Brain Gym activities

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Brain Gym consists of simple physical movements to improve learners' ability to learn academic skills. The approach was developed by Paul Dennison Ph.D., a remedial education specialist in California, over many years. In the 1980s, in collaboration with other educational kinesiologists, he produced a handbook for parents and educators and began teaching around the world.

Dennison describes brain functioning in terms of three dimensions:

• Laterality is the ability to coordinate the left and right hemispheres of the brain, particularly where the two sides overlap. This is important for reading and writing, as well as movement involving whole body coordination. An example of a movement that addresses this dimension is the 'cross crawl'. Learners are asked to move one arm and its opposite leg. This can be done in slow motion, sitting down, in various directions, behind the body, with a skip or with eyes closed.
• Focus is the ability to coordinate the back (brain stem) and front (frontal lobes) areas of the brain. It is related to comprehension and the ability to find meaning. It helps learners focus their attention and increases readiness for learning. These activities work to help relax muscles and tendons in the back of the body. 'Arm activation' is one such exercise. The learner starts by holding both arms loosely at their sides. Then they raise one arm straight up next to their ear, keeping the head relaxed. The other arm comes up to hold the extended arm. The learner then activates the muscles of the extended arm by pushing the arm against the other hand in four directions (front, back, in, and away). The learner exhales gently while doing this.
• Centring is the ability to coordinate the top (limbic system) and bottom (cerebral cortex). The exercises relate to feeling grounded and organised. They aim to help the flow of electromagnetic energy. An example of one of these energy exercises is 'brain buttons'. The learner massages the soft tissue under the clavicle to the left and right of the sternum with one hand while holding the navel with the other hand.

Also important for improving learners' ability to concentrate and learn is water. Water is an excellent conductor of electrical energy and all the electrical and chemical actions of the brain and the nervous system depend on conductivity of electrical currents between the brain and sensory organs.

Brain Gym is used in schools and further education in the UK. More information about the exercises can be found in the handbook Brain Gym: Teacher's Edition, by P. Dennison and G. Dennison (1994), published by Edu-Kinesthetics, Inc. There is also a Website where practitioners can learn more about the approach: www.braingym.org.uk

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