Here we present some simple but effective Body Gym ® exercises described by Carla Hannaford, Ph.D. in her best selling book “Smart Moves”. Carla Hannaford, Ph.D. is a neurophysiologist and educator with more than 28 years of teaching experience.

This first block are exercises included in a readiness routine Carla Hannaford calls PACE (Positive, Active, Clear and Energetic learning). They should be done at the beginning of the school day, after recess or before any activity you want your students to be totally integrated for. One important tip: have your students drink some water for energetic learning before and during the class. As Carla Hannaford says, “Water comprises more of the brain (with estimates of 90%) than of any other organ of the body” and helps “grease the wheel”. De-hydration can effect our concentration negatively.

1.- Brain buttons

This exercise helps improve blood flow to the brain to "switch on" the entire brain before a lesson begins. The increased blood flow helps improve concentration skills required for reading, writing, etc.

Put one hand so that there is as wide a space as possible between the thumb and index finger.

Place your index and thumb into the slight indentations below the collar bone on each side of the sternum. Press lightly in a pulsing manner.

At the same time put the other hand over the navel area of the stomach. Gently press on these points for about 2 minutes.

2.- Cross crawl

This exercise helps coordinate right and left brain by exercising the information flow between the two hemispheres. It is useful for spelling, writing, listening, reading and comprehension.

Stand or sit. Put the right hand across the body to the left knee as you raise it, and then do the same thing for the left hand on the right knee just as if you were marching.

Just do this either sitting or standing for about 2 minutes.

3.- Hooks up

This works well for nerves before a test or special event such as making a speech. Any situation which will cause nervousness calls for a few "hook ups" to calm the mind and improve concentration.

Stand or sit. Cross the right leg over the left at the ankles.

Take your right wrist and cross it over the left wrist and link up the fingers so that the right wrist is on top.

Bend the elbows out and gently turn the fingers in towards the body until they rest on the sternum (breast bone) in the centre of the chest. Stay in this position.

Keep the ankles crossed and the wrists crossed and then breathe evenly in this position for a few minutes. You will be noticeably calmer after that time.

Following are a few other Brain Gym exercises that work for specific skills development.

4.- Lazy 8's for writing

This is a pencil and paper exercise used to improve written communication and to establish the necessary rhythm and flow for good hand/eye coordination.

Draw an infinity symbol (a sideways eight) on paper or chalkboard with a flowing continuous movement.

Start at the middle, draw counterclockwise first: up, over and around; t hen clockwise: up, over, around and back to the midpoint.

Do five or more continuous repetitions with each hand and five or more with both hands together.

This is best done large at first (but within the visual field), to stimulate large muscles, and on a surface to stimulate tactile awareness. It relaxes the muscles of the hands, arms and shoulders as well as facilitating visual tracking.

5.- Lazy 8's for eyes

This is similar to lazy 8´s for writing but the focus here is on eye movements and improving hand/eye and eye/hand coordination. These Lazy 8´s are done by training the eyes on a moving thumb that describes an infinity sign in the visual field.

Hold either thumb at eye level in the mid-field of the body at approximately an elbow length from the eyes. The moments should be slow and conscious for maximum muscular activation.

Holding the head still, but relaxed, and just moving the eyes to follow the thumb, move the thumb directly up the centre of the mid-field to the top of the visual field and then counterclockwise out around and down to the left side.

As the thumb reaches the lower mid-field of the visual field bring it back up the centre and clockwise out, around and down the right side.

Do this in an even flowing movement at least three times with each hand. Then with both hands clasped with thumbs forming an X. While focussing on the centre of the X, again follow the clasped thumbs through the Lazy 8 pattern.

This activity effectively strengthens the extrinsic eye muscles and sets up learning patterns that coordinate hand/eye and eye/hand muscle alignment. It is a good activity to ease eye strain after working on the computer.

6.- The elephant

This is one of the most integrative of the Brain Gym activities. It activates all areas of the mind/body system in a balanced way and assists full activation of the Reticular Activation System, thus improving attention.

Place your left ear on your left shoulder, tight enough to hold a piece of paper between the two, then extending the left arm like a trunk.

With knees relaxed, your arm draws a Lazy 8 pattern in the mid-field, again starting up the middle and out and around with eyes following the movement past the finger tips.

For increased effectiveness, do this activity slowly three to five times on the left an equal number of times with the right ear against the right shoulder.

Elephants can also be of great help to people who suffer from chronic ear infections bringing about major improvements in balance and equilibrium within weeks.

7.- The thinking cap

This wakes up the whole hearing mechanism and assists memory.

Unroll the outer ears from top to bottom several times.

The act physically stimulating the tactile receptors in the outer ear, improves the whole hearing mechanism. To prove the effectiveness of this activity, try this experiment: close your eyes and listen for a few minutes. Are you hearing things equally with both ears? Are any sounds muffled? Are you able to pick out individual sounds? Now, unroll your ears about three times on each side and close your eyes again. Notice the difference.

8.- The energy yawn

This relaxes the whole facial area so that sensory intake can more efficiently occur. It also facilitates more effect verbalization and communication. The Energy Yawn is remarkably useful for children with reading difficulties as these can be due to tension in the TMJ (temporal-mandibular joint).

Massage the muscles around the TMJ. The TMJ lies right in front of the ear opening and is the joint where the lower jaw meets the upper jaw.

Across this joint run trunks from five major cranial nerves that gain sensory information from all over the face, eye muscles, tongue and mouth, and activate all the muscles of the face, eyes and mouth for mastication and verbalization.

9.- The calf pump

This is done by lengthening the calf of one leg while bending the knee of the other to help relieve stress in the muscles in the calf. In the process, cerebrospinal fluid flows more easily within the nervous system, and facilitates communication.

Hold the back of a chair, keeping the torso fairly upright and place one foot, (with the heel up) about twelve inches behind the other foot.

Take a deep breath and as you exhale, lower the heel of the back foot to the ground and bend the front knee forward.

Do not lean forward.

Repeat several times.

This exercise can be of great hep to speech-impaired and autistic children.

10.- The energizer

This is a lengthening and deep breathing activity that increases oxygen, relaxes neck and shoulder muscles, which improves hearing, and assists in cerebrospinal fluid flow around the central nervous system. Especially useful to wake up the system after a long session on a computer.

Place your hands on the desk in front of you.

Lower your chin to your chest, feeling the stretch in the back of the neck and the relaxed shoulders.

Take a deep breath and scoop forward with the head bringing it up and back. Allow the back to arch slightly and open the rib cage.

Exhale, curving the back and bringing the chin back to rest on the chest.

An Energizer break after ten of fifteen minutes learning session reactivates focus