The Path to a Healthier, More Productive Brain

According to Fred Gage, researcher at the Salk Institute, there is concrete evidence that neurogenesis (the creation of new brain cells) occurs in adult brains.

No longer is it believed that the brain is limited to the number of brain cells we are born with.

New brain cells are born well into the EIGHTH decade of life!

One of the main drivers of this process is voluntary movement/exercise. What supercharges this process is focused, directed attention to your movements.

You don’t have to go the gym to exercise to reap these benefits, however. In fact, pushing too hard and using too much effort will limit what you’re able to achieve.

You see, there is a scientific law that states that the more you slow down and the more you reduce your effort, the higher your capacity is to perceive differences.

The more differences you perceive in your movements directly translate to more movement possibilities for your nervous system.

By perceiving finer and finer differences in movement, you are actually increasing the number of dendrites branching out from your brain cells. These are the very parts of the neuron that tend to deteriorate with age (dendrites are the bushy projections through which a neuron receives signals from other neurons).

It has become a universal truth that the better connected a brain is, the better it will function - period.

And as Dr. Michel Merzenich, a pioneer in brain plasticity research states:

"Movement is inextricably controlled on the basis of ‘feedback’ from our bodies and brains, and movement control is guided very directly by the cognitive resources that guide all of our behaviors. They are weaker or stronger, enabled or disabled TOGETHER. Neurological processes that control the flow of cognition and thought are not really different from those that control the flow of movement — and in fact are complexly, inextricably inter-twined!"

With that being said, you can see how refining your movements to higher and higher levels of quality will enable you to refine your cognitive abilities as well!

You’ll actually become smarter!

Experience changes your brain structure.

Through your focused, directed attention to your movement experiences, you create richer and more complicated brain circuits.

It’s ALL in your hands (and brains).


LET ME ASK YOU THIS…
Are you directing your attention to the same old stuff day after day, or are you slowing down, reducing your effort and looking for new ways to do things?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
Let us know what you’re doing for yourself to create a more richly connected brain.

*****

Chad Estes
Movement Specialist
cestes@etmconsultants.com

Your Brain, Learning, and Vitality

What is it that keeps our brains vital?

It’s L-E-A-R-N-I-N-G.

What type of learning is best?

To answer that question, we must first look at how our brains are organized.

What I’ve come to discover (and what neuroscience is now demonstrating), is that our brains are organized through movement.

Read that last statement again, slowly:

Our brains are organized through movement.

When you think about movement, what comes to mind?

More than likely, you mind goes to the movements that occur in our:

Joints
Bones
Muscles

You know, all of those movements that allow us to move around and take action in the world.

Did you ever stop to think about it in more detail?

Like how you speak, for example.

The movement of your lips.

The movement of the air over your vocal cords, driven by the movement of your diaphragm, to create the sounds that make up the words that you use to communicate to others.

And don’t forget the movement between the nerve cells in your brain that initiates and makes possible this ability to speak.

Movement is the language of our brains, and our brains are the great organizer of ALL movement

Movement is everything.

Without movement, life ceases to exist.

What has been shown in recent research – what we as Anat Baniel Method and Feldenkrais Method practitioners have known for quite some time – is that the quality of our movements are a manifestation of the quality of the workings of our brains.

According to Dr. Michael Merzenich, pioneering researcher of our brain’s plastic nature:

"Movement is inextricably controlled on the basis of ‘feedback’ from our bodies and brains, and movement control is guided very directly by the cognitive resources that guide all of our behaviors. They are weaker or stronger, enabled or disabled TOGETHER. Neurological processes that control the flow of cognition and thought are not really different from those that control the flow of movement — and in fact are complexly, inextricably inter-twined!"

What we have found is that when you begin to refine your movements, you begin to refine the way it is in which you think.

It’s called ‘embodied cognition’.

And this is clearly demonstrated in this study.

What it shows is that movement actually helps organize our brains ability to solve problems – and solve them faster.

Faster???

… from just movement?

How does 40% faster sound?

Gimme some-a dat!

As neuroscientific research marches on, you are going to see a new paradigm in terms of how this is implemented into educational and corporate training programs to:

Boost memory
Increase problem solving skills
Create perceptual changes in the way we take in and process information (which will increase creativity)
Enhance the way we handle stress and anxiety (which costs American businesses $300 Billion dollars per year!)
Eliminate repetitive stress injuries
And increase employee productivity

All through movement and attentional training.

