Students arrive in our classrooms carrying far more than coursework—stress, lived experience, fatigue, curiosity, and hope all show up too. Embodied pedagogy asks a simple but powerful question: what happens when we pay attention to how learning is felt, not just how it is delivered? In this conversation, PSU University Studies instructor Neera Malhotra shares how practices rooted in presence, somatic awareness, and choice can create classrooms where students feel safe enough to engage deeply and instructors feel grounded enough to teach with intention. Her upcoming workshop on February 6th, 2026, Embodied Pedagogies, invites faculty to slow down, notice what’s already happening in the room, and explore practical ways presence can support both learning and well-being
What inspired you to explore embodied pedagogies as a teaching practice, and how did that journey begin?
"This is a beautiful question to start. We need to honor the seed and respect the processes of germination, growth, and fruit. As a kid and into my young adult life, I was trained as a Bharatnatyam dancer. It is a dance form from South India rooted in storytelling, with a core emphasis on bodily engagement. Additionally, I have been an educator for more than twenty years. As a keen student of pedagogy and passionate about somatic narratives, I was curious about how the body responds to learning. How do we connect with those aha moments within our bodies, not just in our heads? How do we show up for learning, for each other, and how is the sense of presence deeply seated in interpersonal connections? My curious qualitative research journey taught me to begin with observation, attention, and the cultivation of presence. This not only paved the way for deeper inner exploration of the Self, but also, pedagogically, for understanding who I was becoming as an educator, while learning from my students. My journey shaped my doctoral work and enhanced my postdoctoral exploration in Interpersonal Neurobiology and Somatic Psychology. With my experiences as a contemplative practitioner, curiosity on the nervous system, and trauma, I came up with a mnemonic S.L.O.W. Presence. S stands for Sensations, L for listening, O for orientation and open-mindedness, and W for wonderment, and how these four gateways invite us to cultivate presence. SLOW is an easy-to-remember invitation for educators and other human service practitioners to cultivate presence when it isn't present."
What does “embodied pedagogy” mean to you? Beyond a definition, what does it feel like in a classroom?
"Embodied pedagogy is an invitation to focus on how we learn rather than what we are learning, by simply paying attention to where learning impacts in the body. The body is the central site of knowledge, meaning-making, and transformation. To me, embodied pedagogy is not just a method but a quality of presence—a way of teaching/learning that recognizes that learning happens through presence, interpersonal connection, and reflection on how what I am learning affects me. It is learning not just through cognition but through feeling, sensation, listening, and curiosity.
In the classroom, it feels like slowing down just enough for students to arrive—not only intellectually, but also physically and emotionally. I often say in class, "Perhaps throughout the class time we are still arriving, and I encourage you to pay attention to that." My intention is to offer spaciousness in the room to show up. Showing up is not just a physical act. It is the practice of returning to the body-- a process cultivated slowly, over time. A return to the deep listening, to attention. A return to what is actually happening rather than what we think is happening. It is an ethical stance to be with what is around us, within us—a stance to show up with no performance, just presence, without rushing towards fixing anything. To quote my dear student Merin from my FRINQ class, "It is about being in balance and being in imbalance simultaneously." It is a process. It is a reciprocal process- a giver, receiver, and the gift then becomes the presence.
In the classroom, it feels relational rather than performative. Instructor's presence is grounded—students sense that the instructor is regulated, responsive, and genuinely there. This often creates a subtle but palpable increase in trust. Students take more risks, speak more honestly, and tolerate ambiguity a bit longer.
Embodied pedagogy feels like learning that moves: through pauses, through silence, through noticing sensations, through laughter, through discomfort that is held rather than rushed away. Concepts land not just as ideas but as experiences—students can feel and voice when something resonates or doesn’t.
Importantly, it doesn’t feel “soft” or unstructured. When done well, it feels clear, contained, and alive. There are boundaries, but within them there is room for curiosity, affect, and difference. The classroom becomes a site of co-regulation, where attention, emotion, and meaning circulate rather than flow in one direction."
How does embodied pedagogy change the teacher-student relationship — does it invite vulnerability, trust, or risk in new ways?
Embodied pedagogy changes the teacher–student relationship by recognizing that learning happens not only through thinking, but also through feeling, sensing, and relating. In my teaching, this means paying attention to presence, emotional tone, and the learning environment, not just content delivery. Embodied approaches invite vulnerability in gentle, choice-based ways, where students are never required to share personal experiences but are encouraged to notice their own responses as part of learning. While I understand that the trust is built over time, it takes time to gradually cultivate presence. I also understand that trust is built through clear structure, consent, and respect for boundaries. When we are rested or show up in a space where we don't have to perform but can honor the process, learning and knowledge come naturally, especially given that students bring different life experiences and levels of comfort into the classroom. While this approach may feel unfamiliar at times, it supports deeper engagement, student agency, and a more human and connected learning experience.
What’s one idea or question you hope participants carry with them after your upcoming workshop on Embodied Pedagogy?
"I have carried these questions as I developed my own pedagogical practice, so I offer the same:
- How do I show up rested, or let my overthinking mind go for a walk, while honoring my presence as I am?
- How can I bring presence to the center of my teaching practice?
- How do I show up in the classroom with my vulnerability, knowledge, and skills as a space for sharing rather than a hierarchical power space?
- What becomes possible when we slow down enough to notice how learning is felt, not just understood?
- How might care, consent, and presence reshape our classrooms without lowering academic rigor?
- What would it look like to teach in ways that support both learning and well-being?"