Mountain and Ocean Strikes: Exploring an Embodied Sense of Place and Ecological Identity in Kaihewalu Lua

What happens when the body learns to move like mountains and oceans? For this research, I used an autophenomenographic and ethnographic lens to explore how physical movements from the Hawaiian martial art, Kaihewalu Lua, could affect my ecological identity and sense of place. I collected data through journal reflections, video and audio recordings, interviews, and a literature review. Mountains and oceans emerged as metaphors for stability and fluidity and as an innovative way to structure this thesis.I present my research as a Thesis Watershed; adopting a metaphorical landscape to portray my transformative experience and the resulting patterns as they might apply to environmental education pedagogy. With permission, I have adopted traits from Kaihewalu Lua’s Indigenous method of embodied learning to suggest a pedagogical frame to help foster my own and my students’ sense of place and ecological identity. This framework emphasizes openness, intention, and acceptance through mindful movement.

Author dc:creator

• Sandoval, Crystal, Isabel

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Kull, Robert

• School of environment and sustainability

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Identifier URI

https://doi.org/10.25316/ir-20351

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:null:10613/28783