Brain Gym® Exercises

What Are Educational Kinesiology and Brain Gym®?

Developmental experts have known for more than eighty years that movement enhances learning. Beginning in the 1970s, Southern California educator and reading specialist Paul E. Dennison, Ph.D., built on this knowledge by bringing specific movements into his learning disabilities clinics. Dr. Dennison researched these movements, simplified them, and created techniques to make them effective for everyone. In collaboration with his wife and partner, Gail E. Dennison, he developed a whole new way of understanding the learning process. This new field is known as Educational Kinesiology (Edu-K for short), and the new movements are called the Brain Gym movements.

To explain how Edu-K works, the Dennisons describe human brain function in terms of three dimensions: laterality, focus, and centering. Successful brain function requires efficient connections across the neural pathways located throughout the brain. Stress inhibits these connections, while the Brain Gym movements stimulate a flow of information along these networks, restoring the innate ability to learn and function with curiosity and joy.
The Laterality Dimension pertains to the relationship between the two sides of the brain - especially in the midfield, where the two sides must integrate. Laterality skills are fundamental to reading, writing, listening, or speaking. They are essential for the patterning of whole-body movement, and for the ability to move and think at the same time.
The Focus Dimension describes the relationship between the back and front areas of the brain. Focus affects comprehension - the ability to blend context and details into a full personal meaning and to understand new information in terms of previous experience. Attention disorders (ADD or ADHD) are related to the inability to focus.
The Centering Dimension concerns the connection between the top and bottom structures of the brain. Centering enables us to harmonize emotion with rational thought. Stress can disturb centering and equilibrium, leaving us tense and out of sorts; when we're centered, we feel more grounded and organized.
People of many nationalities enjoy the Brain Gym movements in classrooms and businesses worldwide, as a tool to integrate the brain before learning, work, or sports activities, as well as during breaks. Individuals obtain more specific results in private consultations by setting a goal, doing certain Brain Gym movements to integrate the brain for this activity, and then repeating the activity to validate that the new learning has occurred. The positive results of these private sessions are evident immediately and increase over time.
Brain Gym benefits include improvements in learning, vision, memory, expression, and movement abilities, in both young people and adults. In the classroom, teachers typically report improvements in attitude, attention, homework, behavior, and academic performance for the entire class. read more

A brain gym excercise (we learned this yesterday in the workshop we attended)
Below is a series of movements called PACE. They are surprisingly simple, but very effective! Everyone has a unique PACE and these activities will help both teacher and student become positive, active, clear and energetic for learning. For colorful, fun PACE and Brain Gym® supplies contact the Edu-Kinesthetics on-line bookstore at Braingym.com.

Drink Water
As Carla Hannaford says, "Water comprises more of the brain (with estimates of 90%) than of any other organ of the body." Having students drink some water before and during class can help "grease the wheel". Drinking water is very important before any stressful situation - tests! - as we tend to perspire under stress, and de-hydration can effect our concentration negatively.

"Brain Buttons"
This exercise helps improve blood flow to the brain to "switch on" the entire brain before a lesson begins. The increased blood flow helps improve concentration skills required for reading, writing, etc.

• Put one hand so that there is as wide a space as possible between the thumb and index finger.
• Place your index and thumb into the slight indentations below the collar bone on each side of the sternum. Press lightly in a pulsing manner.
• At the same time put the other hand over the navel area of the stomach. Gently press on these points for about 2 minutes.

"Cross Crawl"
This exercise helps coordinate right and left brain by exercising the information flow between the two hemispheres. It is useful for spelling, writing, listening, reading and comprehension.

• Stand or sit. Put the right hand across the body to the left knee as you raise it, and then do the same thing for the left hand on the right knee just as if you were marching.
• Just do this either sitting or standing for about 2 minutes.

"Hook Ups"
This works well for nerves before a test or special event such as making a speech. Any situation which will cause nervousness calls for a few "hook ups" to calm the mind and improve concentration.

• Stand or sit. Cross the right leg over the left at the ankles.
• Take your right wrist and cross it over the left wrist and link up the fingers so that the right wrist is on top.
• Bend the elbows out and gently turn the fingers in towards the body until they rest on the sternum (breast bone) in the center of the chest. Stay in this position.
• Keep the ankles crossed and the wrists crossed and then breathe evenly in this position for a few minutes. You will be noticeably calmer after that time.