We just happen to be at the forefront of this.

So if you’re looking for that edge, that extra something that’s going to enable you to outpace your competition. Give us a shout.

You’ll be glad you did.

LET ME ASK YOU THIS…
What are you or your company doing to keep you (and your brain) from being stuck in the rut of rote repetition?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
Let us know how you apply the power of movement in your daily life.

*****

Chad Estes
Movement Specialist

Functional Training

I have been thinking a lot lately about how there is no dedicated training program for the development of the human brain and nervous system in business and industry.

We have Six Sigma training, Lean training, and Total Quality Management (TQM) training but there is no systematized method that industry uses at this time in order to train the nervous systems of their employees.

Their employees – the ones that execute the above systems!

What business has done is to encourage participation in specific learning modules/ seminars, etc. in order to enable their employees to learn more about their specific jobs, but hasn’t done anything to affect the big picture (developing the human organism as a whole).

As an ex-Physical Educator, this reminds me of the different physical training methods that exist.

There are those that have the bodybuilding type mentality – those that train each individual muscle simply for size without any regard as to how it works with the other muscles in the bigger picture.

Then there is the functional training group.

They are the one who concerned mainly with how things work together. They train to increase function, leaving the asthetics in the background.

However, when you would see a bodybuilder next to someone whose main drive is functional training, the functional trainer would have a better appearance by most people’s standards.

Bodybuilders are often referred to as being “all show, and no go”, which is a reference to how inefficiently they are put together (I would describe it by saying how poorly integrated they are).

Those concerned mainly with functional training will consistently outperform so-called bodybuilders in functional activities (aren’t all activities functional?!) because they have learned how to use more of their whole self, while the other training method produces a bunch of “parts” that don’t work well together because they haven’t been trained to work together.

And I won't even get into the shrinkage part of it.....

When looking at employee development in business and industry from this perspective, one can see that they are creating “bodybuilders” – they’re only training a small portion of their employees potential.

Corporations are missing out on fully capitalizing on their human element.

They are only training the “thinking” part of their employee’s self-image.

And remember, how you take action and function in the world is determined by your self-image.

As we’ve mentioned before, your self-image consists of four parts:

Feeling self image
Thinking self image
Emoting self image
Movement self image

The contribution of each of the components to any particular action varies, but each component will be present to some extent in every action we take.

To only train a small portion of our self-image is to miss out on an incredible opportunity for not only growth, but true transformation.

And in an economy like the one we’re in right now, we need transformation.

When corporations begin focusing on developing the entire human organism - their human element - we will begin to see how truly capable we really are.

LET ME ASK YOU SOMETHING…
Do you or your company approach your development with a bodybuilding mentality?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
Send us an email and let us know what you are doing to stay ahead of your competition!

*****

Chad Estes
Movement Specialist
cestes@etmconsultants.com

Learning From Great Athletes

I’ve been thinking quite a bit lately about great athletes and what it is that makes them better than the average athlete.

I feel that there is an incredible amount to learn from these greats, and that these learnings can be applied to the business world - and even your personal life, for that matter.

When I speak of great athletes, I am thinking about those that have rewritten the record books in their particular sport - Barry Sanders and Walter Payton come to mind from the world of football.

To look at them, they aren’t all that impressive.

Huh???

Obviously, watching them play was impressive, but to look at their personal stats (height, weight, bench press, 40 yard dash time, vertical jump, etc.), they’re not that impressive.

They were short, undersized, and not particularly stronger or faster than their counterparts – even their counterparts that were benchwarmers.

Some would say that the differentiating factor was that they had natural instincts that made them better than their peers.

Phooey!

Instinct is a much over used term. Instinct implies an inborn pattern of behavior that all members of a species have access to. We as humans have very little instincts.  We have to learn everything it is that we do, especially in terms of movement.

So, then, what is it that they’ve learned that makes them better than the large majority of average athletes?

From my point of view, a large part of what makes the Walter Payton’s and the Barry Sanders’ of the world so much better than their counterparts is that they learned to how to be masters over their own muscular tension.

