In my Yang style Tai Chi class, since we know the whole form (Yang 24) now, we have started working on flipping it--doing everything to the right that we learned to the left. It is an interesting challenge, and it takes the learning to a new level. Sometimes by the time I get to class on Monday nights, my brain is ready to shut down. I know that some of the moves I learned purely kinesthetically, just watching the teacher and imitating her. As I try to flip it, obviously, the body feels it differently since it is a different hand or foot moving, so this really gives me a chance to go back and involve some analytical learning as well. And I'm finding that the better I get at flipping the form, the better I am the first direction.
For years, I've been talking to my students about using as many learning modes as possible. We obviously want to focus on whatever our individual strengths are, but if we use multiple learning methods, we know the material better. For example, if I was memorizing "I Enjoy Being a Girl", I would pick up most of the words just from listening to it and singing it several times. If draw pictures, I'll remember even more. If I make up silly actions (way more exaggerated than you would use to perform), I'll be even more solid in my memorization.
I've also found that there are times when we think we have learned something, but later realize that we just weren't ready to take it to the next level yet. Learning is very much influenced by how ready we are to learn whatever it is we are setting out to learn.
It's also true that sometime we understand things at an unconscious level before we really process it consciously. In writing my novel this past month, things came to the surface that I hadn't considered before. And in analyzing some symbolism (that I didn't even intend as symbolism) I learned something pretty profound.
I cannot imagine a life without learning. I crave it. I need it to exist. And life is more than happy to provide all the opportunities I need.
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