Stand up and Walk!!!

Brain Power!!
Building a healthy brain isn't a new concept. It's been around for many many years. So why does it take us (westerners) so long for us to follow wisdom. I attended a workshop today that was about building a healthy brain. In my counselling training and experience, I have studied brain development and the different theories around growth. I have also learned how trauma can affect the brain, heart and body. Todays workshop not only made connections to how my students' brain learns and grows, it made connections to myself, my kids,  and my husband. There were many concepts I learned today, but the one thing I will always remember is that
   M o V e M e N t                             M o V e M e N t                      M o V e M e N t
is the most important thing about learning. Kids need to move throughout the day in order to learn and engage. They need to get outside in the fresh air, away from tv, internet and games, in order to stimulate their neurons to create more dendrites. So when I lectured my kids about how tv will make their brains soft, I was lying, because it already is soft ( I learned that today too). However, the message is still important - that too much tv will make you 'Stupid!' I am guilty of watching tv for hours at a time on some nights, especially on thursdays with Grey's and Private Practice. But I also try to model good 'down time' by reading quietly for long periods of time too. I came home today and taught both my kids, 6yrs and 11yrs, about brain growth and brain wellness. To my surprise, they were very interested in their brain growth. My eldest immediately went to the internet to look up images of healthy and unhealthy brains. After showing them some physical exercises on how to stimulate their brains, they said they already felt different, that they could feel the right side of their brain communicating to their left side - kids are so cute. They were very enthused to learn more exercises on how to grow more dendrites . . . WOW! We also talked about good brain food like fish (they were very proud because they eat a lot of fish), avocado, nuts, kale, blueberries, and water . So . . . get up and start moving, start a regular exercise program, kick your kids outside, open the windows and breathe, and eat brain food daily. I am happy that our family are doing a lot of these things already, but we have so much more to change in our lives to build and re-build healthy brains.
I am now going to get up and MOVE!!!