Does Brain Gym “make you tired”? Actually, no!

I received this email from a woman who had just been in one of my Brain Gym® classes. She was a most enthusiastic participant and was truly looking forward to using what she'd learned, to support her students. 
  
   Hello Kathy,
   I have been trying Brain Gym with a 7th JR. class after their lunch 
   and they have complained it makes them too tired. What can I do?
   Thank you,
   Rosemary

First of all, I love it when my students write to me following a workshop or class. Sometimes they share surprising stories of changes they've seen right away with a particular child, or even with their whole class, and that's so delightful! But, honestly, I think my favorite emails are those with questions, because it means that person truly wants to understand more about this great work and how to put it to use. So I was excited to receive this email.

In this case, though, I thought my reply might be helpful to more than just this one person. I'm sharing it here, with a few additions to complete my thoughts on this important topic.

   Dear Rosemary,

   How great that you’re using Brain Gym with 7th graders! And I understand
   your challenge around this. It’s a question that’s come up before.

   I suggest you begin by changing the descriptor. When kids say they feel
   "tired" after doing Brain Gym movements, invite them to notice whether they
   really feel tired, or could it be that they feel relaxed?

   They may not be used to experiencing what “relaxed” really feels like. Many
   students are constantly forcing themselves to be “on” to get things done,
   push-push-pushing their way through the day, digging deep for the energy
   they need. Yet, the truth is, we work better when our mind-body system is
   not in stress!

Give your students regular opportunities to experience different Brain Gym movements, really taking time to notice what the effects are. And keep in mind that they may notice different things on different days.

My own experience is that after doing Lengthening Activities, like the Owl or Calf Pump, I typically feel more alert and focused. 

After doing Energy Exercises, like the Brain Buttons or Energy Yawn, my thoughts are often clearer, and I feel more “present.” 

 

After Midline Movements, like the Cross Crawl or the Double Doodle, I feel more ready for tasks such as reading or writing - and I'm better at them. 

And it’s often the Deepening Attitudes activities, Hook-ups and the Positive Points, that result in a greater feeling of calm presence.

Each category of Brain Gym movements helps to release the effects of tension and stress in the mind-body system in its own unique way. And it’s tension and stress that get in the way of being able to efficiently think, learn, and move! [1]

On the other hand, your students may truly be tired. (Changing circadian rhythms during the teenage years are often a culprit here, but that’s a whole different topic.) However — Brain Gym does not make people tired! What Brain Gym may do, is get people in touch with what’s really going on with their mind-body system, under all the “busy-ness” of their thinking and doing and hurrying through the day. Once the mind is more calm, and we’re more “present” in the moment, we can experience our more authentic inner state. Sometimes that means noticing the fatigue that was there all along.

Students are not alone in this — we all may learn to ignore the fact that we’re tired. It’s often inconvenient, or not socially (or academically, or professionally) acceptable to stop and get the rest we need. Or people may have told us (especially when we were kids), "you don't get to be tired," or "no complaining, just get to work" — and  that voice is still in our heads. 

Either way, relaxed or tired, it’s important to know what that feels like. Perhaps that could be part of your discussion: slowing down the "gerbil-wheel" mind, becoming present through these integrating movements, and experiencing the authentic state of your body, whatever it is. [2] 

Understanding oneself is a vitally important part of overall wellness! The more we understand ourselves, the more likely it is that we’ll be open to the cues of our mind-body system and do what’s in our own best good. That also means that we’re less likely to be led astray by the (potentially less healthy) influence of our peers.

One more thought that comes up as I re-read your email: I sometimes feel tired after lunch, too — my body is busy digesting! Perhaps that could be one more aspect of your discussion. As a group, you could explore the movements, and see which ones help to bring a more alert state, even while digesting your lunch. It’s possible to digest, and have a balanced brain at the same time!

I hope this helps. Please let me know if you try this new approach, and how it turns out!

