Complete Schedule Click here to read about and see photos of the speakers. Click here to preview the morning and evening activities. Thursday, July 22: Introducing the Brain Gym Program Registration (8:30 - 11:00) Brain Gym Introduction (9:00 - 11:00) Colleen Gardner, International Faculty Member Opening Circle (11:00 - 12:30) Kari Coady, Executive Director of Brain Gym® International Lunch and Topic Tables (12:30 - 2:00) Networking Around the World You may choose to select a table representing a region of the world as the place to eat your lunch and network about the Brain Gym program. Regions may include Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Central and South America. North America will be divided into regions as well. **The goal is to purposefully create community. Keynote (2:00-3:30) Creating Teachable Moments, Paul Dennison Teachable moments are those spontaneously generated situations in which we seize an opportunity to help students enhance their understanding. Movement, play and a safe structure to learn makes possible such teachable moments. pace and the Brain Gym five-step process invite a context which supports learners in setting their own goals, mastering specific skills and, in the process, developing a sense of self-worth and an ability to move forward on their own toward personal objectives. Workshops (3:45-5:15) Playing in the Unified Field: Raising and Becoming Conscious, Creative Human Beings Carla Hannaford Everything we think, feel, do, or say is open to the unified field and connected to everything else. When we are conscious of our influence and incorporate this in our daily lives, in the ways we raise our families and in our work with Brain Gym® clients, we increase the potential for happiness, creativity, and mastery in our own lives and in the lives of those around us. Our work is profound and everything matters. Brain Body Fitness for Seniors Emily Eisen Experience the multi-activity program Emily uses to keep seniors fit and frisky. Activities include Brain Gym®, singing, acting, drawing, interviews, juggling, rhythm games, seat soccer, chair volleyball, and even a peaceful repose. We work out our whole body and voice and brain in one hour, and wow what an hour it is. Come learn and enjoy the famed Long Island Brainworks Plus Seniors’ program for yourself and gain some wonderful ideas to take back home to your town’s seniors. Imagine Switching on Your Selling Jerry Teplitz The program SWITCHED-ON SELLING is a research proven seminar for creating a successful selling strategy by using the Brain Gym program. In this session participants will experience balances to switch themselves on for several aspects of the selling process, such as prospecting, presentation and follow-up. If you have been struggling with selling your Brain Gym practice, come and get switched-on for selling. Hooking Up Preschool Lisa Marcovici and Michele Hebert Wonder how to implement Brain Gym® into the day to day activities of infants through preschoolers (0-5 years)? This interactive workshop looks at how the 26 Brain Gym exercises may be introduced into childcare environments. We’ll explore fun, practical and simple games to expand noticing, concentration, organization and communication skills within the early childhood age group. Even very young children can be introduced to the 3 dimensions of learning! Closing (5:30)
Friday, July 23: Listening and Looking Opening (9:00 - 10:15) TBA Keynote (10:30-12:30) Listening and the Voice in Sound-Movement Integration Paul Madaule An exploration of listening and the ear-voice feedback loop, how they influence the way we attend, focus, sing, speak, move, engage and interact, read and write as well as our self-regulation, groundedness and self-image. Listening can be trained with sound stimulation and audiovocal exercises. Listening training and movement-based work complement each other and can be combined for the child’s greater benefit. Lunch and Topic Tables (12:30 - 2:00) Occupational Networking You may choose to select a table representing occupations as the place to eat your lunch and network about the Brain Gym program. Occupations may include therapies (OT's, PT's, Speech therapists), writers, education, business, bodywork, and vision/auditory specialists. **The goal is to purposefully create community at the conference and beyond. Workshops (2:00 -3:30) Understanding Vision – It’s Development and Role in Learning – Part 1, John Abbondanza There is more to vision than 20/20. Vision plays a dominant role in thinking and doing, and interacts with hearing, speech, balance, and