PACE ARTICLE

Hi there, I'm here to introduce you to Brain Gym AE.

Work  place  stress  is  becoming an  over worked term these days and
 there really  is  little consensus about  how  to overcome it.  What
 seems  to  be  happening  is  that  people are   exhibiting the same
 symptoms that we would have  exhibited when out hunting or gathering
 for  our  subsistence:  muscular tension with whole body prepared to
 fight  the  adversary  or  flee for safety, shallow rapid breathing,
 increased  heart  rate  and  blood  pressure, a sharpened peripheral
 visual  and auditory acuity to be able to see and hear where the foe
 is coming from. The whole system bent on survival.  After all if the
 job's not done and the money doesn't come in there is no meat on the
 table.

Has  our life style  really come full circle? Is this society we have
 created  all  that different from our forebears?  All this pressure,
 demands of the material life puts our immune system under threat and
 shortens our life expectancy.  Employees are constantly looking over
 their shoulder, the hunter hunted.   The self employed are having to
 trek further to the well for each new client.

What  puts  you under pressure. Make a scatter list across a piece of
 paper  of all the things that hack you off or get up your nose......
 yes, ALL of them.

Now  choose  one of them, a good juicy one and visualise it happening
 really clearly. How are you feeling ?  Write down all your emotions;
 anger, fear, frustration etc. and now take a magnifying glass and go
 from  top to toe noticing how your body feels.  Where is the tension
 in  your system?   Neck?   Shoulders? Chest? Stomach? Hands? What is
 happening to your heart rate and your breathing? What does your face
 feel  like  and  your  mouth?   What is  your  general posture like?
 Exaggerate it. What sort of language do you use in these situations?
 Where is your sense of humour?   How are you communicating with your
 family,   colleagues  or  peers?   What is  your  attitude  to   the
 aggravating issue?

Hold on to all that we are going to be come:  Positive, Active, Clear
 and Energetic. P.A.C.E.! Do the following activities carefully.

i) ENERGETIC    Have  a drink  of  water, as much or as little as you
                find you need.
ii) CLEAR       Find  your  Brain Buttons, the two soft hollows below
                the  clavicle  or  collar bone at the top and to each
 side of your sternum, the large, strong bone down the middle of your
 chest.   Massage these gently  and place  your  other hand over your
 navel area.  Swap hands after a few seconds.
iii) ACTIVE     Stand  up  if possible,  but this may be done sitting
 down,  and  march  with an action similar to bowling a ball over the
 opposite leg or tap the opposite knee with your elbow or hand as you
 raise it,  left  hand  to right knee, right hand to left knee and so
 on. Do this for about 30 seconds.
iv) POSITIVE     Sit  comfortably  with  your  ankles  crossed.   Now
 stretch  your arms straight out in front of you, thumbs down.  Cross
 your  wrists over,  clasp your hands and roll your arms towards you,
 laying them on your  chest and be aware of the tongue on the roof of
 the mouth.  If there is a lack of mobility in your wrists or elbows,
 for  some  reason  you find  that  position uncomfortable or you are
 preparing to  sleep,  cross   your  arms  over  your chest with your
 fingertips  under  the  arm  pits  or  on  the shoulders.   Put your
 attention  on  the  aggravating  situation and take a good minute to
 mull it over, listening to your breathing and the sounds around you.
 When  you  feel  ready,  as  if  you  have  had a change of gear, or
 instinctively  feel  ready  and relaxed,  place  your  finger   tips
 together and uncross your ankles.  Take several moments like that.

Now  take  your  magnifying  glass  and  re-assess  your physical and
 emotional self.  Notice the tension in the head, neck and shoulders,
 across the chest and in the stomach.  How do your hands feel or your
 face  and mouth?   What  is happening to your heart beat, your blood
 pressure and  your  breathing?   How would you communicate with your
 family, peers  or colleagues?  What is  your sense  of humour  like?
 And what is your attitude to your aggravating situation?

Yes,  I  am  expecting  you to notice some difference in the response
 this time.   If you notice nothing at all, did you get in touch with
 how you  feel  under  stress  in the first place? And if you did and
 still notice no change have  another go at those four steps.  Slowly
 and carefully as new learning is  best done slowly at first in order
 to practice perfectly and make perfect.

