Mind in Motion, Occupational Therapy. Learning to move, Moving to learn

There are so many benefits to going barefoot! "With kids, it's even more important that they get abundant barefoot time because the proper development of na...tural gait patterns and deep body stabilization depends on the super-sophisticated feedback systems that come from the nerves sensing the ground and the brain. This happens in two ways: 1. There are nerves that interpret the shape of the ground by how the bones in the feet bend at 33 different points (joints). This creates a mental image in the brain (similar to how a dolphin uses sonar to avoid obstacles). Wearing shoes prevents any motion in these joints (except the ankle) and leaves the shoe-wearer "blind" to the environment. This is what makes stiff shoes the worst when it comes to natural development. and, P.S. This goes for adults too. 2. There are nerves that are sensing other things about the environment. Things like temperature and terrain. These nerves, designed to convey abundant information are now stuck just reading the inside of your shoes. And what is that environment like? Damp and smooth? Ew. The more you expose these nerves to the same input over and over, the more their information gets put on auto-pilot, into a part of your nervous system called an inter-neuron. More about the inter-neuron: You know how when you walk into a room with a fresh baked pie, it smells delicious, but after a few minutes you don't smell it anymore? Your brain moves information that is constant into a different part of your brain to free it up for other things, so the more similar your environment, the less your nerves work to perceive. And the less they work, the less healthy they are. This is why it is important (for everyone, not just kids) to walk on different terrain, on a different path, in different weather. Carrying different weights, wearing different shoes, and eating different food. Habits are not great for biology." - Katy Bowman, Biomechanical Expert Read more here: https://www.nutritiousmovement.com/barefoot-not-just-for-a/

"Gillian is a seven-year-old girl who cannot sit still in school. She continually gets up, gets distracted, flies with thoughts, and doesn't follow lessons. He...r teachers worry about her, punish her, scold her, reward the few times that she is attentive, but nothing. Gillian does not know how to sit and cannot be attentive. When she comes home, her mother punishes her too. So not only does have bad grades and punishment at school, but she also suffers from them at home. One day, Gillian's mother is called to school. The lady, sad as someone waiting for bad news, takes her hand and goes to the interview room. The teachers speak of illness, of an obvious disorder. Maybe it's hyperactivity or maybe she needs a medication. During the interview another teacher arrives who knows the little girl. He asks all the adults, mother and colleagues, to follow him into an adjoining room from where she can still be seen. As he leaves, he tells Gillian that they will be back soon and turns on an old radio with music. As the girl is alone in the room, she immediately gets up and begins to move up and down chasing the music in the air with her feet and her heart. The teacher smiles as the colleagues and the mother look at him between confusion and compassion, as is often done with the old. So he says: 'See? Gillian is not sick, Gillian is a dancer!' He recommends that her mother take her to a dance class and that her colleagues make her dance from time to time. She attends her first lesson and when she gets home she tells her mother: 'Everyone is like me, no one can sit there!' In 1981, after a career as a dancer, opening her own dance academy and receiving international recognition for her art, Gillian Lynne became the choreographer of the musical 'Cats.' Hopefully all 'different' children find adults capable of welcoming them for who they are and not for what they lack. Long live the differences, the little black sheep and the misunderstood. They are the ones who create beauty in this world." - Run Wild My Child

Remember doing this? Going upside down on just about anything? More and more -- we are taking these opportunities away from children in an effort to "keep them... safe." Yet, it is these very movement experiences that help children know where their body is in space! Let the children climb, roll, spin, jump off things, and go upside down on a regular basis. This will help foster healthy neurological development. (Photo via TimberNook South Adelaide)

For anyone looking for a small (5lb) weighted blanket, they are on sale at Costco this week. They are lovely.

Keep me away from the wisdom which does not cry, the philosophy which does not laugh and the greatness which does not bow before children. ~ Khalil Gibran

We don't have to be stuck.

Great book list

Great article with some samples to listen to

I know so many of you are busy, but I hope this may help some