proprioception. This course explains through lecture and demonstrations how we normally use vision, how it develops, and the role it plays in learning. Specific demonstrations to illustrate major points are included. The Whole Elephant: Combining Developmental Movement, Music, Listening and Speech, Eve Kokiak The blind men, stationed at different parts of the elephant, couldn’t believe that they described the same beast! From the perspective of our own training and experience, it can sometimes be hard to imagine a whole elephant. This participatory workshop identifies and explores techniques for combining developmental movement, music, listening and speech. Materials will include music and movement games from Listenin’ Live by Eve Kodiak and Paul Madaule. Brain Gym with the Aged, Claire Hocking Learn how the Brain Gym program has been used to enhance the quality of life for seniors, especially in aged care. Seniors easily settle down and relax improving their concentration, memory, communication and cognitive functioning. Adapt the program to suit individual needs and situations, including those for Alzheimer's, dementia, stroke rehabilitation, and Parkinson's disease. Many Australian Aged Care institutions now regularly use Brain Gym as part of their resident's daily routine with outstanding results. Workshops (3:45-5:15) Understanding Vision – It’s Development and Role in Learning – Part 2, John Abbondanza Vision is a learned skill, and retains plasticity throughout life. This hands-on workshop teaches fundamental skills that are necessary prerequisites to good visual development. Specific activities will be discussed and practiced in the course, including activities to develop basic math and reading skills, balance, rythym and timing, and visualization. Heart of Listening: Building Rapport in a Wealth-Healthy Brain Gym® Business, Eliza Bergeson and Bonnie Hershey The phone rings. Someone has called to inquire about Brain Gym. You have just a few minutes to build rapport. What do you say? It’s not so much what you say, but how you listen that makes the difference! Your ability to listen inspires confidence in your expertise. Learn to easily enroll new clients with the first inquiry and attract interest in your work by simply…listening. Join us for a lively, experiential introduction to The Heart of Listening. Using the Four Quadrants of the Brain to Ensure Happiness and Success, Joseph Schechtman There is extensive research that indicates the brain has not just two sides, but four quadrants. Each one has a unique way of thinking, perceiving, acting, behaving, and consequently a specific set of skills that allows people to be extremely successful in certain jobs and contexts but not in others. During this interactive workshop people will understand which quadrant is their natural preference and learn strategies to develop competencies in all four quadrants. Closing (5:30)
Saturday, July 24: Theory in Action Opening (9:00 - 10:15) Language of Edu-K, Cindy Goldade Keynote (10:30-12:30) What’s New in Understanding of the Brain, Charles Krebs What’s New in Understanding of the Brain: A magical mystery tour of the Paradigm Shifts and Revolution in our current understanding of Brain Function from a New Model of Brain Processing to the most recent discoveries about how the brain works. What are Glial Cells, Multi-Sensory Neurons, Cerebellar Loops and How do neurons survive Hypoxia? Lunch and Topic Tables (12:30 - 2:00) Networking in Relation to All Ages You may choose to select a table representing parts of the life circle as the place to eat your lunch and network about the Brain Gym program. Tables may include reflexes, early childhood, school age, adults, and elders. **The goal is to purposefully create community at the conference and beyond. Workshops (2:00 - 3:30) Moving Behind Brain Gym, Kay McCarroll Moving Behind Brain Gym - Lengthening the Lengthening Activities and more Kay McCarroll In this workshop Kay brings the insights of over thirty years working as a Kinesiologist, Chiropractor, and body worker to the Lengthening Activities. She has brought together many aspects of these activities relating to Kinesiology, the musculo-skeletal system, and emotions. Her workshop will be "active" and informational, giving the participant many new ways of explaining how the exercises work. This workshop has been well-received in Australia and Germany, where she was told that it gave people confidence in using the activities. If you'd like to enrich your understanding and experience of the Lengthening Activities, come and play with Kay!
