Listening to the body: auditory work and asthma experiences

See also video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzBkYskONPU Whilst there has been a burgeoning of interest in sporting and exercise embodiment in recent years, including more phenomenologically inspired sociological analyses (Allen-Collinson, 2009), a sociology of the senses is a relatively recent development, particularly in physical cultures. This provides an interesting new dimension to studies of embodiment, focusing on the importance of the sensory elements of our "somatic work," and analysing the ways in which we go about making sense of our senses within a socio-cultural and physical-cultural framework. Drawing on social anthropology, and the findings of two qualitative research projects, this paper addresses the lived experience of asthma in non-élite sports participants and frequent exercisers. Despite the prevalence of asthma and exercise-induced asthma/bronchoconstriction, there is a distinct lacuna in terms of socio-cultural research on asthma experiences, specifically in relation to exercise participation. In the paper, we focus on the aural dimension of asthma experiences in sport and exercise, examining two key elements: asthma as "dys-ease" (Leder, 1990); and auditory attunement and breath control