Blog Posts & Articles ~ Complete Index

Kathy Brown has written many articles offering easy-to-understand descriptions of various Brain Gym® techniques woven into stories and case studies from her practice.

Over the years, she has written both Articles and Blog postings, and this page is provided as an index of them all.

Blog postings are more recent. Some of them update pieces previously written as newsletter Articles. Her Blog can be found by clicking here.

Articles were written originally for Kathy’s newsletter, which she retired in 2013 when she began her Blog.

Many of these pieces are now part of Kathy’s award-winning book, Educate Your Brain, which she wrote to share the basics of the Brain Gym® program. With this one book, you’ll be ready to begin your own practice of Brain Gym movements, or bring them into your classroom or therapy space.

Most Recent Posts

You can scroll down to find these posts in their category sections, and find associated articles.

NEW ~ “Noticing” In Action: The “Learner” Is In Charge! — Amazing things happen when the person you’re working with makes their own choices about how to resolve the stuck places of learning!
NEW ~ “What Would It Take?” A Question to Expand Focus and Intention — Simple words to engage deeper focus, and help us call more deeply on resources for success.​

Reading & Writing

Balancing for Reading Success — Why some children resist reading (it’s visually disorienting) and what to do about it.
Henry and Reading – Revisited — The story of the first time a child arrived at my office not able to read at all, and left reading fluently. I was simply stunned. Updated from a previous Article.
“Thank You for Teaching Me.” — How understanding the challenge of “left-eye lead,” and then balancing for whole-brain integration, transformed one teen girl’s experience of reading.
Ready for Reading — Is your child left-eyed, and did he skip the crawling stage? That could be behind his reading challenges!
Brain Gym and Writing — Follow the story of young Asher, who went from total “meltdowns” when asked to write, to fluid writing, following one Dennison Laterality Repatterning (DLR).
Brain Gym® – For a “Brand New Brain” — After a single Brain Gym session about gaining access to both her native Spanish and the English she’s learning, Amanda went from failing third grade, to easily doing her homework, and thriving the following year!
Tales of English Language Learners — Overcoming the obstacles to learning English as a second language. Partially retold as “Brain Gym® – For a Brand New Brain”
Brain Gym Improves Reading — A year-long study in Ventura, CA shows results which are impressive both statistically and academically. A summary of research by Brain Gym consultant Cecilia Freeman.
Brain Gym and Reading — Three Success Stories — Brain Gym sessions can make remarkable improvements in reading skills.
Eye Teaming with Brain Gym — The cooperative use of both eyes, tracking and focus improve naturally with Brain Gym movement and balances. Reprinted from the Brain Gym Journal.

Lazy 8s &
Alphabet 8s

Learning as a Force of Nature — The tale of a child who deeply “absorbed” the Lazy 8s pattern, and how it transformed her reading ability.
Backing Up to Move Forward into Lazy 8s — What do you do when a child struggles with the Lazy 8s pattern? Back up, and experience it with the whole body, by walking it.
Alphabet 8s for Reading — The Alphabet 8s activity superimposes letters of the alphabet over the Lazy 8 pattern, often eliminating reversals in such letters as “d” and “b.”
Exploring Lazy 8s — This article was previously titled Refining Lazy 8s: Meeting the Learner’s Needs — Here’s important new information about how to get the most out of one of most frequently used Brain Gym movements.
Making Lazy 8s Boards – Tools for Classroom Fun Inspiration, instruction, and templates for making Lazy 8s Boards to use in the classroom, therapy space, or at home.

Other Individual Brain Gym Movements

The “Brain Buttons” – Acupressure points for releasing stress — This article is a modification of pages 17-20 of Educate Your Brain, for publication in the May, 2017 issue of Green Living Arizona.

PACE” – the Brain Gym Warm-up

“But It’s So Simple” — A participant in a group session for those with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) experiences how simple movements can lead to profound change.
Priming the Brain with Movement: The Power of PACE in a Special Ed Classroom — The story amazing outcomes achieved with children with diverse “diagnostic labels” after just a few simple Brain Gym movements.
PACE and Eleven Sentences — A quick sharing from an enthusiastic teacher who began using PACE with her students following a workshop.

The Brain Gym Session:
The “Balance” Process

The Potential for Transformation: The Edu-K “Balance” Process – A description of the Brain Gym session process, using the example of a client who desperately needed to pass a certain exam, but had great resistance to studying the material.
Overcoming Phobias – with Brain Gym — The Brain Gym “balance” process can help to release the triggers causing seemingly “unreasonable” challenges.
The Mental Game of Sports: Revisiting a Client Story — That tiny voice in Lloyd’s head was telling him he’d better not win his final matches — until he released that “mental block” through Brain Gym balancing.
Just for the Joy of It — Not all Brain Gym balancing is to resolve challenges. Here’s what I did, simply to gain more pleasure from my daily walk!
Balancing for Group Goals: The Power of Coherence – The “balance” process can produce stunning results for individuals looking for targeted change. Did you know this works just as well for groups, teams, and families?
Brain Gym®: Potential for Changes Over Time – This article explores just how and why individuals can experience such dynamic change through the Brain Gym “balance” process.
A Brain Gym Residency Day – Report on a day of facilitating Brain Gym balances with children with special academic needs, at a school dedicated to the Brain Gym® program.
NEW ~ “What Would It Take?” A Question to Expand Focus and Intention — Simple words to engage deeper focus, and help us call more deeply on resources for success.