Does this information help you to understand your own experience of using the Brain Gym movements throughout the day? I'd love to hear what you have to share!

With warmest regards,

Kathy 

Kathy Brown, M.Ed.
Educational Kinesiologist
Licensed Brain Gym® Instructor/Consultant
Author of Educate Your Brain
WEB: www.CenterEdge.com
BLOG: www:WholeBrainLiving.com
BOOK: www.EducateYourBrain.com

[1] You can refer to the book Brain Gym® Teacher's Edition for information on all 26 Brain Gym activities and their many benefits.

[2] In my book Educate Your Brain, pages 173-174 from the chapter titled “Brain Gym in the Classroom” offer some suggestions on how to introduce the concept of “noticing” to students. You can modify my suggested language to suit any age student you’re working with. 

Brain Gym® movement photographs Copyright© Laird Brown Photography. All rights reserved.

©Copyright 2018 Kathy Brown. All rights reserved.

Brain Gym® is a registered trademark of the Educational Kinesiology Foundation  •  Ventura, CA  •  www.braingym.org

Please share your comments! 

If you don't see a comment space below, 

please click here to view this article as a separate page,

and scroll down. Thanks!

---

"But it's so simple!"

In our work at the Brain Injury Alliance (BIA) here in Phoenix, Arizona, Brain Gym® colleague Mary Ann Beebe and I experience all kinds of interactions with those who come to our twice-monthly sessions.

We never know the story behind what brings someone to participate in the BIA programs: it could be traumatic injury from a car or sporting accident, near drowning, stroke or aneurism, or other direct assault to the brain. Recently, we’ve also had participants from the military’s “wounded warrior” program who are dealing with post-traumatic stress syndrome. Mary Ann and I simply welcome whoever comes through the door at the appointed hour, and proceed with our group Brain Gym process.

This week, “Connie” was part of the group who attended – her first time coming for Brain Gym. Tall and slight of build, she had a gentle demeanor and a bright, curious look in her eye. I wondered, but didn’t ask, what had brought her to the BIA for services.

Mary Ann and I began class as usual, introducing ourselves and the day’s program, and beginning with the three-minute Brain Gym “PACE” warm-up: activities that support the mind-body system in becoming more Positive, Active, Clear, and Energetic, in preparation for new learning.[1]

Modified PACE warm-up for those
who may be prone to seizures
(See footnote)

We always invite Noticing into the mix.

How do you know that something has helped to make a change? You must notice before hand just how you feel, then do the “something,” and then notice again how you feel. Some level of noticing allows the mind-body system to register the fact that what you did made a difference in how you’re operating.

In this case, Connie definitely noticed a difference that these PACE activities made.

When we were finished with this warm-up, she noticed that she felt significantly more comfortable physically (a sharp spot of tension in her back had vanished), she was breathing more deeply, she felt more “present” in her body and aware of the space around her, and the words she looked at on our Agenda board seemed to be brighter and more full of meaning.

She was amazed and delighted with how remarkably different she felt. And then a wide smile and look of astonishment appeared on her face, as a realization set in: “But it’s so simple!” she said.

I shared the description offered by Carla Hannaford, neurobiologist and author of Smart Moves – Why learning is not all in your head, who calls the Brain Gym movements “elegantly simple.”

Such simple, effective means of bringing the mind-body system back into balance. What a gift to every day of our life, no matter who we are, or what circumstances we’re dealing with.

As someone who uses these tools on a daily basis, it’s easy to forget just how totally amazing the shifts can be, and how little it can take for this to happen.

It’s the look of happy astonishment on the face of a newcomer, and the words “But it’s so simple!” that bring home the ever-deepening awareness that the Brain Gym work is truly a gift, and one I feel privileged to share.

