The Proprioception Discussion

I struck up a conversation with a guy in my gym's locker room today. In the course of it, he asked about beach running, and I talked about how tough that is because it helps develop the feet, ankles and lower legs. In the course of this, I used the word "proprioception" and a few minutes later, a bearded man walked over with the "I want to interject" look. I looked at him and said something like "I think we have a differing opinion here." He quickly responded by saying that he was impressed by the word, which he knew and never expected to hear bounced around in the locker room.

I'd explained the word as "understanding the relationship of your body in space" (in this case, how the variable footstrike of beach or grass running causes you to need to work more muscles in your feet, ankles and lower legs). This man, who struck me as being either a preacher or an academic, explained that it is also used for explaining you place in space of any kind, whether your physical or spiritual self and how it relates to its surroundings.

It turns out that my understanding of the term, though correct was far narrower than the dictionary indicates - "the reception of stimuli produced within the organism." To see the definition in Merriam-Webster Online or to hear it pronounced, click the link below:
http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=proprioception&x=9&y=17