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

Subject

School of environment and sustainability

Abstract

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.

Description

2025

Harmful Language Statement