How important is movement to learning? ~ cerebellum, attention and learning

Just how important is movement to learning? The vestibular (inner ear) and cerebellar (motor activity) system is the first sensory system to mature. In this system, the inner ear’s semicircular canals and the vestibular nuclei are an information-gathering and feedback source for movements. Impulses travel through nerve tracts back and forth from the cerebellum to the rest of the brain, including the visual system and the sensory cortex. The vestibular nuclei are closely modulated by the cerebellum and also activate the reticular activating system, near the top of the brain stem.

This area is critical to our attentional system, because it regulates incoming sensory data. This interaction helps us keep our balance, turn thoughts into actions, and coordinate movements. That’s why there’s value inplayground activities that stimulate inner-ear motion, like swinging, rolling, and jumping. A complete routine might include spinning, crawling, rolling, rocking, tumbling, and pointing. As noted in Chapter 2, Lyelle Palmer of Winona State University has documented significant gains in attention and reading from these stimulating activities (Palmer, 2003).

The area of the brain most associated with motor control is the cerebellum. It’s located in the back of the brain, just under the occipital lobe, and is about the size of a small fist. The cerebellum takes up just one-tenth of the brain by volume, but it contains nearly half of all its neurons (Ivry & Fiez, 2000). This structure, densely packed with neurons, may be the most complex part of the brain. In fact, it has some 40 million nerve fibers—40 times more than even the highly complex optical tract. Those fibers feed information from the cortex to the cerebellum, and they feed data back to the cortex. In fact, most of the neural circuits from the cerebellum are “outbound,” influencing the rest of the brain (Middleton & Strick, 1994). Peter Strick at the Veteran Affairs Medical Center of Syracuse, New York, has documented another link. His staff has traced a pathway from the cerebellum back to parts of the brain involved in memory, attention, and spatial perception. Amazingly, the part of the brain that processes movement is the same part of the brain that processes learning

Excerpts from Eric Jensen’s book “Teaching with the Brain in Mind” and published as part of a larger article on ASCD:

http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/104013/chapters/Movement-and-Learning.aspx

 

Suzane presents Embodied Resilience at IHMC, Seattle

The International Humanistic Management Conference happens in Seattle Oct. 24-26, 2017. Suzane Van Amburgh presents Embodied Resilience on Tuesday of the conference and joins the panel discussion along with Bill Hefferman, Mark R. Jones, Daniel Cords, Iyoti Bachani and Margo Rose.

Embodied Resilience | Suzane Van Amburgh

Presentation description:

Can you recall an interpersonal encounter when you felt resistance arise in yourself or the person you were engaged with? The psychological response of resistance finds expression in the body as well. Common responses include a tightening of the jaw, stiffening in the torso or a shallow breathing pattern. These physical responses render us more rigid and prone to disruption of balance.

A supple stance, both mentally and physically, allows us to move and adapt to the changing environment. The interpersonal “encounter” may include both verbal and physical exchange. In describing a conversation we often borrow terms from the martial encounter. For example: “she really set him back on his heels” or “his comment hit me like a sucker punch” or “you’ve got to roll with the punches.” For those of us practicing a martial art, the physical encounter is much like a conversation played out in movement. In ether case, we navigate the encounter more gracefully when we have confidence in our own resilience.

The non-competitive martial art of aikido affords us the opportunity to physicalize the knotty nuances of communication and leadership in a safe laboratory of embodied resilience practice. Layer the activities with somatic awareness and the relevancy to our workplace encounters springs to life. Prepare to think, move and sense, as we explore a treasure trove of embodied learning activities that cultivate resilience, adaptability and suppleness in our encounters with other people.

 

Did you know? The Humanistic Management conference is happening in Seattle Oct. 24-26, 2017. The theme is Building Resilience in a Changing World.  I will be presenting Embodied Resilience on Tuesday of the conference Oct. 24.  If you are interested in attending, register as a member of the network and note in the comments that you are a friend of mine and you will get $150 off the registration fee. The location is the Motif hotel in Seattle. Details at: https://www.humanisticmanagementseattle.com/ The list of speakers for this conference is impressive and it’s the debut conference for the Humanistic Management Association (which grew out of the Humanistic Management Network). Together we can change the business of business to be more humanistic, more inclusive and more collaborative. I hope you will join us! ~ Suzane Van Amburgh

Suzane Van Amburgh presents at Organization Development Network Oregon, Sep. 27, 2017

Embodied Learning: Make Peace with Your Blind Spot

ODNOregon.org  » Events page » Event date September 27, 2017

 

Overview

When a client presses you in an unexpected way, how do you respond? Are you brittle or supple; robust or resilient? When your blind spot is stimulated do you recover with elegant maturity; or do you find yourself maneuvering to defend?