Let me explain a bit.

Barry Sanders and Walter Payton had the ability to turn tension on and off in their bodies like a light switch. They could go from tense to loose and back to tense quicker and more efficiently than their competition.

That ability is what allowed them to contribute to so many highlight reels throughout their careers. It allowed them to make those trying to tackle them look silly – they couldn’t get their hands on them.

They could stop on a dime. They could change direction quicker than anyone - and it often left opposing defenses grasping for air.

And they made it look easy…….

So then, how does this apply to the business world - to your personal life?

As I’ve written about many times before, stress is experienced throughout your entire self.

Each of us has an individual body pattern that accompanies the feelings of stress, anxiety, and fear - a pattern of movement, of breathing, of structural alignment – all of which is controlled (by your brain) through the muscular tensions in your body.

And those patterns have been learned throughout the course of our lives.

And from how I understand that our mind works, we cannot become conscious of a feeling before it is expressed by a motor mobilization. Therefore, there is no feeling so long as there is no body attitude.

That’s a HUGE statement. You might want to read it again.

There is no feeling so long as there is no body attitude (they are basically the same thing).

Heck, you can’t be an “uptight” person unless you are literally uptight!

The good news is that you have the ability to learn a better way.

You can learn to release those tensions in your body that aren’t serving you. You know, the ones that cause the muscles in your neck and back to “scream" at you by the end of the day. Those patterns that serve as the basis for fear, anxiety, and stress. Which, in many folks, will eventually lead to repetitive stress injuries and cumulative trauma disorders.

So, by learning to apply what the great athletes throughout history have, you can:

- Face your fears – and let them go

- You can stymie stress.

- And you can ace anxiety.

And by doing so, you prevent those people and situations from “tackling” you so that you can make that big play!

And if you make enough big plays, you will be inducted into your own hall of fame.

LET ME ASK YOU THIS…
What have you learned (and applied) from those outside of your chosen field in order to better yourself?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
Leave a comment with your thoughts on this article.


*****

Chad Estes
Movement Specialist
cestes@etmconsultants.com

Building a Better Brain

That’s right, you heard me correctly. YOU can build a better brain!

While I’m not advocating a Dr. Frankenstein approach to building a better brain, you have the capacity to change your brain (and the brains of your employees) – to build it up to better suit your needs.

Even the American Medical Association is jumping on the brain building bandwagon.

You see, it was accepted as gospel that when we were born, our brain was fixed. It was what it was, and it was only downhill from there.

Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

In a recent article in American Medical News, the newspaper for America’s physicians, it reports what we have known for a long time – the brain is dynamic and ever changing.

It’s called brain plasticity.

The plasticity of the brain is stimulated through novelty (i.e. – new experiences). In order to take advantage of this amazing property, you must constantly involve yourself in the participation of new activities.

When you challenge the brain with new skills and new ways of doing things, one of the things that increases are the connections in the brain – that is, it increases synaptic density.

Within the brain, the pathways and regions that are most utilized generally grow and become stronger while other parts that aren’t used shrink.

If, as you get older, you become set in your ways of doing your job (or anything else for that matter) and cease doing new things, your brain will shrink. And if you live long enough, you’ll begin to look like BeetleJuice. (Just kidding on the BeetleJuice reference, not the brain shrinkage one.)

Use it or lose it, baby.

The question then arises, what is the best (or most proficient) way in which to capitalize on this phenomenon?

According to the article, physical activity – moving – is one of the best ways to improve brain function. Not just any kind of moving, however, but movement with attention. Directed attention is one of the main drivers of the plasticity process.

And when participants are actively engaged in this process of applying awareness to their movements, balance, posture, coordination – and get this – cognition improve!

So it’s not simply that you’ll feel better and move better, which is an amazing outcome. This research shows that actively engaging in this type of activity will also improve your thinking ability, your reasoning abilities, as well as your memory.

Where do I sign up?!

Taking advantage of brain plasticity, and applying it to your and your company’s daily activities, will have positive effects on their productivity, and your bottom line. And your employees will be happier too!

LET ME ASK YOU SOMETHING…
What are you or your company doing to take advantage of these amazing developments in brain science?

LET ME SUGGEST…
Send us an email and let us know what you do to keep your brain sharp and in a learning mode.