Brain Plasticity & TBI

Brain Gym® for Traumatic Brain Injury — An incredible increase in ability for one participant in a group Brain Gym session for those with TBI.
Brain Plasticity – Supporting Recovery from Brain Injury — The concept of “brain plasticity” may account for the dramatic changes seen after Brain Gym balancing, to help regain skills lost as a result of brain tumor surgery.

Senior Citizens &
Fall-Prevention

Arm Activation – A Fall-Prevention Tool for Senior Citizens — A single Brain Gym movement transformed my elderly mother’s posture in moments, leaving her able to stand and walk in a much more stable, and safe, way.

Retained Infant Reflexes

Understanding Retained Infant Reflexes — An overview of the infant reflex continuum, several key reflexes, why they may not “integrate” in a timely way, and what happens when they don’t.
Understanding (and Resolving) Fear Paralysis Reflex — This infant reflex is at the core of many fear-based behaviors, from low tolerance to stress, to social phobia and “selective mutism.”
Steering Clear for Bicycle Safety – A cautionary tale of ATNR in action — When Asymmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex is retained beyond the infant stage, it leads to all kinds of coordination issues.
Fear Paralysis Reflex and Baseball Performance — How resolving FPR helped a teen boy to achieve more easily when at bat.
Understanding Symmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex – STNR – A retained STNR can make certain sitting or standing positions uncomfortable, as well as resulting in physical agitation, poor eye-hand coordination, difficulty focusing, and more.
Spinal Galant Reflex and its Effects on Bedwetting and Irritable Bowel Syndrome — The Spinal Galant Reflex causes strain in the low back region. Often, when this reflex is resolved, people are surprised to experience improvement in such things as irritable bowl syndrome and even bed-wetting.
Resolving Moro ~ the “Startle” Reflex — The Moro Reflex often leaves us poised on the edge of “flight or fight.” Part Three of our exploration of Retained Reflexes.
Understanding the Palmar (Hand) Reflex – and the “Grasp” Metaphor in Life – All kinds of “grasping” issues – from holding the pencil in a fisted grip or even with fingers quite straight, or over-gripping, or lack of grip strength – may be caused by Palmar Reflex. In addition, each reflexive pattern may react as a metaphor in life: what are you having trouble holding onto, or what do you need to let go of?

Child Development

The Best Start Possible — The importance of an infant experiencing the world horizontally – on her tummy, or on her back.
The Best Start Possible – a very sad addendum, and reader comments — The tragedy of “positional asphyxia”: why so many infants die when left in infant car seats.
Teeter Totter Blues — Why does physical movement matter so much for children? One reason is development of the body-balance mechanism (the vestibular system) and its key role in reading.

Theory & Practice

Integrated Low Gear: The Missing Piece in Learning — We can learn something new only when we slow down! How we can use Brain Gym® to easily switch back and forth between quick, fluid processing and slower, conscious exploration.
Refining the Fine Art of Noticing – Nothing changes until we’ve noticed how it’s working now. How do people to learn to notice their own state, and pick up on the state of others – especially infants?
NEW ~ “Noticing” In Action: The “Learner” Is In Charge! — Amazing things happen when the person you’re working with makes their own choices about how to resolve the stuck places of learning!
Does Brain Gym “make you tired”? Actually, no! – After using the Brain Gym movements, some people find themselves feeling inexplicably tired. Or – are they finally noticing the fatigue they’ve been in the habit of ignoring or overriding?

Practices Associated with Brain Gym

Introducing Touch for Health — The Brain Gym program has historical “roots” in this simple system designed for use in the home to promote basic wellness through acupressure techniques.
Introducing the Developmental Building Block Activities — These simple, sensory patterning activities support the integration and maturation of the nervous system. They are helpful for people of any age who may be dealing with developmental delay, or a shock to the system (anything from a car accident, to significant emotional stressor, to TBI, and more).
About Physical Contact: Taming a “Touchy” Subject — In the sessions I facilitate with clients, and in the courses I teach, the topic of physical contact comes up. Whether it’s tracing Lazy 8s on someone’s back, or facilitating a session with muscle checking, two key factors are: • permisison from the client, and • your own personal comfort level, in particular knowing that you’re offering neutral physical contact for a specific, helpful purpose. Read about helpful language cues, specific techniques, and more.

Subscribe to Kathy Brown's email communications list

You can join one, two, or all three of Kathy’s email groups, for updates on:
•  her Courses schedule  •  new Blog postings  •  her Book projects
like the upcoming Educate Your Brain for Reading
Note: Please expect an email from MailChimp. You will need to click on it to finalize your subscription.