Adventurous activities, embodiment and nature: spiritual, sensual and sustainable? Embodying environmental justice

Abstract

Abstract-This paper examines research on adventurous physical activities in nature from the perspective of the sentient body. Drawing upon ethnographic and autoethnographic research, I examine what has been termed 'peak' happenings or 'flow' which many who practise adventurous activities claim to experience through their whole body when in the 'zone'. I consider the concept of 'edgework', voluntary risk-taking, and insightful mobile and social understanding of the relationships between body, emotions and the elements, where the adventurous activity is experienced and interpreted as oneness with nature or expressed as 'spiritual' not only in high but also low risk nature-based sport. I then consider if and in what ways these knowledges may bring about greater understanding and action in relation to social and environmental justice. I argue that adventurous activities/nature-based sport may provide processes and practices that are alternative or complementary to traditional sporting 'body techniques' or 'body pedagogics'. I suggest that modern embodied adventurous practices in nature challenge dominant narratives of body/mind separation and potentially provide a pedagogic process fostering kinetic empathy. Finally I draw attention to the paradox of (re)-presenting sensorial experiences of sport in nature and ask for consideration on how we interconnect with the environment when we participate in adventureous nature-based sports. Keywords: nature, environmental justice, sentient bodyResumo-"Atividades de aventura, incorporação e natureza: espiritual, sensual e sustentável? Incorporando justiça ambiental." Este artigo analisa pesquisas sobre atividades físicas de aventura na natureza a partir da perspectiva do corpo sensível. Com base em pesquisa etnográfica e auto-etnografia, examino o que tem sido chamado de acontecimentos "pico" ou "fluxo," que muitos dos que afirmam praticar atividades de aventura experimentam através de todo o seu corpo, quando na "zona." Eu considero os conceitos 'edgework ,' tomada voluntá-ria de risco, e compreensão perspicaz móvel e social das relações entre corpo, emoções e os elementos, onde a atividade de aventura é vivida e interpretada como unidade com a natureza ou expressa como 'espiritual' não apenas durante esporte na natureza de alto risco, mas também no de baixo risco. Eu, então, considero se e de que maneira esses conhecimentos podem trazer uma maior compreensão e ação em matéria de justiça social e ambiental. Defendo que atividades de aventura/esporte baseado na natureza podem fornecer processos e práticas que são alternativas ou complementares às 'técnicas corporais' do esporte tradicional ou 'pedagogia do corpo.' Eu sugiro que as práticas modernas aventureiras incorporadas na natureza desafiam narrativas dominantes da separação do corpo/mente e potencialmente fornecer um processo pedagógico promovendo empatia cinética. Finalmente, chamo a atenção para o paradoxo de (re) apresentar experiências sensoriais do desporto na natureza e invoco a reflexão sobre como podemos interliga...

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“…This supports the theory of Conradson (2005), who maintains that the meaning of a place varies between the individuals' experiences across different periods of time. It is also consistent with the idea of 'peak flow' (Csikszentmihalyi, 2002;Humberstone, 2013), in which some moments are experienced in such a rewarding enjoyable and motivating manner that they remain in the memory of the individual.…”

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“…Spatial affordances, as he termed them, greatly constrain and enable a range of actions; 'the surfaces, textures, atmospheres, smells, sounds, contours, gradients, and pathways of places encourage humans to follow particular courses of action, producing an everyday practical orientation dependent upon a multisensory apprehension of place and space' (Edensor, 2006, p. 30). Humberstone (2015Humberstone ( , 2013 takes the credit for elaborating the embodiment theory in the context of nature-based physical culture in focusing on the ways in which humans learn through their bodies. Further understandings of the relationships between body, emotions and the elements in relation to adventurous activities are the focus of her work, which advances the knowledge on sensorial experiences of participants in outdoor activities.…”

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