Proprioception

While the conventional five senses of sight, taste, smell, touch and hearing advise us of the world beyond ourselves, proprioception is the sense that looks inward. However, it doesn't tell us how we feel (like the feeling of sore muscles, or indigestion). Proprioception tells us how we are.

This is the sense of position, of movement - but relative only to ourselves. It is the force behind touch typing, ballet, and the DWI test for which we must touch our noses with our eyes closed. Without proprioception, the artist would not be able to brush paint onto a canvas without looking at his hand's action, and it would be impossible to drive an automobile, because a motorist would not be able to steer or use the foot pedals while looking at the road ahead.

One would not even be able to walk without literally "watching where you put your feet".

The reader may find some value in these pages:

The Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (http://www.istd.org/features/health/proprioception)