Abstract

This research explores the role of the body in empathy with the goal of developing a pedagogical tool using storytelling. The study engaged participants in a series of mindfulness training sessions to explore whether empathy, viewed as a mode of responsiveness – a state of being – rather than a mode of cognitive access, can be enacted through non-judgmental observation of internal and external bodily sensation while engaging with narrative, a practice which I am calling willfully embodied perception. Findings indicated that a modest majority of participants did experience an increase in empathy and in empathy-motivated helping behaviour after completing the mindfulness sessions. If education systems can begin to view an empathic mode of engagement as an equally valuable alternative to an analytical mode of engagement, especially in the study of literature, I believe students will gain a more meaningful, holistic, and supported learning experience.