"My Brain and Body Aren't Friends"

"My brain and body aren't friends. They don't like to say sorry to each other". This is what my six year old client said to me as we sat outside on the step. He had been having a difficult time during our session and this young child was trying to articulate a confusing concept to a six year old- that his brain and body don't feel connected. 

He was trying to tell me that when his brain wants his body to do something (or vise versa) it doesn't always seem to work. They aren't "friends" and don't even "say sorry". To me, this meant they don't work well together and don't even seem to care.

This statement hit me hard. To him, his brain and body aren't working well together. And for me-well, I'm doing my best to help his brain and body become friends. I explained to him that the work and play we do at Brain Fit can help. That the work and play will help his brain and body work together better. And that when that happens- things would be easier. I'm not sure how much he believed me though, and why should he? What he knows is what he feels, and what he feels is that two different parts of his body are fighting each other. 

We were working on the STNR (Symmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex) that day. The STNR is a transitional reflex. Its primary purpose is to get the baby into the crawling position and it should have a very short life span.

However, one of the potential effects of a retained or unintegrated (not finished) STNR, is not being able to easily isolate the top half of the body from the bottom.  This is exactly what this child was having trouble with-isolating the top half of his body from the bottom. He couldn't isolate his top half in order to push my Big Green Ball with both hands simultaneously. 

And that is exactly when he felt like his brain and body weren't friends. His body was trying to fight the reflex activity. It was going against what the brain was telling it to do. It was going against the motor pattern that was still neurologically connected in his brain. The STNR Primitive Reflex was still active and was making his brain and body "fight", and not even "apologize". 

I feel confident that as I continue this work with him we will continue to see improvements. I know that by integrating his primitive reflexes it's like the equivalent of a peace treaty between his brain and body. A sort of "shake hands and make up" kind of thing. 

And I know that once his brain and body "make up" and say "sorry" to each other, life will be easier for this little guy. 

And that is what I want for him. 

The Future

The future is uncertain. Never has that statement been more relevant than today- almost 7 months since the first lockdown started here due to COVID-19.

Some people openly admit to this statement- that the future is uncertain. And some? Well some are a little more hesitant.

And some- well, many actually may not even be able to think about it yet. They many not be able to because they are still in fight/flight/freeze mode and that's ok too.

What I'm here to say today, in this blog post is this:

Remember.

Remember the time before COVID. 

Remember where you were in your life.

Remember where you were in your business (if that applies).

Remember the feeling you had as you started your day.

And when you remember, feel it again if it's something you want to feel again. Do it again if it's something you want to do again. Be that person again if it's someone you want to be again.

Get back the life you had if that's what you want. Just get it back.

At Brain Fit Academy, as I've mentioned so many times before- we work with kids. We work with teens and we work with adults. 

And we work with lives. 

And you know what I've seen? 

I've seen people change their stories. I've seen parents change their children's stories. I've changed my own story.

We have tools. We use movement. We change futures because we remember what we're supposed to be and we remember what we are meant to do.

Yes, a pandemic hit the world. Yes, it stinks and it put so much into a screeching halt. 

But you can remember. We can remember.

And we all- can get it back. Or even better yet? We can make it better.

And if you need help, just let us know. We'd be happy to remember alongside you.

We're a Team

When you hire Brain Fit Academy to work with your child, you get a team of people, not just one coach. We like to think of ourselves as a Brain Fit Family, and we like to stick to together like family.

In my blog post, "Everyone is so Different" I talk about how the clients that come to Brain Fit can be so different from each other, yet they all found their way to Brain Fit. The same goes for Brain Fit coaches. 

Pam Formosa (the business owner/director) and all of the coaches all came to Brain Fit for different reasons, and we all bring different strengths to the table. Many of us found our way there because of our own children (like me). Others had family that told them about us, and some just heard about us "through the grape vine". 

It doesn't matter how we got here. What matters is that we are here. 

We are here and we work together to help your child, teen, or adult (if it's you!). Yes, you have one coach that comes to your house and works with your child on a regular basis. Yes, they become your main point of contact. But please know, that we all help each other so that Brain Fit becomes the best support for you-our client (and family!) that we can be.

It's not uncommon for there to be texts and/or phone calls between coaches or between coaches and Pam- asking for creative ideas on how to integrate a certain reflex, or suggestions on how to handle situations that may arise (with integrity and privacy for the family of course). Or maybe the family is in need of educational advocacy support and we refer them to the advocate we have on staff.

There are also times when we call on the help of our fellow coaches in the form of overlaps. In the past, Pam has been very supportive of coaches working together for a session or two, calling on the strengths of fellow coaches to help further a child along. Like I said- we all come with different strengths and utilizing those strengths is how we support our Brain Fit families best.

Part of us working together as a team is when we spend time together during our staff meetings. As well as going over logistical items, we also spend time learning and sharing from each other. Unfortunately, COVID-19 has made these staff meetings a little more challenging, but virtual ones have worked when we can't be in-person.

The other great thing about this team is that we support each other in other ways too. During the pandemic "lockdown" we met weekly for awhile to do group Brain Gym® "balances". Sometimes these balances were led by Pam and sometimes by one of us coaches. But either way, we all helped each other through that challenging time. We stuck together like a family and helped each other. 

Other times, those balances might happen on a 1:1 basis. Coach-to-coach or coach-to-Pam. Knowing that you have support from someone else that "gets" what we do can be very empowering and helpful. We look out for one another and want to be sure the others are doing well.

Brain Fit staff are a family. Brain Fit staff and clients are an even bigger family. 

We're a family, we're a team. We're here to support each other, and we're here to support you. 

Let us show you our strengths- all of us.