My very best to you all,

Kathy

[1] The standard pace warm-up consists of four Brain Gym activities: Sipping Water, rubbing Brain Buttons, doing the Cross Crawl, and doing Hook-ups. (For instructions on these activities, please see my book Educate Your Brain, or Brain Gym® Teacher’s Edition, by Paul and Gail Dennison.) Because some of these participants with TBI may also be prone to seizures, we use Cecilia Koester’s recommendation for modifying the pace process. For the third element, rather than starting with the cross-lateral Cross Crawl, we begin with “Puppet Crawl” which is a one-sided activity: raise and lower the right arm and leg, then raise and lower the left arm and leg, etc. We follow this with the Cross Crawl, telling everyone that if they’re prone to seizures, please omit the Cross Crawl; once they've been doing the Puppet Crawl for some time, they may feel ready to include the Cross Crawl. We all then finish with Hook-ups. 

Click here for a link to the website for Educate Your Brain

Copyright© 2015 by Kathy Brown. All rights reserved. 

"Modified PACE" page Copyright© 2015 by Kathy Brown. All rights reserved. 

Brain Gym® s a registered trademark of Brain Gym® International, Ventura, California • www.braingym.org

Please share your thoughts! 

If you don't see a comment space below, 

please click here to view this article as a separate page,

and scroll down. Thanks! 

Refining the Fine Art of Noticing

It isn’t often that I hang on to an in-flight magazine, but an article by Nathaniel Reade in the March, 2011 edition of Spirit, from Southwest Airlines, totally captivated me. I read it thoroughly, twice, and brought the magazine home, where it lived rather buried in my office for quite a while (well, since about April of 2011). Recently it surfaced, and I was drawn to read the article again – and I remembered why I loved it so much: it’s all about noticing – in a very particular and important way.

Noticing is one of the foundations of the Edu-K work. In a Brain Gym® balance, we set an intention to open to new possibilities in how we operate in our world (often to eliminate a block or frustration, or develop a skill); we notice how we’re doing right now (how we experience that stuck-ness), and then notice which Brain Gym movements or activities we’re drawn to do, to come back into balance. After doing the movements or activities (our “learning menu”), we notice shifts or changes in how we feel, or how we’re now able to accomplish that target skill.

Part of my role as a Brain Gym consultant is to support others in observing these subtle cues within themselves. Throughout my years facilitating Brain Gym sessions my own sense of noticing has become more and more refined. But this article referred to noticing some of the most subtle behaviors of infants, as a key to understanding them, and – in particular – what may be causing their “fussy” behaviors.

The article describes the work of Kevin Nugent, a pediatric psychologist at the University of Massachusetts and the Harvard Medical School, and who directs the Brazelton Institute at the Boston Children's Hospital. You may know the name of T. Berry Brazelton, the renowned pediatrician and author about all things infant-behavior.

What truly captivated me about this article was the description of Nugent working with mothers of newborns that seem not to like to be loved and cuddled, but instead fuss and even push the mother away. As you can imagine, this is distressing to the parents, who’ve been looking forward to “magic moments” with their new offspring, only to feel rejected and hurt.

Nugent coaches the parents to observe the tiniest cues from their child, so they can clearly see her attempts at communication, and interpret them correctly.

For example, one desperately “fussy” baby named Jennifer finally was calm and making eye contact with Nugent – until he simply spoke gently to her. At that point, Jennifer turned her head. A very small movement, but very significant! Quoting from the article:

     It’s called “gaze aversion.” Most of us would miss it entirely, or assume that the baby had spotted something fascinating in the distance. Nugent knows better.

   “See that?” he whispers to Grace [the mother]. “She just disengaged. She’d had enough, so she decided to shut me out.” This baby’s tolerance for stimuli is so low that looking at a face is all she can handle; adding a voice pushes her over the edge. Nugent explains that this is Jennifer’s way of saying, “You’re beginning to overwhelm me.” It isn’t quite a cry, but it is an early warning that she is headed in that direction.1

What subtle noticing! And what a difference this made to the parents, as well! Rather than feeling rejected by their infant who was resisting the kind of attention they wanted to shower on her, they were given tools for noticing the kind of attention the child was ready and willing to receive. When the infant’s needs are seen and met in this way, she feels safe, and there’s a better chance for harmony all around.

