Insights from the Brain Gym® Basic Workshop

Ma Junfei (Dalian)
April 20, 2012

“Quick! Effective! Painless! Effortless! No regression!” – very similar to promotional catchphrases of body-slimming products and these are exactly what I would be using to describe my feelings after taking Brain Gym® Basic from instructor Conrad Ho.

The first day was spent on the relevant concepts and theories. Conrad was approachable and humorous, which made it easy for us students to understand what Educational Kinesiology was, how our brains worked and why movements facilitated learning. Finding support from empirical scientific findings, Conrad told us two important viewpoints:

1) Learning did not happen only in the head, but throughout the entire nervous system, i.e. the whole body; and
2) Movement was necessary in life, but learning was a luxury. If the person was already deficient in the necessity, i.e. movements, he would not be able to do much good in the luxury, i.e. learning.

From the second day through to the fifth, it was all balances on individual bodily operations; from the more specific balances on vision, audition and hand dexterity to the more general balances on whole body movements, from the more superficial physical operations to the deeper emotional aspects.

In the first balance, Conrad led us to focus on the more observable, outer cues of the body. In the following days, the emphasis gradually shifted to how we set our balancing goals. In each of the demonstrations, goal-setting used up the most time. Conrad would ask the volunteer again and again: Was your goal clear, active, positive and energetic? Through repeated questioning, the goal was re-shaped and revised till it was specific, easily understandable and expressive of the “true” need of the heart, with the support of the body.

As the workshop progressed, the students became increasingly aware of the importance of the goal and its impacts on the effectiveness of the balance. The four conditions of goal-setting, seemingly simple and arbitrary, required strict following. In the balance on communications of the Laterality Dimension, I got stuck in the step of goal-setting. I just could not find a goal that was positive, active, clear and energetic. My distress level was climbing while my brain continued to be blank, so much that I was about to give up. A statement from Conrad brought me back: When the brain was blank, the person might have regressed to the primary functions of the survival brain. Therefore, I relaxed myself in several deep breaths. Then, an infinitely clear idea popped up: I attend to my breathing.

After this goal was set, everything went smooth. When the balance ended, I was pleasantly surprised by my being able to breathe deep. The sensation of ease was all upon me. Feeling fresh oxygen diffusing into my every cell and filling them up was beyond words to describe. Just fantastic! My breathing was felt to be obstructed for many years already. Through a short balance of simple movements, without massive exercising and continuous drilling, and such profound change happened to my breathing. Brain Gym® Basic was really magical.

This workshop did not only change our physical conditions, but also our understanding of our bodies. From the first day when everybody was rigidly sitting down and diligently taking notes, to the latter part of the course when most were casually sitting or lying on the floor (some even went to sleep!). As more and more balances were done, people were more and more puzzled: “how come more balances tired me down? They were supposed to wake me up?” And there were those “good” students who stressed that they never slept in any class, except this one and it was deep and sound. Conrad explained that apart from the balanced state of the body, there were the over- and under-utilization states. Social pressure of the modern society was huge. People invariably required more from the body to accomplish more goals, thereby, driving the body ever deeper into stress. After a balance in such cases, the body would slow down, rather than speed up, to recuperate. So, students sank into their inner worlds of signs and feedbacks to gauge for their own conditions, choosing to respect the body’s needs and feedbacks instead of always having mind over the body.

It was the end of Brain Gym® Basic. In these five days of learning, a student seemed to have regressed back into her mother’s womb and re-experienced babyhood, by spontaneously doing developmental movements and primary reflexes (which she had never heard of nor learnt). A student enjoyed her newly-relearned skill of sleeping on her side, which she had never done for over 10 years. Yet another student who had his left eye higher than his right in the first day of class, had them become level at the end of the fifth day. A student had realized that her constant tiredness in her eyes was related to eye muscles being uncontrollably tense when she was moving her big muscles. Each one worn a smile of joy on the face, because they had experienced changes brought about by the body, and acquired skills to help them become even better persons. During the closing circle, Conrad had a satisfied smile on his face, too. He said that hearing students talking about their learnings and changes were his most-enjoyable moments.

Thanks to Conrad, since he had facilitated our having more intimate connections with our bodies! Thanks to Dearfox the training company in Dalian! We could have joined such a wonderful course only because of its endeavours. And thanks to my fellow students, for their whole-hearted involvement in each practising session of doing balances, so that the atmosphere could be as energizing. It was my sincere wish that more people could go into Educational Kinesiology and experience the wonders of Brain Gym® Basic.