10x Core Audio Practices to explore key aspects of the ethnographic research process, including literature review, conducting interviews, data analysis, writing and presenting. Each practice has an extensive bibliography with relevant literature.
16x Extended Audio Practices that cover themes like gender, camera, breath, the nervous system, fatigue, blood, ethics and environment.
3x Presentation and Practice Videos developed for the National Centre for Research Methods virtual data base.
18x blog essays that critically reflect on the body as research instrument, in practice, education and various research projects.
12x episodes from the Remember Your Body Podcast featuring conversations across anthropology, anatomy, economics, ecology, architecture and systems thinking (also available externally).
Project archive with original project proposal, presentations, launch event and visuals.
The Toolkit supports anyone who would like to include the body consciously in their working process and explore themes through increased embodied awareness.
The practices offer a gentle, accessible introduction to embodiment across disciplines. They can be easily adapted to suit different teaching contexts, fieldwork support, writing, studio practice or supervision.
Materials are accessible for all levels of experience, from students to seasoned professionals. No somatic or movement training is required to participate.
The Somatics Toolkit was originally developed to support ethnographers in working with the body as a site of knowledge, attention and care throughout the research cycle.
During the project its relevance broadened, with contributors from agriculture, architecture, medicine, dance, performance and education.
IN academic settings, the materials are used by students, researchers, mentors, and lecturers and other educators who are warmly invited to use the practices in the classroom.
The Toolkit is also used as a valuable resource for artists, healers, bodyworkers and practitioners of modalities such as family constellations, somatic coaching and IFS.
Use the + sign to browse the content and see what's in the Toolkit.
🔔 Please note you need to sign up for free access to actually open and work with the materials!
This section contains information that was part of the project website in 2019. Apart from updating links I have left everything unedited.
These short video presentations introduce the background, context and methodological foundations of the Somatics Toolkit, exploring how embodied awareness can support each stage of the research process. Together they offer a concise orientation to the concepts, intentions and practical approaches behind the project.
The core set of 10 audio recordings is developed by the project team. Where the first file invites you to arrive (back) into your body, the other nine practices address topics directly related to the ethnographic cycle of fieldwork. Although ethnography has been the leading methodology behind this project, most of the actions and methods play a role in any research design: we all engage with literature study, with data gathering and with disseminating the results. Scripts are written by Dr. Eline Kieft, revised and recorded by her, Dr. Ben Spatz and Dr. Doerte Weig.
The Extended Practice offers additional topics offered by somatic practitioners and/or researchers. Some are more generic, others are again closely related to a specific action or research phase.
This collection of essays brings together reflections from researchers and somatic practitioners across disciplines. Each piece offers a different perspective on embodiment in research, teaching and creative practice, expanding the conversation beyond the audio practices.
Remember Your Body is a free podcast that helps researchers to understand the body as a source of knowledge and how it can help them in their research. In Series 1 Eline Kieft and Ben Spatz talk to academics who pioneer the body as a research tool in anthropology. In Series 2, Doerte Weig talks about how our bodies can be related in a broader way to the fields of anatomy, economics, environment, architecture, mobility and systems thinking.
Access the original materials from the 2019 project website, documenting the development and launch of the Toolkit. It includes presentations, event materials and promotional artefacts that honour the project’s academic and creative origins.
Dr. Eline Kieft (Principal Investigator)
Dr. Ben Spatz (Co-Investigator)
Dr. Doerte Weig (Co-Investigator)
Prof. Dr. Vero Benei
Dr. Jerome Lewis
Thomas Groß
Dr. Simon Ellis (project mentor)
NCRM - National Centre for Research Methods
Coventry University
University of Huddersfield
“The instructions allow me to think with my body and this provides me with different ways of perceiving the materials in front of me.”
“This Toolkit helps people to question the status quo of the world, and how their own worldview is tied into that, including how researchers engage with their research.”
“I had often let visual impairment become the most defining characteristic of my researcher identity and relationship with participants. Through this task, I wanted to ask how other aspects of my identity, such as gender, ethnicity, and accent, would impact my fieldwork.”
“I envisage it would be very helpful for researchers to remain present and reduce the influence of their own internal dialogue of beliefs and values which skew the interpreting observations. A really good approach to enhance researchers’ capabilities and performance.”
“I frequently get back pain from my work even though I study dance. So to me this does not make much sense. The Toolkit helped me bridge the practical work I am researching into the analysis, reading and writing stages, and how I can explore knowledge in the body.”
“I have carried out work in contexts where I have had to really cover up my body and act in ways that are unnatural to me: not crossing my legs, not making that much eye contact etc. The Toolkit made me think about what this could have meant for the research participants I was interacting with.”
“As much as a researcher is involved in the process, some people get too involved in their fieldwork and forget their own values. This Toolkit can help them returning to their bodies and becoming aware of the value their bodies can have in research.”
"I often have limited choice over the physical surroundings of where I do interviews but had not thought about how the physicality of the environment interacts with the physicality of our bodies.”
“The toolkit has reminded me that research and academia more generally are always embodied affairs. Remembering and being with my body rather than only in my head, the various somatic practices have helped open me up to other ways of knowing, noticing the many voices and relations that I often neglect to the determinant of my own motivation and health”
If your university, department or programme would benefit from a bespoke workshop or embodied research session, you can find information about my bespoke academic sessions here! I offer half-day, full-day and multi-day formats adapted to your context as well as 1:1 support for students and faculty.
This resource was formerly hosted on somaticstoolkit.coventry.ac.uk, but after the project’s closure it was no longer maintained and became difficult to access. It's now hosted on Eline's personal website to ensure continued availability.
The Toolkit is freely offered to the research community, yet creating, curating and hosting it requires ongoing time, care and platform costs.
If you have found the Somatics Toolkit for Ethnographers useful in your practice or teaching, you are warmly invited to make a voluntary contribution to support its continued accessibility.