Why you ask should I feel different about it? Look at your list again
 and  ask yourself if any of the items there are, in themselves, life
 threatening?   If  you  included dangerous drivers then your physio-
 logical response may have been quite appropriate but if it is things
 like waiting in a queue or snotty children, unrealistic expectations
 or  cold  chips  or  fries  then they  in  themselves  are  not life
 threatening.   Eventually they  may be the death of you but they are
 not terminal. Yet  your body is responding as if you are about to do
 or die and that will be the death of you eventually.

P.A.C.E.  is  a  quick, easy and reasonably unobtrusive way to change
 the way you respond to a stressing situation.

Why and how is that so?

WATER

Our  bodies  need about 2 litres of water per day, "Nothing new." say
 you.  But do you  know why water is so important to us?  It cleanses
 our system.   Absolutely.   It quenches our thirst.  Yes, but why do
 we thirst?  What  is  it  about  water that is so special?  We drink
 plenty of other fluids  such  as  tea,  coffee, Coke or fruit juice.
 They'll do, surely? Sorry, they do not provide but deny the physical
 system the very things that it needs as they are either diuretic and
 so pull the plug on the vital chemicals that water holds in solution
 or  they  require so much O B2 to digest that the rest of the system
 is put under  severe stress.  Whilst we're on the subject, for every
 250ml of  Coke  consumed  the body requires 1000ml just to digest it
 and return to the state you were in before drinking the Coke!

Water  is  used  by our body for a number of reasons; principally for
 keeping important chemicals  such as Sodium (Na+) and Potassium (K+)
 in  solution  and  so  available to the  nervous system and also for
 providing  and  enhancing  the capture of Oxygen (O B2) by the blood
 supply.

Messages are sent down the nervous system by momentarily depolarising
 the  potential  difference across the Sodium Potassium.  Na+, K+ and
 Ca+ salts  are held in solution in the intracellular fluids.  When a
 neuron  is  stimulated  to  conduct an impulse the charge inside the
 cell  becomes  more  positive,  Na+  channels are opened allowing an
 influx  of  Na+  followed  by other positive ions  which momentarily
 causes a positive charge in the cell near the wall,  which  in  turn
 excites the next cell and so the impulse continues down the nerve in
 a  wave like  motion.  The cell repolarises in 1/1000th of a second.
 (Bloom & Lazerson. Mind, Brain and Behaviour.  Freeman, 1988)

The  resting  potential  of  the  neuron  is  +/- 70 mv in a healthy,
 relaxed  individual.   To  retain this  potential and the integrated
 brain  function  that goes  with  it even  when working  the body or
 "stressing" it, there  needs to be an adequate uptake of  those ions
 and  of water  to  keep them in solution.  With greater stress there
 needs to be a greater intake of good food and water; if not then the
 potential  difference across the membrane drops, triggering a change
 in  chemical response in the brain and causing the "fight or flight"
 to be activated.

As  the survival mechanisms  of  the brain are stimulated the physio-
 logical  emphasis is on the environment, monitoring external stimuli
 that   are  potentially life  threatening.   We  develop  a   "total
 awareness" as  if  we have eyes in the back of our heads and can see
 round corners.   Every sound is identified and we are ready to react
 to  anything  that  comes our way.  The heart beat rises and so does
 blood  pressure,  breathing  becomes quick and shallow and we sweat.
 We also have an altered perception of the world.  The filter we have
 is  one  of   territorial  and  personal   relationship maintenance.
 Emotions  which are associated with the survival mechanism are fear,
 anger, greed,  and  a  need to reproduce when things are going well.
 When  on  the receiving  end  there  is   panic,  low  self  esteem,
 depression and withdrawal.  This as all well and good if  we are out
 looking  food amongst  other  beasts  looking for food.  When we are
 going about our daily lives in an  unthreatening environment such as
 work,  home  or  recreation,  even  where competition is a key part,
 these   symptoms  of  stress are  a  hindrance to high level concen-
 tration, performance and creativity.

