close

Not Just using Skill, Deliberating Practicing & Imporoving It Source: Scott Yoing

The Craft Building Series — Learning, Relearning and Unlearning

Every month we host unique sessions that aid our guild in building our craft in making sense of the world, because learning has no finish line.

Our experiences attempt to mint four key elements together

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We think we achieved this alchemy in our first session of 2023.

Have a look at our full 2023 Craft-Building Series (and our soon to be launched premium Masterclasses).

https://greyswanguild.medium.com/the-2023-grey-swan-guild-craft-building-series-3d37e8c00b3c

Next Craft Building Event #55 — KISS (keep it simple stupid), Minimalism and Simplicity

Hot on the heels on Edition #54, come join us on Tuesday March 28th for a holistic understanding of the world of minimalism, simplicity and less is more. Hosted by Matt Ferguson. Guest Panelist: Amber Case. Click here.

Pre-register here: https://www.linkedin.com/video/event/urn:li:ugcPost:7017532822743617536/

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