Brain Gym

BRAIN GYM

The month of December can be a lovely experience for some and, for a myriad of reasons, it can also be an isolating, debilitating time for others.  In addition it can be a time that triggers the worsening of depression.  These dark and looming clouds wreak havoc in the lives of those with whom they have taken up residence.

The first Kinesiology class that I took was Brain Gym.  It was a great place to start and has some of the simplest ways to address issues that create problems in our day-to-day living.  And it was in Brain Gym that I learned a very profound truth about the link between the symptoms we are experiencing in our bodies—such as depression—and the state of brain integration that these symptoms reflect.  Let me see if I can shed a little light on what I learned.

There are two natural states of brain function that are both part of appropriate brain integration; they are the stop-pause-and-think or low gear state, and the automatic or high gear state.  We see them both clearly if we think back to when we first learned to drive.  At first there was so much information to process that we had to stop and think of each thing to order it in our conscious mind.  Nothing was fluid and we had to think before responding.  After a while of practicing, we realized one day that it had all become very automatic and fluid.  We weren’t even giving conscious thought to it anymore.  It was just easy to safely and appropriately respond.  These are the same kind of brain processes that we will go through, in varying degrees, any time we are asked to learn a new skill or procedure.  In an integrated brain both low and high gear are essential and appropriate responses to our environment.

In contrast, let’s look at the low-gear-state and high-gear-state functioning of a brain that is not integrated.  Instead of experiencing a productive switching back and forth between the two, we may find ourselves stuck in one which may look like the following examples in various ways:

Overwhelm—This non-functional state is where we find we are unable to even respond.  We may be speechless, procrastinate horribly, or just give up.  We can’t get started on things that need to be done.  If we do, we move very slowly.  We are constantly tired, unmotivated and depressed.  We feel sure we can’t do anything right and we find ourselves unfocused, spaced out or confused.  Because we can’t cope with the stimulation of life, we withdraw and become very hypotonic in both movement and emotion.  Everything feels too hard and we can wonder, “Why me?”  And lastly, we find ourselves living in the past a lot.  We can tell we are in the past by paying attention to the language we use.  The “If-this…..then-that….” language is the language of living in the past.

Compelled—This is the opposite state where we are unable to stop.  Our responses are automatic, but we don’t know when to quit.  We are always busy trying harder and going 90 miles an hour.  We find ourselves compulsive workaholic perfectionists.  We are never satisfied and are excessively focused, losing sight of the big picture.  We are uptight, hyper, compelled towards everything, and often try to mask our intensity with a Pollyanna “always up” kind of persona.  Conversely, our feelings are often hurt because we are perceived as a “know-it-all.”  Our Mode of Operation may be that we won’t delegate anything, making ourselves a martyr to the insane amount of projects we have going at any given time.  Many times the language of this state is, “I will be happy when…” and reveals us as living in the future.

So what can be done about the unintegrated brain?  One solution is so simple that it may feel at first like it can’t work.  However, it does time and time again.  It is a series of simple movements that will bring a brain right back into integration with ease and grace.  There is also a four-step process that takes less than a minute that can be done easily and inconspicuously at any time to bring immediate integration to the brain.  It can truly be life changing.  Give it try.  Call Tawna at 801.599.2253 and make your appointment.