Brain Gym

This blog covers the basics of Brain Gym and its importance to young learners. This is another aspect of the Brain Development Program which makes strong neuron connections in the brain. The idea behind brain gym is to access different parts of the brain through physical movements. I have also included the brain gym movements later in this blog to practice. Let’s dive into details…

Introduction

Nowadays everyone is conscious about how they look physically and end up hitting the gym every day, like an essential routine. They work hard to get the desired shape and undoubtedly their passion brings many of them to their goal.

Physical fitness is the main focus which is a good thing. A healthy person can prevent many health conditions like obesity, diabetes hormonal imbalance and many more. These are the most common health issues that our generation is facing; hence, one who exercises daily maintains considerable health independence during old age as well.

However, we are not spared from the fact that mental health is as important as, physical health and we cannot be successful without it. For instance, a person who does all the work throughout the day and also goes to the gym as a part of his daily routine is economically sound and in perfect health but still, he cannot sleep well or doesn’t get sound sleep. The reason is, that the brain is loaded with thoughts and with his daily worries, which results in an increase in the neural activity in the brain and induces restlessness; ending up in sleeplessness. Ultimately, after a long day when he goes to bed, his body is in relaxed mode but his brain doesn’t always follow the same. Hence, he ends up with low productivity and poor emotional well-being.

Therefore, it is important to involve ourselves in brain exercises. It applies to all ages and is not limited to only young learners. The brain exercises calm us down mentally and increase the amount of endorphins, a hormone that is produced by your pituitary gland and central nervous system. These neurotransmitters act to enhance feelings of pleasure, and well-being and also reduce pain and discomfort.

There is no doubt that physically active people tend to enjoy a higher level of mental ability but brain exercises are equally essential for good mental health to achieve a sense of peacefulness. Brain exercises increase the flow of oxygen in the brain which decreases anxiety and depression.

“A sound mind in a sound body can be achieved by both physical and mental exercises.”

Now bringing it into the context of children, there are four areas of development which are to be focussed during the growth and development of children. These areas are –

1. Physical development (fine motor and gross motor development)
2. Social and emotional development
3. Language/speech development
4. Cognitive/mental development

We all are well aware of the first three areas of development of a child and we ensure to the best circumstances that they achieve these developmental milestones. However, to achieve good mental development, children must be introduced to mental exercises or brain exercises.

The early years of learning are the most important time to lay a strong foundation as during that age children’s learning pace is maximum and whatever they learn at this age will form a base of their future. And it is easy to induce good habits or must say, right habits in them which they can follow for their lifetime.

So here in this blog, I am going to detail one brain training program, which should be made an integral part of maintaining a healthy lifestyle and good mental state. This brain training program is known as Brain Gym. It is a set of different exercises which look easy to perform but can achieve milestones in mental development. These are not only easy but also a fun way of doing the most effective brain exercises and can be adopted by children easily.

What is Brain Gym?

As we already read above, Brain Gym is a mental training program. Now let us go through its formal definition. Brain Gym is a brain training program that comprises physical movements that improve neurological functions and boost brain performance. It was suggested by Dr. Paul Dennison as a specification in “Educational kinesiology”, which means learning through movement. Brain Gym comprises 26 such movements with are integrated with education and followed in everyday interaction with the students to keep their Brain awakened for higher learning.

Dr Paul Dennison created a series of physical movements which directly target and stimulate the brain and help it reach its maximum potential. Brain Gym movements access different parts of the brain helps in better coordination. It also helps to develop the necessary skills for learning readiness by mind and body together. Brain gym exercises keep kids active during the learning hours if these movements are infused with learning.

Later in this blog, you will get into details of these movements and how to perform them.

What is PACE Brain Gym?