Smarter Standing UP: Release STNR and Increase Focus! Kathy Brown Baffled by students who slouch at their desk or continually stand? I was too, until I learned about Symmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex (STNR), which can drive kids to sit with their legs extended in front of them. Experience the movements that STNR triggers the infant to make, and why a "retained" STNR may prevent people at any age from focusing. Learn how to identify this retained STNR, and experience a simplified balance to address it. Rhythmic Movements: Creating Potential, Moira Dempsey Rhythmic Movements replicate developmental movements infants make and they fit very well with the Brain Gym program of Educational Kinesiology. The movements are both passive and active; they are easy to learn and do as well as simple to teach clients and parents. The movements are linked to brain development and create the framework for developing our potential. This workshop will be a a mini-balance using RMT with some background information interspersed. Teaching from the Core, Sue Stepick Do you feel confident about teaching people of all ages in a variety of settings? Is there some aspect you’d like to improve? Join us and balance for teaching from a creative, heartfelt center! This session includes a review of the 12 Integrated MovementsTM, which emphasize deep breathing, emotional centering, and core muscle awareness. Participants will learn unique pre-activities, and choose from the Integrated Movements for the Learning Menu.
Workshops (3:45-5:15) EQ: Emotional Intelligence, Paula Oleska Since the limbic brain is considered crucial to forming a healthy brain, it’s important that children acquire tools early to develop it. This workshop will share current research and deepen one’s understanding of emotions and their role in limbic development. We’ll look at developing other aspects of the limbic brain including imagination and a sense of humor. Finally, new tools will be provided to bring emotions into balance. The Role of Acupressure Meridians and DLR for Integrating Reflexes and Helping Special Needs Children, Henry Remanlay This workshop shares Mr. Remanlay’s new insight about the role of Acupressure Meridians for integrating reflexes. This session will combine Rhythmic Movement Training (RMT), the works of Acupressure, and Dennison Laterality Repatterning (DLR). The experiential session involves a mixture of lecture and activity. Pregnant for Life, Renate Wennekes Each of us comes into existence by being, growing, sensing, feeling and moving in utero. Never again will we be so dependent and independent at the same time. The growing medical approach to pregnancy and our controlling society diminish the wonder of building life. Reconnect with your authentic self and re-establish the wonder for women (and men as fathers) by looking at the adventure of pregnancy. Brain Gym gives us the creative power and opportunity. Special Event (7:00)
Sunday, July 25: Bringing It All Together
Opening (9:00 - 10:45) Workshops (11:00 - 12:30) Education Through Movement (ETM), Randall McChesney
Education Through Music is a systematic approach for preserving and enhancing the child’s natural proclivity to play, explore, and learn. ETM activities feature “song experience games” ™ which engage the young child (ages pre-birth – 15 years) in thinking, analyzing, and symbolizing language and song. These sessions introduce you to our philosophy. Play
Develops the Movement Map! Gail Dennison The Balance Process Goes Deeper, Caren Truske The Edu-K Balance Process is a powerful template easily utilized with all levels of facilitators, students and clients. Emphasis is on techniques which “draw out” and continuously honor and validate the innate inner wisdom we each possess to achieve our goals and dreams. This interactive session explores the Power of Intention, Holding Space, Cultivating Awareness, Powerful Pre/Post Activities, and the Expansiveness of the Learning Menu. Professionalism and Marketing Your Brain Gym Business, Wendy Piret and Denise Figueroa Attendees will learn and elaborate on possibilities and pitfalls of professionally managing a Brain Gym business. Denise and Wendy will share information about contracts, Power Point presentations, and CEU credit application for Health and Educational Professionals attending Brain Gym 101. This workshop will also explore marketing aspects of target audience selection, acquiring mailing lists, direct mailing, postcard template and setting up a website. Lunch and Topic Tables (12:30 - 2:00) The Arts and Networking You may choose to spend the last lunch networking about the arts and Brain Gym. Tables may include art, music, and drama. **The goal is to purposefully create community at the conference and beyond. Closing Ceremony (2:00) **Schedule subject to change
|