We’ll bring mental concepts such as disruption, blind spot, resilience and adaptability into physical movement activities to promote embodied learning. Once we have a kinesthetic, sensory experience of a mental construct, we take the experience with us into our interpersonal encounters. Akin to a timed-release medicine, embodied learning allows us to respond to the unexpected with grace, maturity and acumen.

Speaker
Suzane Van Amburgh crafts embodied learning programs that give people a sensory experience of conceptual ideas. Founder of Space To Move consultancy and Chief Instructor of Aikido Multnomah Aikikai, Van Amburgh has actively practiced the connection between martial arts, somatics and organizational effectiveness for the past ten years. A 35 year practitioner of the non-competitive martial art of aikido, Suzane has learned to make good use of the ground and practice embodied resilience. As a certifed aikido teacher (shidoin, 5th degree black belt) and somatic practitioner, Suzane has a gift for coaching people to recognize what they do and introduce small changes to improve effectiveness. Combined with her 20 years experience organizing groups of people to collaborate on projects, Van Amburgh brings a unique expertise to the challenges of change, leadership and organizational effectiveness.

To learn more about Suzane, click here.

Details

Date:  Wednesday, September 27, 2017
Time:  5 – 8 pm
Location:  Daimler, 4555 N. Channel, Corporate Conference Center, Portland, Oregon, 97217
Parking:  Free in the lot.
Food:  Light snacks.
Cost:  Chapter Members and Partner Organizations:  $10; Guests:  $25
RSVP: Through Eventbrite. Online registration available until 8 am the morning of the event. Registration will also be available at the door.

“Let Go of Me!” Self Defense and Embodied Learning workshop

Register

“Let Go of Me!”

If someone takes hold of you, literally or figuratively, how do you release their grasp?
 

At this event we will explore common wrist grabs, options for response and how you can move your body to release a person’s grip on you. This physical practice serves as not only a metaphor for interpersonal encounters but an embodied learning experience you can carry with you and apply to your everyday interpersonal encounters.

A supple stance, both mentally and physically, allows us to move and adapt to the changing environment. The non-competitive martial art of aikido affords us the opportunity to make the conceptual physical and explore the nuances of communication and leadership in a safe laboratory of embodied learning practice. When we imbue the sensory activities with intention and awareness, the relevancy to our workplace encounters springs to life.

Benefits and outcomes include:

• Practice simple wrist releases to quickly escape unwanted physical contact.
• Learn how you can use the power of the ground to apply leverage and break someone’s grip on you.
• Understand the mechanics of the human grip and experiment with the natural levers of the body.
• Sense your instinctive response to challenging encounters and consciously introduce options for change.
• Build confidence that you can learn to change the dynamics of a developing situation in its early stages.

Please be prepared to remove your shoes and participate barefoot. Wear something comfortable you can easily move in. This event is free for dojo members. $25 for non-members. Become a member: http://www.multnomahaikikai.com/becomeamember/

Taught by Suzane Van Amburgh, Chief Instructor of Aikido Multnomah Aikikai and Founder of Space to Move.

When: August 5, Saturday, Noon- 1:15pm
Fee: $25 (Free for dojo members)
Where: Aikido Multnomah Aikikai, 6415 SW Macadam Ave, Portland Or 97239

Improve your balance – take the Balance Challenge!

The Balance Challenge! Circuit Training Course

Improve your balance, safely and enjoyably, by practicing the balance challenges in this indoor circuit training course. The exercises are varied and fun. Exercises are scalable so you can practice at the level of challenge appropriate for you. Regardless of your skill level, you can improve your balance and have fun doing it!