Like in any other physical exercise, brain exercises also need a warm-up before you start core exercises. So, let me call out those warm-up brain exercises, known as P.A.C.E. Brain Gym. P.A.C.E. is an acronym for Positive, Active, Clear and Energetic. It is a four-step brain gym warm-up that can be done in a little time. These four activities work together to create a calm, balanced and focused system for new learning and optimal performance. PACE can not only work as a warm-up for brain gym but you can do PACE before beginning any task or in any challenging situation to get a quick energy dose.

These exercises are not only work for kids but for adults as well. As they directly work on the brain these brain gym exercises can be done, anytime you feel that you are not able to pay attention or focus on the task you are doing.

Purpose of Brain Gym

Just like physical exercises, which keep us in shape and active, brain exercises are also important to keep the muscles of the brain in shape, strengthened and developed. The human brain is made up of neurons that are connected to form synapses. These synapses carry information from one neuron to another. Similar to the rest of our body, the brain also changes with age and these synapses become weak and some neurons may even die out.

However, with the involvement in brain exercises, stronger synapses with better brain functioning and memory can be achieved.

It is found in studies that any exercising of the brain not only staves off brain degeneration but, also in many cases reverses memory loss and improves mental agility. With this new understanding of the brain’s response to exercise, Lawrence Katz and Manning Rubin, neurobiologists at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, came up with the concept of Neurobics. These authors conceived ‘Neurobics’ as an exercise program for a group of brain muscles, one must stimulate through routine changes and with a series of exercises that can maintain long-term optimal mental health.

Neurobic exercises are based on the idea of focus making a conscious effort to perform tasks that have been, essentially, automated by our brains. Brain gym is a set of these Neurobics exercises that boost mental health, and improve vision and self–confidence.

Importance of Brain Gym

Enlisting below the importance of Brain Gym –

• Induce the production of neurotrophins or specific molecules that favour the survival of neurons.
• Improve concentration, balance, memory, creativity, hearing, attention and perception.
• Engage your attention to stand out from the daily activities, it is fun plays unusually and evokes emotions like happiness, sharing confidence, strength etc.
• Involve one or more of your senses in a novel context.
• Activates both hemispheres of the brain by using both hands together and setting up coordination between the two.
• Boost thinking and decision-making abilities.
• Revitalize your natural healing mechanisms.

Importance of Brain Gym for Preschoolers

A baby is born with approximately 100 billion neurons and during their everyday activities, the synapses are developed. Activity, interaction and movement are like food for an infant’s brain, helping it to develop and grow. The young children of age 2 to 5 years have the fastest rate of brain development and these pre-schooler young children show significant brain development, provided they are involved in good brain exercises. That’s why brain gym is necessary for better brain development.

The importance of introducing brain gym to pre-schools is –

• It helps them to identify letters and the alphabet more efficiently.
• Enhance thinking skills while creating a relaxed and fun environment.
• Involves physical movement which improves coordination and flexibility in young kids who are struggling with new things to learn.
• Promote socialization as it is the only time of day during brain gym; in which kids can talk, laugh and play without breaking school rules.

Benefits of Brain Gym Movements

Brain Gym is a set of exercises that directly targets and stimulates the different areas of the brain. Based on the development area of the brain, these exercises are designed in three core categories and there is a total of 26 brain gym exercises to work with brain growth. To get a clear overview of which brain gym movements target which areas of the brain and the purpose of these movements, you can use the following table as a guide to target different types of learning.

I will cover Brain Gym exercises in more detail in the next blog.

Conclusion

To raise your children with a sound mind in a sound body, brain gym should be a part of their daily routine. The consistent use of brain gym wakes up neural connections in the brain and body to make us feel confident and emotionally centred.
Brain Gym is adopted worldwide especially in preschool to help children to adapt and understand faster. These are very simple and fun-orientated exercises that can boost brain functioning, and communication skills and increase their confidence.
These exercises make kids smarter, sharper, creative and also improve eyesight, body balancing, and coordination.

Doing these movements does not require too much space to be performed and thus can be easily done in a classroom itself. These exercises have a range of benefits and teachers should introduce them according to the time and needs of children.