Welcome to the Brain FUNdamentals Blog!
I began this blog in May 2020 while working as the Lead Coach and Educator at Brain Fit Academy Inc. Today, I’m excited to continue sharing my insights and experiences—only now, I’m writing from the perspective of my own company, Brain FUNdamentals LLC! While the name has changed, my passion for this work remains the same!
It Happened Again
It happened again.
In a prior post titled “I Can’t Believe He Likes That!”, I spoke about a mom remarking on the fact that her child enjoyed an activity that she never thought he would- going through a dark, fabric tunnel.
Well the other day, I had a similar conversation with a father of a new client.
Reflections From Oregon
I’m currently in Portland, Oregon.
Today will be day three of a 3-day training in Rhythmic Movements.
I also have a very painful, injured knee.
As I awoke this morning, I began to reflect on my experiences of the class so far. Those reflections took me to the “qualities of exact movements” that our instructor (Moira Dempsey from Rhythmic Movement Training International*) taught us.
ExerSaucers, Bumbo Seats and Johnny Jumpers- Oh My!
Did you know that there is such as thing as "Container Baby Syndrome"? Simply put, it's when babies spend too much time in "containers" which can cause a variety of movement, behavior, and other difficulties as a result.
Hungry Hungry Hippos
When we're babies, do our caregivers need to ask us to move in certain ways? Do we say to our 4 or 5 month old:
"Ok honey, it's time to practice rolling over. Just move your legs like this, and your shoulders like this...."
You Can't Reason With Fear
You can't reason with fear.
Fear doesn't care that it appears mean when it throw objects at people.
Fear doesn't know that calling names is disrespectful.
Fear doesn't understand when you tell it that it's not okay to destroy other people's belongings.
Fear is FEAR!
I Can't Believe He Likes That!
"I can't believe he likes that!"
This was what the mom of a new client said to me.
I'm Here!
One of the difficult things about this job is that people don't know about the work that I do. When you're in need of someone to fix your pipes, you look up a plumber. When you need a therapist, you look for a therapist.
Safety
"I feel safe in here", stated my 8 year old client.
She had just finished wrapping herself up in blankets and sheets that were in the space where we were working.
Spiky Magic Ball
The names are getting better. The names of all the balls I carry around with me, that is. If you follow my blog, you will already know about "The Big Green Ball", and about "Heavy Pink Ball".
Magic
Sometimes it feels like magic- this work of ours at Brain Fit Academy.
This little six year old girl had had a rough morning. It was now afternoon and when she arrived with her mother for her session, she didn't want to come out of the car.
Creation is Messy
In a previous post titled "Roots", I talked about how the brain stem can be likened to the roots of a tree. And how at Brain Fit Academy, we build the brain from the bottom up by working on the primitive reflexes, those early motor patterns, the "roots" so to speak.
The Screening
"Boy, you really understand our son/daughter!" This is a phrase we hear a lot from parents that come to Brain Fit Academy. Very often, we hear words like that during (or after) the screening.
The Only Thing
"It's the only thing that's helped." These are the words of the mother of my six year old client.
What was the Pregnancy Like ?
I've mentioned before about how at Brain Fit Academy, we talk a lot about babies. And, how could we talk about babies without talking about pregnancies?
Brain Fit Perspective
"Can I give you a different perspective? A Brain Fit perspective?" I asked the mother of my 7 year old client.
Better
When I was a teacher, I would always feel best about a lesson after I had taught it at least three times. In fact, when you're a new teacher, they say that by your third year of teaching is when you actually start to know what you're doing.
Heavy Pink Ball
Sometimes my clients think I'm a little weird because I name some of my equipment- like "Big Green Ball", and "Heavy Pink Ball". They give me that rolling eyes look as if to say- "Really, Amy?!?"
"I'm Tired!"
"I'm soooo tired!". We hear this all the time at Brain Fit. Clients come for a session and they are just so darn tired. It happened with my own son (I remember) when he was also going through the program.
Hold Space
One of the guiding principles at Brain Fit Academy is to "notice without worry or judgment". In the post titled "Notice" I talked about why noticing is an integral part of what we do and different ways that we help kids to "notice".
Work
My new, seven year old client looked at me and exclaimed "That was work?" I smiled and replied "Yeah- it's not the same kind of work you have to do when you're in school or something like that, is it?"