Safe

I think most of us most likely take for granted that (generally) we feel safe. Right? I mean it was probably pretty obvious when the pandemic hit and suddenly we had reasons to not feel safe. 

Suddenly, we were thrown into a situation where even going to the grocery store could jeopardize our safety, or the safety of those close to us. This seemed especially apparent at the beginning of the pandemic, since the scientific community was still trying to even figure out how the virus spread, how long it lasted on surfaces and all that.

This post however, isn't about the pandemic. It's about safety.

In the post titled "The Baby Brain", I talked about the Triune Brain Theory that we use at Brain Fit Academy. Triune- the three parts of the brain that we refer to as the "baby brain", the "emotional brain", and the "thinking brain". In that post, I focused more on the role of the emotional brain. When thinking about safety, we're talking more about the "baby brain".

You see, the baby brain (brain stem) is in charge of our sense of safety. It has this continuous communication with the emotional brain (the limbic midbrain) to help us know whether we are safe, or whether we need to fight, flight or freeze.

It's like the baby brain and the emotional brain have a cool walkie-talkie system between them. 

BZZZ..."Hello? Baby brain? Are you there?"

BZZZ..."Yeah, I'm here. What's going on up there?" 

BZZZ..."I've got some incoming sensory input that I'm sending down to you. I don't don't know how to respond, so I need you to react. You ready?"

BZZZ..."Yup- all systems go. I'm ready to kick up those stress hormones, tighten up the back of the body, send the blood to the big muscles, and move the eyes to the periphery. Just send it on down!"

So imagine that for a minute. Incoming information comes into the brain, the emotional brain decides if it's safe or a threat and sends the information along- up to the thinking brain (neocortex) if it's deemed safe, and down to the baby brain (brain stem) if deemed a threat. 

That walkie-talkie system continuously on, continuously communicating. But what if the baby brain is getting too much action? Too much information being sent down there and the body is in a constant state of stress? A constant state of not feeling safe?  

Let's go back to the pandemic analogy for a minute. 

Think about the first time you went into the grocery store after the lockdown started. If you were anything like me, you were probably nervous about touching anything and wiped down the cart with multiple sanitizing wipes. You wore your mask and made sure that it fit well so that you weren't breathing in any one else's germs. As you walked around the store, your eyes darted around the aisles- making sure you were keeping the appropriate amount of distance from those around you and that you were following the "one-way" system of walking through the store.

Now imagine, that as you were in the middle of that trip, the store manager came on the loud speaker and said that there was a mandatory meeting for all shoppers and you needed to meet him by the milk section- it was time for the first lesson of the day- how to read the labels on milk bottles. 

Being the diligent shopper that you are, and not wanting to cause any trouble, you make your way over to the milk aisle- still on guard, alert and nervous about the virus. 

When you arrive to the gathering, the manager proceeds to give all the customers the lesson about reading labels. You're thinking- what is happening? Why is this person trying to teach me some (seemingly) unimportant thing when I'm just trying to make sure I survive this shopping trip?!?

Now, some of you may have guessed by now where I am going with this. 

And if not, let me tell you.

Replace "grocery store" with "classroom". And replace "you" with "a student".

Every day, kids in schools are expected to learn when their body is in a state of just trying to survive. It may be an actual, physical, survival feeling- such as that of extreme hunger. Or- it could be a perceived threat to the system due to what we call a "disorganized brain" caused by unintegrated primitive reflexes. It doesn't matter. In both instances, the brain and body feel the same. 

The physiological reactions are the same. 

The behavioral reactions are the same. 

Either way- do you think in that state the child is going to learn? I mean really learn? 

Would you? Would you learn how to read those labels on the milk bottles in the grocery store? Think about it- would you really?!?

I would like to say emphatically that the answer would be NO! You wouldn't learn in that state, and a child wouldn't learn in that state either.

So, all that being said, what do we do about this? How can we help kids feel safe so that they can learn? 

Well, one way is with movement. At Brain Fit Academy, we use movements that help calm the nervous system. We use movements that address the physiological responses to stress and bring the body back to a calmer state.