Nugent says that when we notice the initial signs of overwhelm – averted gaze, wrinkled brow, color change in the face or around the mouth, stiff body, flailing limbs – and we back off, giving the child time to recover, the child says within himself “somebody here understands me.”2

What does this mean to me, in my Educational Kinesiology / Brain Gym world? I don’t often work with infants (I mostly work with their parents), but this article certainly boosted my intention to bring my own levels of noticing to an even more subtle level in working with my clients of all ages. 

Since the time of re-reading this article, I’ve recognized gaze aversion in three clients: a 12-year-old girl, a 28-year-old woman, and a 42-year-old man; in all three cases I saw it as a sign of overwhelm, due to the sensitive or challenging nature of the topic each learner was dealing with. I knew to slow down, and simply sit in quiet for a few moments, watching for other cues from the learner that said he was preparing to continue: a deep exhalation, taking a sip of water, returning to our conversation, or even making eye contact. Sometimes I even observed color returning to the person's face as he came "back" to himself after something that stressed him emotionally. 

All of this takes a great deal of slowing down and being "present" on my own part, and willingness to allow the learning process to unfold on its own, in its right timing. And I’m adding to my repertoire more subtle cues to look for, using Nugent’s writing as inspiration. (See the two books I mention, below.)

I have shared this article with parents of some of my young clients who seem so highly active, volatile, or contrary at home. And I've supported those parents with balances to "clearly see and interpret the behaviors my child is showing me," or to "accept that my child is sensitive to subtle stressors." They've shared that by noticing and correctly interpreting stress patterns in their child's behavior (and not taking it personally!), they've been able to intervene before tempers flared by redirecting activity in a positive way, keeping everyone on a much more even keel. 

Where can we all use such subtle noticing in our world, in general? Everywhere! In all our interactions with others, whether professionally or socially, noticing subtle stress-based behaviors, recognizing them as signs of overwhelm, and responding (or giving space) appropriately, can help us relate more smoothly and effectively – to everyone’s benefit. 

If you’d like to know more about Kevin Nugent’s work, here are some resources:

Online link for the article, which I found on Nugent's website:

http://drkevinnugent.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/0311_baby_gaga1.pdf

Two books co-authored by Nugent:

• Your Baby Is Speaking to You

• Understanding Newborn Behavior and Early Relationships: The Newborn Behavioral Observations (NBO) System Handbook.

These are full of wonderful information! The first one, with the most basic information, is appropriate for the typical newborn. It would make a fabulous gift for any new parent. The second one explains the Newborn Behavioral Observation System, so it’s a bit more technical – it’s written for infant-care practitioners. That said, it would be very helpful for the astute parent of a very fussy child. I got a lot out of them both.

And Kevin Nugent’s entire website is well worth visiting:

http://drkevinnugent.com/

Enjoy! And let me know what you think!

With warm regards,

Kathy

P.S. You may also want to know that my book, Educate Your Brain, holds a section about noticing as a vital element of the learning process. It's titled "Honoring the Learner's Noticing," and you'll find it on pages 79-83, inside Chapter 9, "Brain Gym: Theory in Action."

Click here for a link to my website for
Educate Your Brain
www.educateyourbrain.com

Note: 

Baby image Copyright © Canstock Photo www.canstock.com

Footnotes:

1 - Reade, Nathaniel. "Baby Gaga." Spirit (March 2011): 118.  

2 - Ibid. 119. 

Copyright 2013 by Kathy Brown. All rights reserved. 

Brain Gym® is a registered trademark of Brain Gym® International, Ventura, California • www.braingym.org

 Post a Comment