Proprioception

Proprioception is your hidden sense that tells you where your body parts are even with your eyes closed. If you touch your nose with eyes shut, that is proprioception working! It is like a magical map inside your brain that always knows where your hands and feet are. This sense connects your inner self to your physical shape. It helps you feel like you are actually inside your body.

You know where your hand is right now without looking. Something inside you keeps a map of your whole body, updated every second. That map is you.

Proprioception is mediated by mechanosensory neurons in muscles, tendons, and joints communicating with the somatosensory cortex. Foundational to the ego-center: subjective experience of being a localized entity. Without it, the boundary between self and environment blurs, causing dissociative states. The physical anchor of the I am experience. Connects to Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology.

SOUND: Clap your hands behind your head: you know exactly where they are.

SMELL: Smell your own skin: it grounds you in your physical space.

TASTE: Move your tongue around your mouth without a mirror.

TOUCH: Tap your fingers together in a rhythm with your eyes closed.

SIGHT: Look at your hand, close your eyes, try to see it still there in space.

BODY: Close your eyes and try to touch your pinky fingers together in front of you: the invisible map at work.

Music: You're Somebody Else by flora cash

Music: Beyond the Sea by Bobby Darin

Part of Mind & Body — PHILOSOPHY — Education Revelation