We can use movement activities to (literally) move from that survival mode to learning mode.

Because- honestly? Without moving out of survival mode, we aren't going to learn how to read milk bottle labels in the middle of a pandemic grocery store trip. And children aren't going to learn their math, or spelling or history in a classroom either.

Let's do our best to limit that walkie-talkie conversation between the emotional brain and the baby brain, and get it talking to the thinking brain instead.

BZZZ..."Hello? Thinking brain? I don't need the baby brain this time. I've got some sensory input I'm sending up to you. Here it comes. You ready?"

Routines

I remember when I was a classroom teacher and it was the beginning of a school year. I taught elementary school and had either 2nd, 4th, or 5th grades in front of me. No matter which of those grades I was teaching, building routines was a huge part of the first few weeks of school.

We had procedural routines such as where to hang backpacks and how to choose a lunch choice in the morning. We also had behavioral routines such as when it was a quiet work time versus a time that it was ok to talk while working. We also had routines centered around transitions and moving from one place to the next, such as from the rug space to desks or walking in the hallways.

All of these routines were very important in my classroom. I knew that and, like I said, always spent considerable time at the beginning of the school year teaching those routines. Routines made the classroom a better place to be and helped things to run smoothly.

But today- today I had an ah-ha moment. I was re-reading Pam Formosa's book "Fraid Not! Empowering Kids with Learning Differences". I read her book about a year ago, but I am taking part in a book discussion she is running tonight and I wanted to re-read it before the event. 

Anyway, Pam- as you may know by now from reading my blog, is the owner/director of Brain Fit Academy and has also been an amazing mentor to me in many, many ways. And today- when I was re-reading her book, something jumped right out at me.

In the book, she was talking about "The Learning Loop". The Learning Loop is the visual that we use at Brain Fit Academy to help kids understand how stress can affect learning, and how we can use movement (such as Brain Gym® activities) to get us back "into the loop". Here is the image for reference, but for more detailed information I invite you to read the blog post where I go into more detail.

As Pam was talking about the Learning Loop, she mentioned (rightly so) how in school, children often spend the bulk of their day in the "stop and think" side of the loop as they are continuously learning new information. But then- you know what she said? 

She wrote "This is one reason why routines are so important. Routines are already learned patterns of behavior, such as bedtime activities, or the sequence of tasks done when entering a classroom in the morning. It allows students to be in the "move and think," automatic side for awhile in order to re-energize".

I'll say that again- routines "allow students to be in the "move and think".....in order to re-energize".

BAM! Mic drop.

Allowing students- kids- anyone!! to be in "move and think". To have times, to have parts of their day that are familiar, done with ease, already learned and automatic.  

Routines! To RE-ENERGIZE!

Never, in all my 20+ years of teaching and 17+ years of being a mom- have I heard routines explained in this way. 

Did I know routines were important? Yes. Did I create them for my students (and for my own kids at home)? Yes. 

However, I never thought of routines as a way to re-energize the brain and body! It makes perfect sense though. And, it makes perfect sense as to why, when we don't have routines in place, things don't go as smoothly. Kids have a harder time going throughout their day and can more easily get "bopped out of the loop". Maybe it's in school, or maybe it's at home- but not having time to re-energize can mean that we have a harder time staying in the loop and feeling regulated in our emotions.

Thinking now, about the world-wide situation we're in- still in the middle of a pandemic when so many routines have basically gone out the window- no wonder so many of us find ourselves "out of the loop" so easily.

Yes, there's the stress response and that can push us out. But what about that lack of routines. Surely, that is also playing a part. I'm sure it is. Looking at it in this way- routines as a way to re-energize, I would say that it's a factor for sure.

So what should we do about this? Well, that's a tough one other than to say that we should do our best to keep as many routines going as possible right now. Both at home and at school. Think of that "why" of routines- to re-energize the brain and body.  

Kids need the routines. We need the routines. 

I know I would like to stay "in the loop" more.

I know I would like to have time to re-energize. 

What about you? Would you like that too?!?