An adequately hydrated body will absorb 100 to 1000 times more oxygen
 than  a dehydrated body. (Science News, March 1991).  The brain uses
 20% of all the O B2  available in the blood stream even though it is
 only 2% of the body's weight. It is one of only a few molecules that
 passes the  blood/brain  barrier,  the other  beneficial ones being,
 carbon dioxide and the small nutritional molecules  such  as glucose
 and essential amino acids required for adequate brain function. O B2
 is used by the body to break down food in order  to supply energy in
 the form of  adenosine  5 '-triphosphate (ATP) a molecule that traps
 the  chemical  bond  energy  and  transports it around the system to
 drive  all  the  process  within the  body including the Na+/K+ pump
 already described.

(In  his recent book Your Body's Many Cries For Water ( Global Health
 Solutions, Inc. 1992, 1995)  Dr. F. Batmanghelidj says that the root
 cause  of many major diseases  is  chronic  dehydration.  One of the
 effects of having a high resting potential across  the cell membrane
 has  been shown  to  correlate  with a higher resistance to disease.
 Educational  Kinesiology  and Brain Gym AE are educative disciplines
 which have had significant effects upon individuals' health.)

There  is very much more to say about water and the system. A lot has
 been written about it over the years.

BRAIN BUTTONS

Massaging the two points under the collar bone, just each side of the
 sternum,  has  an  effect  upon  several  of the circulatory systems
 within  the  body.   These  points  are  directly  above the carotid
 arteries  which  carry  freshly  oxygenated  blood  to  the   brain.
 Stimulating  these  points draws  attention to  this area and so may
 serve to stimulate the flow of oxygen to the brain.

In acupressure these points are known as Kidney 27 (K27) and are also
 significant  in  the functioning of the lymphatic circulation system
 which  is  involved with  the  proper  digestion of  protein and the
 removal of wastes and  toxins produced by the body's processes. (Dr.
 John Thie,  Touch  For  Health  Manual) The lymph system is slow and
 often  becomes  blocked  and  inefficient.  This makes us feel thick
 headed and sluggish and if  you  have ever had flu or swollen glands
 that is an extreme example of the system  seizing up.  If you've got
 flu a  complete  lymphatic  massage  might be needed  but  otherwise
 stimulating the K27  points can give a shunt to the system just as a
 reminder.

The K27 points stimulate the glial cells which conduct the DC current
 in the body and brain spreading a more diffusive message through out
 the  system.(Richard Gerber, Vibrational Medicine. 1988).  There are
 10-50  times  more  glial cells  than neurons in the brain and their
 role is to support nourish and manufacture Nerve Growth Factor (NGF)
 which helps to develop and repair damaged neurons and guide neuronal
 fibres in nerve net formation.   Thus  by stimulating the DC current
 throught the  system,  one  activates as many  of the glial cells as
 possible  before  doing a task, providing support for more efficient
 nerve nets for that activity.

Whilst  stimulating  the K27 pointshold the navel.  This is the focus
 for the centre  of gravity.  Now Have a go at this little demonstra-
 tion with a partner.  If you are aware enough you can do it by your-
 self.   Stand  in  a space  and put all your attention on your feet.
 Really experience life at ground level,  think "FEET".  When you are
 right in your feet have your partner gently, with fingertip pressure
 push your shoulder.  Did you loose your balance really easily?  O.K.
 now think "HEAD". Put all your attention  on  our hair roots and out
 into  space.   When you are ready have your partner give you another
 gentle  push.   Did  you  topple over again?   Fine now put all your
 attention  on  your navel.   Allow  your body to make adjustments if
 needs  be and when ready  give  your  partner  the go  ahead for yet
 another gentle push.  What happened this time.   Did  you notice how
 much more stable you were?

Good dancers, sports-people and graceful movers have a good centre of
 balance.  When we become clumsy and badly co-ordinated our centre of
 gravity  is  out of  line.   Balance is controlled by the Vestibular
 system  in  the semi-circular  canals  of the inner ear.  These send
 electrical messages to the  Reticular Activation  System which keeps
 the neo-cortex active for wakefulness, helps with  co-ordination and
 proprioception, sense of stretch on muscles and an awareness of body
 space.   When  properly balanced  the semi-circular canals assist to
 establish  and myolinate  proper connection  with  the  RAS  and the
 outside world.   (Levinson, H.N.  The cerebellar-Vestibular Basis of
 Learning  Disabilities  in   Children,   Adolescents   and   Adults;
 Hypothesis and Study. In Perceptual and Motor Skills, 67 : 983-1006.
 1988.)

