My new video, dance along with me and let me know what you notice.
Monthly BrainDance class is taking the summer off, but keep moving indoors or out.
BrainDance engages movement patterns for an immediate neurological boost. Doing BrainDance is a great way to bring movement and thinking together and effectively support both. Use this warm-up to get you going for a physical or mental task or to recuperate when you’re stressed or fatigued.
I teach the BrainDance sequence to children, adults, teachers and therapists in workshops and individual sessions. My background in developmental movement gives me the expertise to help you find a BrainDance sequence that works for your needs.
In infancy and early childhood movement patterns are triggered by reflexes and environmental demands; but as we grow we can elicit these patterns with voluntary movement like BrainDance. Anne Green Gilbert coined the term BrainDance to simplify the set of sequences and help popularize this approach in the schools. See http://creativedance.org/about/braindance/
If you want to buy BrainDance Music by Eric Chapppelle, some tunes have key words others have narration visit: http://www.aventurinemusic.com/
BREATH Take a few deep breaths in the nose and out the mouth. Feel a sense of growing and shrinking throughout your body like an amoeba or jellyfish.
TACTILE AND PROPRIOCEPTIVE Squeeze your body, part by part, each arm, each leg, hands and feet, shoulders, neck and head. Tap the entire body with finger tips, slap, and brush briskly.
CORE-DISTAL Let your body grow out from center extending your limbs like a starfish. Shrink in and stretch out. Pretend your head is a limb and you have a long tail, giving you six limbs.
HEAD-TAIL Think of yourself as a fish and do a fish swish side to side (slightly bend your knees). Slowly, carefully curve forward in a C and then arch back including your head and your long tail. Twist from the core of your body. Move your spine fluidly in many directions.
UPPER-LOWER Reach both arms up into space, then press toward the earth bending your knees in a wide stance. Alternate reaching up and pressing down, slowly or with a quick jump. Fold at the waist and come back up. Press your hands to floor (or wall) and kick up both of your feet. Be a frog.
BODY-HALF Bend your elbow toward the knee and knee toward elbow on right side. Do the same thing on the left side. Be a puppet pulling the hand and knee string of one side then the other. Open and close like a book. Walk like Frankenstein, right arm and leg moving forward together, then the left.
CROSS-LATERAL Reach into an X with your body. Bring right elbow toward left knee and then left elbow to right knee. Touch hand to opposite knee marching in place. Tap your hand against your opposite heel behind you. Creep on your hands and knees, forward, backward.
VESTIBULAR Swing both arms in wide arc, high to low, let your eyes and head follow along (bend your knees as needed). Stop be still hold focus steady. or Spin 2-3 times and stop abruptly, hold perfectly still until you “feel still”, keeping your eyes open. Repeat the other way.