Problem Solving

I was sitting on the sidelines of my Brain Gym® 104 class. We were on Zoom and the participants were working together to practice a few of the movements I had taught them. 

I was sitting off to the side (out of the frame of the camera) and observing- present in case they needed me, but giving the participants a chance to work together. As I watched and listened, I heard the discussions and conversations they were having among them. There were making connections to themselves and to the children that they work with. But they were also doing something else. 

They were problem solving. 

I had taught the group the movements and we had done them together, but as they were practicing them again, questions (naturally) came up and the group was working together and using problem solving strategies to figure it out. They were re-reading the directions, discussing, taking notes and physically moving through the movements again- working as a group to figure things out. It was a beautiful thing and I enjoyed watching it take place.

Did you know that we actually have a special area of the brain where much of our problem solving takes place? It's called the Prefrontal Cortex. 

At Brain Fit Academy, we like to refer to this part of the brain as the "Executive Brain". If you've read my other blog post about the "Baby Brain", then you should have some understanding of the parts of the brain. And if you haven't read it yet, I highly recommend reading that post first because it will give you more context for the information I'm about to give you.

Go ahead. I'll wait. This post will still be here when you get back.

The Executive Brain is the part of the brain shown here in purple. As well as problem solving, it's the part of the brain that helps us to sustain focus, plan ahead, monitor behavior, pay attention to detail, use judgement, and organize. It's the last part of the brain to develop and it has some pretty important jobs!

"Executive Functioning" has been such a buzz word in schools over the last few years. Schools and teachers are recognizing more and more that many kids are deficient in these skills and schools have been working to give support, develop programs, and directly teach executive functioning skills. I give the schools credit- that they are starting to address this need. I really do. And at one point I was even excited to see that my son was offered a program that helped teach some of these executive functioning skills!

What I've come to realize however, is that for many kids, the lack of executive functioning skills is directly related to their brain and the way it's "wired". 

At Brain Fit we talk a lot about a "disorganized brain". When a person has many retained (active) primitive reflexes, and the brain is "disorganized", accessing this part of the brain is HARD. Many kids we see struggle just to get to the "thinking" part of the brain- let alone the executive part. There's just not much left. 

When those pesky reflexes are active, the child's brain/body are working so hard to fight the reflex activity that they just can't access the higher centers in the brain. It's not they don't want to be able to plan, organize and problem solve. It's that they (literally) can't. Their brain doesn't have the pathways- the neural connections needed to access the executive brain. 

And so, schools see the lack of those executive functioning skills and they do what they think they need to do. They do their best to teach kids the skills they are missing. 

Which-when you think of it, is kind of ironic. The schools are teaching skills that require the higher centers of the brain, the cognitive "thinking brain" to learn. Skills that are seemingly needed to help the child reach the even higher centers in the brain- the "executive brain". However, if you're working with a kiddo who isn't even accessing the "thinking brain", how successful do you think the teaching of those executive functioning skills is going to be? My guess would be not very successful. 

And where does that leave the child? Frustrated? Stressed? Feeling ashamed? 

Yes, the executive brain- the prefrontal cortex is important. One could certainly argue that it's very important- especially as a child gets older. And being able to problem solve is certainly important.

But can I ask this of all of you? Instead of directly teaching executive functioning skills- try looking a little deeper. Look into, and learn about, primitive reflexes. See what it's all about. Read more of my blog posts and learn. Think outside of the box and maybe approach things a little differently. 

We do it all the time at Brain Fit Academy- approach things differently I mean. You can do it too. It's not rocket science. Seriously- what could it hurt?

And if you need help, or want more information? Contact us. We'd be happy to guide you toward the next steps. 

And ultimately, you know who will thank you? The kiddo(s) you're trying to help.

I'm Ready

I always knew I wanted to be a teacher. From the time when I was about eight or nine years old and (faithfully) watched "Little House on the Prairie". Laura Ingalls Wilder was a teacher and I wanted to be a teacher just like her. In fact, I wanted to do a lot of things that Laura could do. I even wore my hair in long braids just like Laura, for- I don't know- years?!?

