Reflection on Brain Gym® 101 Course for School Counselors in Beijing
Amy Choi, Hong Kong, June 4, 2016
On May 16 to 20, 2016, Amy Choi conducted a Brain Gym®101 workshop in Beijing. The participants were all school counselors. In a wink, it has been two weeks after the completion of the training. I have not been to Beijing to teach for some years. It was thus overjoyed to meet Beijing again, especially amidst the fresh air and blue sky in May! Moreover, the visit to the APEC meeting venue in Huairou District, displaying flair of a grand state, was an eye-opener.
The teaching for this workshop was a bit different from the usual public workshops. This time, the participants were all school counselors who have learnt various application skills in psychology. Most have learnt Brain Gym within the past three years and attended this time for revision. The five-day teaching contents, therefore, needed to focus on integrating the theories, skills, different balance processes, programme flow and structure of Brain Gym 101, so as to offer a solid foundation for the participants to further develop and update their existent concepts, knowledge and skills. One of the participants, who teaches Chinese and Chinese Literature, has summed up the whole workshop: “The fascination of a mountain lies in the winding paths along its ridges. The fascination of a sea lies in the varying waves stirred up by wind. Pursuit for 1 integrated whole-brain state, free exchange between 2 learning gears, connection of 3 dimensions of brain functioning, 4-step P.A.C.E. for learning, 5-step balancing process, 11 balances with different focuses, 26 Brain Gym activities and 2 re-patterning exercises ¡V all eventually integrate into achieving the unlimited possibilities in Educational Kinesiology. At the end of the sea, only the sky is the limit. We can further surpass the peak even having reached the peak.” Such insightful remark is also a conclusion of my reflections on my years of Brain Gym practice and this workshop.
From the angle of an instructor, I have focused in enabling the participant-teachers to experience an alternative way of utilizing the mind – “self noticing model”, which makes us aware of our own thoughts, emotions and physical senses at all times. Our brain will ask ourselves: “Under what situations in my daily life can I live more relaxed, comfortable, in balance, and with progression?” In comparison with the model of mainstream psychological consultation (usually basing on analysis of the reasons for a problem to offer proposals, answers, prescriptions, etc. for solving it), “self-noticing” is based on the educational model. It focuses more on enabling one to turn to one’s internal self to locate the resources within, so as to create more ideal daily living conditions for oneself.
Within these two weeks after the workshop, the participant-teachers sent in feedbacks continuously, showing they have been actually practising what they learnt in schools. Some led their students to do Brain Gym in playgrounds; others conducted balance for their students. The feedback received from a teacher yesterday said: “I have learnt Brain Gym on and off from 2013 to 2016. At the beginning, I felt confused. Later, I was uncertain about how much I did understand. Now, I have gained deep comprehension. All along, I had the urge to continue with more in-depth learning. At the start, I could hardly sense the wonder of Brain Gym and even doubt about it. After the workshop ended, I do sense its impact, and have deep reflections including certain incomprehensible feeling towards its wonder. My conclusion: it may well be the positive, active, clear, and energetic goals enrooted in myself that enable me to expeditiously achieve my goals in daily life.”
My best wishes for the teachers who had attended this workshop. I trust that through practicing Brain Gym, they and their students together would become more integrated in the future.
* Brain Gym® is a trademark of the Educational Kinesiology Foundation, Ventura, U.S.A. Website: www.braingym.org
