Mountain climbing in the morning opens the mind.
technique — attributed to Deborah Szekely
Szekely's daily-schedule design has guests climbing the mountain in the morning. The exercise produces breathing, flexibility, and a mind that is more impressionable. The protective armor people wear in the outside world starts to come off because the body has shifted out of its defensive posture. The technique generalizes. Embodied experiences first, intellectual content second. Conferences and retreats that try to start with cognitive engagement at nine in the morning are working uphill. The same audience, after a hike, would absorb the same content very differently. The body precedes the mind in design order.
For retreat designers, conference programmers, and learning leaders thinking about session sequencing. The technique is most useful as a frame against the default that the day's important content goes first thing in the morning.
exercise, morning-design, openness, embodied-experience