Anyway, I knew that I wanted to be a teacher and I started that path early. Like I mentioned in one of my first blog posts titled "The Passion for the Work Led me Here", I started working with kids when I was in junior high and high school and never looked back.

And now? Well, here I am. Recently resigned from my teaching position in a public school. A school district in which I spent 20 years of my life- teaching in various positions. A job that I loved (and didn't know I would want to leave) until very recently.

Yes, my resignation happened to coincide with the COVID-19 pandemic, but the pandemic had nothing to do with my resignation. I resigned so that I could dedicate my time to working with kids and families and professionals in a different way- through Brain Fit Academy. 

When I resigned from my teaching position, I didn't give up teaching though. I only gave up teaching in that capacity. I only gave up teaching in a public school setting- as a classroom and/or specialist teacher. 

You see, right now I am ready and (excited!) to teach my first Brain Gym® class tomorrow. I'm teaching the Brain Gym 104 class. Online of course, since we are still in a pandemic. In the 104 class, we learn the 26 Brain Gym movements, along with other major concepts that make up the Brain Gym program. Like I said, I'm excited and it's going to be awesome!

Anyone who knows me, knows that I like to be thorough. So, to that regard, I have spent many, many hours prepping to teach this class. Prepping to make it the best that I can. Prepping to make the class be something that I am proud to present to others. 

And- it is! 

I'm proud of the class I have prepared and I am ready to teach it!

I can't wait to share my knowledge of Brain Gym with others, and to learn from them as well! We all have something to bring to the table and I am looking forward to meeting the participants and enjoying the teaching and learning with them. 

See? I didn't give up teaching. I could never do that. It's in my blood. It was woven into those long braids I used to wear as a child. The braids that were just like Laura Ingalls Wilder. I'm a teacher through and through.

This weekend, it's Brain Gym 104 that I'm teaching. In March, it's Brain Fit Academy's Primitive Reflex Class. In April, it's a workshop titled "Moving From Survival Mode to Learning Mode: Using Brain Gym® in the Classroom to Reestablish Learning Readiness". 

I'm a teacher. I'm a coach and instructor at Brain Fit Academy.

I'm ready.

Happiness

"Amy's here!, Amy's here!" I could hear my 6-year old client saying to her mother as I approached the door to the house. 

It was the second (maybe third) session with this little girl. When I entered the house, she joyfully and excitedly greeted me with a card that she had hand-made for me. My heart melted. 

To this day, when I work with that same client (a little over a year later) she still has what her mom calls "Amy Energy". Excited, joyful and sometimes even a little silly- with all the energy.

This little girl is not the only one that I get that response from. I also have other clients that react that same way when I come to work with them. 

But here's the thing. I don't believe that it's solely ME that causes that reaction. 

Yes, I think that my Brain Fit Academy sessions are fun for kids. Yes, I think that I am good at relating to them and developing a good relationship. But it's more than that. I believe that on sub-conscious level, "Amy Energy" comes from them. Comes from the fact that their brain and body know what it needs. What it needs comes with me, but not from me.

What I mean by that is that the body knows what it needs (read the linked post if you want to know more) so when the child started coming to Brain Fit and experiencing the movements and activities we do, it's like their brain and body reacted with "finally!" just what I need!!

So you see- it's not ME, it's Brain Fit. It's our methods, it's the movements. It's the movements that take the form of "work","rest" and "play" that causes that excitement- that energy. That "Amy Energy". 

When I'm working with clients, I don't have to convince them to do the work. I don't have to cajole them into doing what I "think" they should be doing. I don't have to persuade them, or use reward systems because if that's the case, then what I'm asking them to do isn't right for them. 

It may be that whatever I'm asking them to do they aren't developmentally ready for- meaning that maybe their primitive reflexes haven't integrated enough to be ready. Or- maybe there are emotions getting in the way that need to be addressed. Or maybe, it's just not the right thing for that day. 

In any case, if I meet resistance to an activity, I rethink what I'm doing. I pay attention to the signals the child is giving me and I rethink the movement, or the game, or whatever it is. 

