From Dr. Jay Kumar - Building a Smarter Brain
Sep-20-2012

With kids now back in school and off for college, the joy of another academic year begins. We all want our children and the future generation to aspire to their personal best in all areas in life, but how can we encourage these bright minds to excel in learning? As a professor currently teaching neuro-cognitive studies and someone genuinely passionate for my students to achieve optimal performance, I am delighted to share these personally and scientifically proven tips from educational neuroscience that can help improve focus, enhance memory, and more importantly make learning fun!

Take A Breather

My mantra for the past decade that I've been telling to my students and clients is that "how you choose to breathe determines how you choose to live, heal, and be." I'm now going to add to that how you choose to breathe determines how you learn! We've all heard the phrase "Take a Breather" when we need to calm down from stress, frustration, or overwhelm, but it turns out that the phrase can now be backed up by neuroscience. The latest research into mind-body medicine consistently shows that slow, deep, focused breathing into the lower belly activates the body's natural relaxation-response, a mechanism that is wired into the human nervous system and triggered by consciously shifting the quality of the breath. It now appears that the body's relaxation-response is not only an evolutionary tool for survival, but a vital mechanism to improve focus, maintain calm, and boost memory. Centering and focusing on your breath is such an effective technique in the learning process that I've recently decided to begin every university class that I teach by leading my students in a 5-miunte breathing exercise. We now know that when your brain and body come into alignment through the breath, it creates the important 4 C's for learning: Calmness, Centeredness, Concentration, and Creativity! Watch this simple 5-minute guided video and breathing-exercise to teach help you get on track.

Click below for the rest of the article!

Visit Website

Posted by Ken at 6:49 PM - Link to this entry  |  Share this entry  |  Print