Corporeity is called the corporeal characteristic: that which has a body or consistency. The idea of body, for its part, can refer to the set of organs and systems that make up a living being or to that which has a limited extension and is perceived through the senses.

The concept of corporeity is often used in the field of physical education in reference to the perception of the body and the movements that a person can make to give it expression. According to the old school, these properties distinguish the human being from the rest of the species; however, the research work of some current specialists believes that there is no such difference between us and other animals.

The corporeal characteristic is called corporeity.

Body perception

We could say that our existence is corporeal, since we perceive the world around us through our body. But this is more complex than just checking our environment, since it begins with the perception of our own body, and this is the point at which some scientists believe that we differ from other species. Could a wolf spend its whole life without feeling like an individual, without understanding that it is, that it exists in a defined and unique way? Believing this would not only show great arrogance on our part, but borders on the absurd.

An individual, through his perception of the body and motor skills, accesses information, feels and attributes meaning to the external world. Corporeity is constructed at a social level, at a psychological level and at a biological level: the subject is projected abroad from her own body.

All this allows us to move through reality complying with a series of rules that arise from coexistence with our peers, and from coexistence with the rest of the individuals that we perceive around us. We understand that we exist, and then that others exist.

From his perception of corporeality, the individual becomes aware of his individual existence.

Corporeality and the link with the outside

It is believed that our relationship with the outside world begins in the womb, through the interaction that our mother has with society. This stage is defining for our future, especially when it is accompanied by major complications, such as situations of poverty or violence.

From the day we are born we begin to appropriate our environment, to try to understand why we are here, who we are, what we can do with the resources that surround us. It is an apparent game, although it hides an absolutely necessary search for identity, which is manifested through laughter, crying, violent movements of the extremities, the demand for food and the exchange of affection.

It can be said that the corporeality is in charge of the representation of the way of being of an individual. Physical education aims to model the body according to that corporeity, whose ideals change with time and place.

Awareness

It should be noted that corporeity, according to these analyses, makes it possible for the living being to become aware of itself. The relationship that a person establishes with her body, with the bodies of others and with the environment forms his identity, that which differentiates him. That is why physical education must also allow the experimentation of the corporeality in all its dimensions, promoting the free expression of the subject.

Of what use is consciousness of ourselves, corporeity? Well, it is the starting point of an autonomous life, of the constant decision-making that we understand as the passage through the world, to recognize and try to satisfy our needs, to defend ourselves from threats and, ultimately, to subsist and achieve fulfillment. both physically and emotionally.