Now, that's not to say that sometimes I don't need to "guide" clients to what they need. I certainly do need to do that with some. And, I guess I'm pretty good at discerning when that is the appropriate thing to do. I'm good at knowing when it's the body and brain choosing an activity because it's needed- versus as an "escape" behavior. But honestly? If I'm seeing a lot of escape behaviors then it's a pretty big clue that something else might be in the way and that's when I would turn to looking at emotional blocks, or I might muscle check to see if there are other things that might be going on.

I titled this blog post "Happiness" because that's how so many of my clients feel about Brain Fit sessions. They are happy. We are working on the things that their brain and body need to feel better and so it brings joy to them. Innate, underlying joy. Even those clients who aren't exuberantly expressing their joy in the form of "Amy Energy" (like that one client) may express it in a different way, such as requesting continuation of sessions, or just generally looking forward to working with me each week.

And you know what else? All that happiness? That "Amy Energy"? 

It's contagious you know. 

When I work with clients I often get some of that "Amy Energy" as well and it's a good feeling. It's a good feeling because I know that I'm helping these children to be the best versions of themselves. I'm the facilitator of the movements and activities they need, and it brings me pure joy as well. 

Happiness.

Fear Plays Tricks

Fear does interesting things to us.

When we were a primitive people, the fight/flight/freeze response would (literally) help save us from an inherent danger such as a predator chasing after us. Fear kicks in that response, correct? And to this day- we still of course, need this type of response (to save our life) should we ever be in an actual life-or-death situation. For the majority of us though, thank goodness we don't have to deal with that extreme of a situation on a daily basis.

And please, before I go any further- I know that there are many in this world that struggle with abusive relationships, day-to-day tragic circumstances or other situations that may warrant the need for the more primitive fight/flight/freeze response in order to protect their existence. My heart goes out to all of those people. However, the focus of this blog post is different than that.

My focus is on the daily life stressors that "trick" the brain. I say "trick" because as I have come to learn more and more about the brain, one of the things I find interesting and apparent is how the brain can get "tricked" into thinking that our life is in actual danger- when really it's not. 

What do I mean by that? Well, in my post "The Baby Brain" I talk about the three parts of the brain. The parts that we at Brain Fit Academy refer to as the "Baby Brain, the "Emotional Brain" and the "Thinking Brain". The "Baby Brain" AKA the Brain Stem, governs automatic systems- like breathing and digestion. It also is in charge of survival mechanisms- like the fight/flight/freeze response. It's the most primitive part of the brain and helps to keep us safe. So, if we are in true, actual danger, the Brain Stem (Baby Brain) kicks in with our survival tactics of Fight- fight back against the danger, Flight- run away from the danger or Freeze- withdraw or "play dead" to ward off the danger.

So then where does the "tricks" thing come in? Well, the brain isn't able to distinguish between an actual danger and a perceived danger. If we are spending too much time in our Baby Brain- for a multitude of reasons- including ongoing daily stressors, unintegrated Primitive Reflexes or perhaps physical stressors such as immune issues or allergies, our brain can get "tricked". 

Our brain gets tricked into thinking that we are in actual life-threatening danger. So then perhaps a simple Math test- which in the past may have only caused some temporary nervousness, puts us into a full fight/flight/freeze response. Or maybe an embarrassing situation, or the continued feeling of disconnection (that so many of us are dealing with right now) puts us into that same "save our life" reaction in the Brain Stem. To our brain, those situations become perceived threats to our survival. The brain gets "tricked" into thinking that we are in actual danger and we can have the same response that we would have had if there really was a predator chasing after us. 

That present-day survival response might look different however. It may look different in that we may not physically fight, but instead it might be that we become verbally explosive and argue with those around us. Or we might flight- into our own world- withdraw and detach from what is happening in our life. Or maybe it's a freeze response where we might get teary and clingy. 

In any case- this "tricked" brain can have trouble accessing thoughts. It can have difficulty being resilient. It can have trouble handling the myriad of information and input it receives daily. This situation can wreak havoc on our day-to-day life because we are constantly reacting instead of responding. 

