What students say

Each semester we invite students to reflect on their embodied learning experiences. They tell us that movement enhances their understanding of academic content, improves their attention and mood, decreases their stress and anxiety, and deepens the experience of academic community and collaboration. In their own words....

Bodies and Minds Can Be Partners in Learning

"Like many MIT students, I'm used to sitting at a desk, absorbing information through readings, lectures, and problem sets. The idea that learning could be tied to the body, through broomball, weightlifting, Tai Chi, and yoga, initially felt foreign. But as I progressed through the course, I found that using my body to understand concepts not only helped solidify them, it also transformed how I connect with my peers and how I think about learning itself."

"In a lecture, it is easy to be multitasking in some way with your computer or phone. In these labs, where your mind and body are fully occupied, I feel I am more present and more likely to retain the material once the class ends."

"Judo holds a lot of value for mechanical engineers to understand the material we learn in class. After taking 8.01 (Mechanics) and 2.003 (Dynamics), I know the equations for conservation of momentum and the impact of a force off the top of my head, but during the Judo lab, when we practiced lengthening the time of contact to decrease the amount of force imparted during a fall, I was able to connect my mathematical understanding of forces and impacts to a more intuitive physical understanding using movement."

"When I first walked into this class, I was skeptical on whether movement could actually be used as a tool to learn. I think something that I was particularly amazed by was how much the class presentations stuck with me. I have a pretty short-term memory and what often happens is that I learn concepts for an academic class, and within a month after the final exam, the concepts start to become fuzzy. With respect to the presentation on sorting algorithms, I’ve seen bubble sort, merge sort, and selection sort in interviews, class content, and code, but I was never able to remember which one was which or how exactly they worked. However, after being assigned a number during the sorting presentation, and actually moving through the sorting process myself, I gained a deeper understanding of how these sorting methods worked, and now I’m actually able to remember them since now I have a memorable experience attached to it."

"Labs have helped me understand topics in a way that would be impossible otherwise, and more than that, they have caused me to broaden my perspective both on the topics themselves and on the way I can learn them. Though many classes at MIT do not strongly adapt this model of teaching, I believe it is applicable in some capacity to almost every class."

"When I was actually holding the sail, feeling the wind push against the boat, and sensing the stability change based on where I was sitting, I understood the physical logic very quickly...I understood more about buoyancy, fluid dynamics, and resistance, which were concepts that I had previously learned but had trouble retaining...It reminded me that the body often grasps ideas faster than the mind."

"Thermodynamic cycles had always felt highly abstract to me, especially when represented only through equations or pressure-volume diagrams. However, physically moving through different states of expansion, compression, and energy exchange made the cyclical nature of the systems much more intuitive. Instead of memorizing the directionality of a process or trying to mentally visualize changes between states, the movement itself made the relationships between different stages of the cycle easier to understand. Over time, the course made me realize that abstraction does not have to emerge separately from physical experience. Instead, movement itself can function as a way of generating conceptual understanding, allowing abstract systems to become something lived, observed, and experienced rather than simply memorized."

"I was questioning the concept of Qi balance and the three Doshas and finding it difficult to visualize how exactly they would contribute to one's health on a practical level before actually doing these activities in the lab. This direct experience in the lab rattled the initial doubt that I had."

"Movement, it turns out, isn't just a way to escape thinking; it's a way into it. Throughout the course, I noticed a consistent theme: when I physically engaged the material, I remembered it better."

"The square dance lab translated algorithms and conditionals into coordinated group motion. When one person missed a cue, the entire system broke down, making dependency and error propagation visible. These experiences stayed with me because they were encoded physically rather than memorized."

"This course reminded me that intellectual learning divorced from physicality is a relatively recent and culturally specific phenomenon. At a place like MIT known for its rigorous academics, re-integrating the body into learning felt both innovative and necessary."

Physical Activities Offer Embodied Practice in Collaboration and Leadership

"The forms of collaboration found in this lab differ vastly from the kind I’m used to in my technical courses. Typically, there is minimal interaction on P sets, and group projects involve dividing up work to do separately. Physical teamwork led to a level of trust that can’t be replicated by just working on a paper or psetting together. I think the team activities could be incorporated into other classes that require group work."

"These collective physical experiences reshaped our interactions…Having gone through unusual but shared physical tasks, we were more comfortable speaking openly, even about sensitive topics…This level of mutual respect can be difficult to cultivate in a conventional lecture setting." 

"One of the most unexpected outcomes of the semester was the steady growth of confidence. Many activities required physical risk: throwing myself into a judo fall, relying on a partner to help me back up, or stepping forward to demonstrate a game to the class. These moments were small, but they accumulated. Each week, I found myself doing something I might normally avoid because it felt awkward or outside my comfort zone. By the end, I realized I had been practicing confidence without naming it…That physical commitment translated mentally: I was more willing to try things, to speak up, and to participate. Confidence became embodied. "

"I now view activities like Broomball, scavenger hunts, and partner acrobatics as highly effective methods to improve many soft skills that MIT attempts to inculcate into its students and that the corporate world seeks when aiming to hire engineers with great leadership qualities."

