PACE Your Way to Freedom

     Last week I took an amazing class! I can't recommend Brain Gym 101 with Carolyn Nyland enough.  It was one of those things that arrived at the right time, with the right instructor and the right students.  I was ready to hear and use all that was taught.  What a gift.
     As I saw my first client after the class, I was careful.  I had played around with the material a lot, but didn't want to use it before I was ready, so I left all of the materials far away from my office (so I couldn't just slip it in).  Let's just say that didn't work at all.  It is such a great tool, that I had to go get the book and we spent most of the session using the Brain Gym movements to complement the other things that I use all the time.  It was so much fun!
       So what is this Brain Gym?  There are lots of involved descriptions, with loads of jargon, all necessary for research, but for our purposes here is my favorite- "to live is to move."  If I were to go on a bit longer, it is "a movement- based educational experience centered around twenty-six simple activities that recall the movements children naturally do during their first years of life as they learn to coordinate their eyes, ears, hands, and whole body."
     What is so wonderful is the way adding Brain Gym exercises moves my sessions into "Pam territory."  I had a major realization over 2012.  I had been running someone else's practice, don't know who, but so much of what I was doing was not serving my clients.  One day last winter I spent a few hours trying to define why my clients choose me, what they are looking for.  The adjectives that I came up with are "playful, fun, generous, open, love and adorable."  Darn it!  I want to be serious and studious and all of those other words that garner respect.  After spending the last 8 months with them on the wall of my office, I've come to realize that I love them, and this is where I am meant to be.  Can you see why Brain Gym (or any other method of playing your way to health) is such a good fit?
       I've looked for YouTube videos, but most seem geared toward children.  Here is an adult version (word and pictures, with a Mozart selection from YouTube to play in the background as you awaken your brain.

     With only one course under my belt, I am not certified (though perhaps, I'm certifiable...), and have no idea where the road leads but I'm loving skipping down it.  That being said, I have a gift for you.  Wouldn't it be wonderful if, any time you wanted it, your brain was working in tip top condition?  Here is a great start from Brain Gym:

1. Energize:  Have a sip of water
     (Warning: Science Content- water supplies electrolytes that carry electrical potential across cell membranes, and this electrical exchange is essential to the functioning of the new neural networks being created as we learn)

2. Clear: Brain Buttons  
        Place one hand over your navel.  Make a "U" shape with the other hand and place your thumb and index finger in the small depressions just below your collarbone, about one inch to each side of your breastbone.  Rub the points at your collarbone for about 30 seconds as you move your eyes slowly to the left and right along a horizontal line.  Continue with the other hand.
       (Warning: Science Content- by moving our eyes right and left into the periphery while holding points in the kinesthetic midfield, we restore our centralized vision as we satisfy the scanning- reflex impulse to look away from the midline.)

3. Active: Cross Crawl
        Cross the midline of your body as you alternately move one arm and its opposite leg, then the other arm and its opposite leg.  There are lots of variations, have some fun!
       (Warning: Science Content- this exercise activates both sides of the body, firing the neural pathways in the left and right cerebral hemispheres.  It also stabilizes the pelvis, while also mobilizing and stabilizing the shoulders. And hey, it feels great.)

4. Positive- Hook- ups
         Cross your ankles.  Next, extend your arms in front of you and cross one wrist (on the same side as your top ankle) over the other; then interlace the fingers and draw your clasped hands up toward your chest.  Hold like this for a minute or more, breathing slowly, with your eyes closed and the tip of your tongue on the roof of your mouth as you inhale.

         When ready, uncross your arms and legs.  Put your fingertips together in front of your chest.
         (You guessed it: Science Content-  activates the vestibular system and balance- related muscles, supporting us in restoring equilibrium after emotional or environmental stress.  It draws blood and attention away from the body's periphery and the fight or flight reflexes and back to the body's midfield, inhibiting reflexive behavior and supporting higher-order thinking and decision making.)

     I hope you are still here with me.  I know that was a lot of information (actually, my fingers are a bit tired from typing).  Trust me, it is much easier to do than to read about.  So, give it a try.  Put on some instrumental music that you love and let your body move.  Let me know how it works for you or if you have any questions.