*****

Chad Estes
Movement Specialist
cestes@etmconsultants.com

Beating Stress

Stress impacts you in a variety of ways. It can:

Make you anxious
Make you angry
Make you argumentative
Make you aggressive
Make you depressed
Cause you to be “uptight”
Make you less productive
Affect your relationships
Affect your quality of sleep
Affect your quality of work
Make you weaker
Affect your breathing
Affect your thought patterns
Affect your movement patterns
Cause chronic over-secretion of stress hormones, such as cortisol
Affect your emotions
Affect your heart’s health
Cause excess bodily tension
Suppress your immune system – you get sicker easier and more often
Impair your brains’ function, especially memory
Decrease your ability to absorb new information or learn new skills

... and a whole host of other repercussions that come along with repeated exposure to stress.

According to the American Institute of Stress, stress is a somatic experience. That is, you experience stress with your whole self, throughout your entire body. It’s not just a “mental” thing.

Stress has a corresponding pattern of muscular action that goes along with it, and this pattern of action is individual to you.

Some feel pain in their necks. Some feel pain in their backs. Others have anxiety attacks.

For that specific reason, there is no one prescriptive answer to reduce stress (i.e. – you need to work out to relieve stress).

On the other hand, however, there is a single answer for how to prevent the fallout from stress.

First and foremost, you need to understand how stress affects you.

In order to do that, you need to be able to feel.

To feel?

That’s right, you need to be able to feel.

Sounds easy, but most people have been exposed to stress for such long periods of time, that they have repressed the feelings and bodily sensations that accompany it.

So, in order to reconnect with your feelings (not just your emotions, but the sensations that come from your body), you need to slow down.

Slow down?

Yes, slow down.

Based around the scientific laws that govern how your brain takes in and processes information, in order to develop and expand your capacity to feel, you need to slow down.

Slowing down allows your brain to take in, and process, larger amounts of information.

You become more in tune with the sensory feedback your body is giving you.

And remember, stress is a full body experience.

So, when you are able to tune in better to your sensory feedback, you are able to sense much earlier when stress is sneaking up on you.

When you feel stress sneaking up on your sooner, you have a better chance of not letting it get a grip on you.

And if you can prevent it from getting a grip on you, you can be more productive.

And a less stressed, more productive “you” makes everyone happy!

LET ME ASK YOU SOMETHING…
What do you do to prevent the effects of stress in your life?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For more information on what “slowing down” actually means and how you can implement it in your life, send us an email and we’ll send it to you for free!

*****

Chad Estes
Movement Specialist
cestes@etmconsultants.com

Sit Up Straight!

I always chuckle internally when I see ergonomic posters detailing proper posture.

But I temper those thoughts because I also realize that those posters are placed there with the best of intentions. Employers don’t want their employees to get hurt, for pete’s sakes! (I’ve always wondered, who is Pete anyway?)

The thing is, we can’t do anything with it.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Everyone needs to know how best to arrange their workstation in terms of chair and desk set up, as well as placing what they are routinely working with in close proximity to them.

However, we simply can’t make use of well-intentioned information that tells us to sit up straight, stand up straight, or "use your entire body to turn while lifting heavy luggage…"

We need to feel what whole body participation feels like.

This is a completely subjective experience – the way in which we feel ourselves taking action – and not one that can be relayed through objective ergonomic posters or diagrams.

You see, we are built to move. And in order to move efficiently, our nervous systems’ need to be able to experience as many different variations as possible.

These variations allow us to make better choices when we move. We are able to draw from a larger pool of experiences in order to best execute an action - whatever that action is.

In terms of brain science, it can be explained this way: Experience modifies the connections between neurons so that they become more efficient at processing information.

In order to work and move in more effective ways, you must develop new neural pathways and break out of the cycle of habitual movement patterns.

So, the more experiences we have (the more variations in movement we feel), the more we will be able to move and work more efficiently and effectively.

Which translates into more effective action.

And regardless of how effective you are presently, there’s always room for improvement.

LET ME ASK YOU THIS…
What are you doing to increase your effectiveness?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For an article that provides tips on increasing your effectiveness, send us an email and we’ll send it to you for free!

*****

Chad Estes
Movement Specialist
cestes@etmconsultants.com