"I was initially hesitant to interact with classmates, as I’m naturally introverted and shy around unfamiliar people. However, having to physically support and be supported by my peers, especially in partner acrobatics, required vulnerability from both sides. This mutual reliance helped create bonds and fostered relationships. The fear of failure or embarrassment faded as we laughed, stumbled, and succeeded together. It built a level of trust and camaraderie I rarely encounter in traditional academic settings. This shift carried into our classroom environment as well… I found myself more engaged, more willing to contribute, and more open to others' perspectives. The physical nature of our labs encouraged an embodied empathy: when you’ve literally held someone up or leaned on them for support, it becomes easier to connect on intellectual and emotional levels."

"Embodied learning can also become much more significant when with others, propelling connectedness and communication through moving together. Working with more people requires a level of understanding and unity that can enhance the experience when achieved. I especially felt this with some of the presentations made by other students…such as the PV=nRT lesson…where I was embodying the temperature of a system with others. That shared movement made the experience more memorable because I feel like we all connected in understanding the subject."

"When I helped lead a class activity, I noticed that movement made it easier to step into a role I might normally avoid. The energy of the room, the shared physical space, and the fact that we were all "doing" something rather than silently watching, reduced self-consciousness. I was not performing perfection; I was participating. This shift was subtle but significant."

"By dancing in class, we all were learning, making mistakes, and performing for each other in a fun environment. As the class progressed, people seemed more willing to go outside their comfort zone and try something new…having these experiences also led to impacts on class discussions…having a space where students were enabled to be more vulnerable and trust each other, it made people more willing to contribute their thoughts. Having this space also helped me feel closer to the students in this class overall!…While a dance-based class may not work for every subject, some of the side effects of being in a class where students are willing to take risks and get to know each other would be beneficial in every class."

"Movement brings out a different side of people. Whenever we were active, my peers were more willing to take risks, laugh, experiment, and help each other. There was less pressure to be perfect right away. Movement makes learning social, emotional, and memorable in ways a textbook cannot."

Embodied Education Enhances Student Wellbeing

"Focusing on embodied learning made me much more aware of how my own study habits, which often involve hours hunched over a laptop, can be both physically and mentally draining. After we explored meditation and took part in less intense activities like Pickleball, I noticed a significant drop in my academic anxiety, especially during midterm week."

"The learning feels much less exhausting...despite participating in physically exhausting activities, such as Pickleball or strength training, I found myself leaving the lab feeling much more energized than I had coming in."

"My mental health has seen an improvement too through practicing what we learned in the mindfulness labs. Something as simple as closing my eyes and taking deeper breaths while imagining the air travel through my body, which is something we learned in the Qi Gong lab, has helped me deal with anxiety and stress."

"I found that moving around during class has helped energize me for the day, increasing my focus in other classes as well." 

"At MIT, I often treat my body as something to manage: sleep enough, eat enough, get through rehearsals, sit through lectures, survive finals. But embodied learning made me think of my body as something that can help me learn, not just something that needs maintenance. Brainstorming walks, movement breaks, and physical labs showed me that moving does not always take away from academic focus. Sometimes it restores it. Sometimes an idea becomes clearer after standing up, walking, or physically trying it."

"Playing pickleball during midterm week showed me how physical activity can change mental states during stress…Running back and forth across the court left little mental room for worrying about other classes…When we finished playing, I felt energized rather than drained—a stark contrast to how I typically feel after hours of studying and working on my technical classes." 

"The peak of experiential learning for me during this course was during the Qi Gong unit. Feeling my body and my energy centers was very interesting to me and it made me feel good within my body. Since then, I have incorporated the stretches and breathing we learned into my nightly routine…If it was just a lecture about alternative eastern medicine, I could not see myself seeking out the practice in my own time."

"Perhaps the most immediate impact of this course was emotional. Every day we moved, my mood lifted. Even on days when I arrived tired or stressed from other coursework, I left feeling reset.… This effect has encouraged me to incorporate daily movement into my life outside the class. A short stretch, a walk, or even 10 minutes of jumping around between assignments has started to feel like an investment in my attention rather than a distraction from productivity. It improves my efficiency because I returned to work refreshed instead of drained." 

"When I entered this course I was quite hesitant to buy into the idea that dance could be used to teach advanced scientific concepts, but I have come to see that there are a number of instances where dance as a learning science could be an effective teacher and supplement learning in a positive way. Additionally, I laughed more, explored more, moved more, and played more in this class than I have in school in a very long time…This class helped me reclaim a lot of joy in the learning process and I am quite grateful for that."