So- what do we do? How do we overcome this "tricked" brain? Well, if you follow my blog, you probably already know what I'm going to say. 

We use movement. We use intentional movement.

At Brain Fit Academy, we pair movement with a goal or intention (which makes the movement more powerful). We move using various movement activities that our sub-conscious mind picks for us by way of a method called Applied Kinesiology- or what we call "muscle-checking". 

We set a goal, we use the movements to reorganize our brain and body, and we work to "un-trick" the brain to get out of that "fight/flight/freeze" response. 

Yes, fear can play tricks on us- on our brain and body. But there are ways to get out of that primitive, perceived threat-to-our survival response. 

Intentional, purposeful movement is one of those ways. It's the approach we take here at Brain Fit, and it works.

You need your brain to be "un-tricked" too? We'd be happy to help.

I'm Done

I believe the official name is "Pandemic Fatigue". Eleven months into this COVID-19 pandemic and I am done with it. I am tired of the constant myriad of changes. I am tired of not being able to take my kids out places. I am tired of wearing a mask (although I still do!). I am tired of there being sadness and grief for so many.

When the pandemic first hit, I remember telling Pam Formosa (owner/director of Brain Fit Academy) that I thought the whole world was thrown into "Stop and Think" mode all at once. If you aren't familiar with what I mean by that, I suggest you read my blog post titled "Out of the Loop". But basically, it means that we were thrown into this mode where we could no longer just "sail through" life. We needed to "stop and think" about things we previously didn't need to think too much about. 

Really, it was more like a re-think of things. Re-thinking just about everything. Re-thinking the way we worked. Re-thinking the way we played. Re-thinking the way school worked. Re-thinking just leaving our house!

Now, I know I'm probably preaching to the choir here when I say all of that because all of you are here just as much as I am. You are living this same reality that I am. So sorry if it's redundant information- but just bear with me for a minute, will you?

When we spend too much time in "Stop and Think", and can't get to "Move and Think" easily, we're more likely to get bopped "Out of the Loop". Again, I refer to my previous post for a more in-depth look at what that means. But, "Out of the Loop" is where frustration happens. It's where meltdowns happen. It's where worry and overwhelm happen. It's not a great place to be and so many of us have spent way too much time there over the last eleven months. 

Way. too. much. time.

The way I look at it, it's like our brains and bodies have been on "high alert" this whole pandemic. We're all in the mode of "please- just get me through this". Just get me through this next hour, this next day, this next month. Just get me past this time in my life-past this unprecedented time in human history!

So if we think about that for a minute- think about how we're all on "high alert". We're in our fight/flight/freeze response and we're all just getting by. We're all running on the stress hormones of adrenaline and cortisol and we can only keep that up for so long. Right? 

Right?!? 

I mean even marathon runners can only run so far before they have to stop. Run so far before their muscles are so fatigued that they just can't run anymore. 

Pandemic fatigue.

And so- that's where we are. Pandemic fatigue. We are the marathon runners that are so fatigued that we're getting to the point that maybe we feel like we just can't run anymore. We've spent so much time "Out of the Loop" that maybe we find it even that much harder to find a way back in. 

Harder to find a way back into the loop to normalcy. Harder to find a way back to living a life where we can once again move easily between "Stop and Think" and "Move and Think". Harder to find a way to stop the "I'm done" feelings.

And this, this...is where Brain Fit Academy comes in! 

We specialize in this very thing. We specialize in helping people find a way out of the fatigue. We specialize in helping people find more joy in their life. We specialize in helping to ease stress and anxiety. We specialize in helping people be their best selves. Be they kids, teens or adults- we specialize in this!

So, so many of us have hit pandemic fatigue and may need a helping hand to find a way out. A helping hand to pick up the pieces of life and to move on.

There does seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel, but it's still the end of a marathon and everyone is fatigued. 

There's no need to finish the race alone. Reach out to Brain Fit Academy. 

We're here. We have tools. We can help.