CROSS CRAWL

This   activity   activates  both  halves  of  the  cerebral  cortex,
 particularly the  primary  sensory  and motor cortex in the parietal
 and  frontal  lobes.   This integrates the functions of the logical,
 language  side  with that of the creative, context  functions of the
 other  hemisphere by  repeatedly  using   and  thus  myolinating the
 connective  tissue of  the  corpus  callosum.   Electrical energy is
 redirected away from the sympathetic nervous system and the survival
 responses allowing reason to prevail over reaction.

If  cross crawl is done slowly it will serve to strengthen fine motor
 co-ordination   particularly   is  the  Vestibular   and   Reticular
 Activation  Centre  is  stimulated  by   turning  the  head  in   an
 exaggerated  fashion   simultaneously.  Slow  cross crawl will often
 earmark co-ordination difficulties that the momentum of a fast cross
 crawl will mask.

HOOK UPS

Wayne Cook,  and   expert   in   electromagnetic  energy  at  Harvard
 University,  observed  that  his children sat in a specific position
 when  watching  T.V.  He wondered what it did for them.  When he did
 it  he  found it very calming.  The Hook Up s described above are an
 adaptation  of the original.  Originally one ankle was placed on the
 opposite  knee, the arms, outstretched, wrists crossed and the hands
 held  the  foot,  one on the  soul of the foot the other on the top.
 This posture was found to be inconvenient for ladies in tight skirts
 and uncomfortable for those with  poor movement in their hips or for
 anyone  to  use  whilst  standing  in a queue or lying in bed.  Paul
 Dennison  of  the  Educational  Kinesiology  Foundation  in Ventura,
 California, adapted it to the one described on P.1.

The  first half of Hook Ups integrates the function of large areas of
 the  brain.   The physical position stimulates the sensory cortex in
 parietal  lobe  and the motor cortex in the frontal lobe.  Attention
 is  drawn  to  the limbic  system, the emotional centre of the brain
 which sits on the sphenoid  bone  directly above the hard palette of
 the mouth, by the tongue.  (In the same way as focusing attention on
 your navel will steady your centre of balance.)   Under  stress most
 electrical  energy  is  focused  on  working the sympathetic nervous
 system driven from the brain stem.  As  a  result  little thought is
 given to the emotive reaction which occurs.  As blood and electrical
 energy  is  redirected  up  to  the limbic system and the neo-cortex
 incoming sensory information  processing is altered to allow thought
 and  emotion  providing  a  rational response.  High level reasoning
 from  both  hemispheres equally balanced with emotion leads to inner
 speech, control of  one's social behaviour, compassion and altruism.
 (Hannaford,  C.L.  Educational  Kinesiology  (Brain  Gym  AE)   with
 Learning Style Discriminated K-12 Students Ph.D. Thesis.)

So P.A.C.E. prepares the brain and the rest of the body to perform at
 its  optimum  level.   It  will  activate what  ever connections are
 available to the individual and facilitate in the development of new
 ones  as further skills and fine tuning of those skills takes place.
 It  may take a  few  moments to do or a few minutes depending on how
 carefully you wish  to focus yourself.  P.A.C.E. activates the brain
 for  reasoning,  controlled behaviour,   focus  and  improved memory
 function.

We  would be interested in your feed back as you use P.A.C.E. in your
 daily  life.   It  is relevant to sport, domestic and business life.
 There is  much more to Brain Gym AE and Educational Kinesiology than
 P.A.C.E. It is possible to target specific activities and situations
 that  you  wish  to handle better than you do now and use this magic
 system  to  re-organise the neurological nets and behaviour patterns
 to  help  you  to  step  forward  into a free and confident personal
 environment.  There's always one more bridge to cross.  Get in touch
 for more information.  In the meantime - Stay cool, stay in P.A.C.E.
 and enjoy.

Glen and Helen Jansen. JTI Consultants P.O.Box 5528 Dunedin New Zealand.
For the best from your human potential with BRAIN GYM  AE
jti@earthlight.com.nz