Brain Gym
Edu-Kinesthetics is a small company whose products, BrainGym and VisionGym, represent a merging of brain research, learning theory, and body awareness based on the work of Paul and Gail Dennison. Their concept is that enhanced learning occurs through movement, and the brain can be reprogrammed to acquire lost or undeveloped functions by retraining it using physical movements. Physical development, language acquisition, and academic achievement are interdependent. Whether you consider it play or exercise, the movements are simple and fun and can be done as part of most other routine activities, and are good for any age.
VisionGym uses physical activity help to coordinate visual, auditory, tactile and kinesthetic skills. Following scripted movements on round, full-color cards that representing five vision enhancement categories and eight “vision circles”, the user completes physical actions, which can be as simple as tracing a figure eight with a finger, over a period of time to “train” not only the eyes, but also the brain pathways that control vision, to function better. VisionGym exercises the visual-structural system and inspires attunement to nature’s beauty and to all the multisensory elements of vision.
BrainGym is a series of exercises built on the concept that movement and learning are necessary companions. The exercises help a user to integrate not only the left and right sides of the the brain (laterality), but also the “top” and “bottom” areas of the brain. There is scientific research to support claims that the brain can be “exercised” and retrained to perform more effectively, not only with special needs children/adults, but in routine classroom curricula and even business environments. BrainGym exercises help users of all ages to “switch on” a higher level of brain performance and develop greater focus and concentration.
While there is only limited hard scientific evidence to support tools such as these, there is an overwhelming body of anecdotal case studies that appear to validate claims about the value of kinesthetic impact and neurofeedback on brain function. It’s easy to imagine that adding a program of exercises like these to the daily routine of brain injured or stroke patients, as well as people with learning disorders or dyslexia, athletes, epileptics, or even just the aging population who have “senior moments” of forgetting, could have positive effects.