Click to see Balance Challenge activities 2015

Saturday January 9, 2016; Noon- 1pm: 

Initial orientation session, $20. Personal training and orientation to the course presented by Suzane Van Amburgh

DIY. Self-directed training for alumni of the orientation session for $10. Suzane Van Amburgh on site and available to offer help and clarification as needed.

Multnomah Aikikai members who attend the initial orientation session for $20, are eligible to return for self-directed training (DIY) at no charge.

“The balance class is relevant for all ages willing to try it. You don’t realize how your balance changes as you get older, usually not for the better. However, improvements can be made almost immediately and there are balance exercises for people of all ages and abilities. And it’s fun!” 

~ Kristin Mitchell, Balance Challenge Alumna

Your Instructor and balance coach:

Suzane Van Amburgh developed the balance challenge circuit training course and continually improves the stations of the course. Suzane is a martial arts instructor (aikido and iaido), a Guild Certified Feldenkrais Teacher and a balance trainer. She conducted balance testing and balance training protocols at a physician’s office. She is the founder of the balance lab. Suzane brings fun balance challenges, benchmarks to self-assess progress, and an array of resources to help you explore and improve your own sense of balance.

The exercises:

The training course includes a variety of challenges to improve coordination, proprioception, leg and core strength, how we use our eyes, eye/ hand coordination, somatosensory functioning, use of hip joints and spine.

Our balance is influenced and maintained by the eyes, inner ear, and brain working together. The brain receives signals from the somatosensory system and processes that information along with input from the structures of inner ear and the eyes. Proprioceptors in the ankles and ribs are key to one’s sense of balance and the ability to restore balance. Leg strength and joint functioning are essential factors in balance as well.

When you improve your balance you invest in an improved quality of life. What do you feel safe doing? Even a slight erosion of confidence in you balance over time, will subtly narrow the range of activities you choose to engage in. As confidence in your balance grows, you will broaden your options, move freely and enjoy a more active life.

Whether you are rehabilitating from an injury, training for top performance, or anywhere in between, you will find the right level of challenge for you. If are interested in graceful aging, neuroplasticity, fall prevention or improved decision-making, you will find the Balance Challenge Training Circuit Course fascinating and engaging.

Questions?

Contact Suzane Van Amburgh by email: spacetomoveinfo(at)gmail.com

Find your Space To Move at Multnomah Aikikai

6415 SW Macadam Ave, Portland OR 97239

The Balance Challenge! Circuit Training Course

Balance Challenge ~ Circuit Training Course

Improve your balance, safely and enjoyably, by practicing the balance challenges in this indoor circuit training course. The exercises are varied and fun. Exercises are scalable so you can practice at the level of challenge appropriate for you. Regardless of your skill level, you can improve your balance and have fun doing it!

Second Saturdays: Oct. 10,  Nov. 14, Dec. 12, 2015

First time? Initial orientation session, $20. Personal training and orientation to the course presented by Suzane Van Amburgh

Balance Challenge Alum?  Alumni of the orientation session can return for self-directed training. Suzane Van Amburgh on site and available to offer help and clarification as needed.

Cost for alumni? Once you’ve completed the initial orientation session, you are eligible to return on subsequent Saturdays for self-directed training (DIY) at a reduced rate of $10.

Multnomah Aikikai members who attend an initial orientation session for $20, are eligible to return on future dates for self-directed training (DIY) at no charge.

Not a member yet? Become a Multnomah Aikikai Community Member for $20 per month.

Your Instructor and balance coach:

Suzane Van Amburgh developed the balance challenge circuit training course and continually improves the stations of the course. Suzane is a martial arts instructor (aikido and iaido), a Guild Certified Feldenkrais Teacher and a balance trainer. She conducted balance testing and balance training protocols at a physician’s office. She is the founder of the balance lab. Suzane brings fun balance challenges, benchmarks to self-assess progress, and an array of resources to help you explore and improve your own sense of balance.

The exercises:

The training course includes a variety of challenges to improve coordination, proprioception, leg and core strength, how we use our eyes, eye/ hand coordination, somatosensory functioning, use of hip joints and spine.

Our balance is influenced and maintained by the eyes, inner ear, and brain working together. The brain receives signals from the somatosensory system and processes that information along with input from the structures of inner ear and the eyes. Proprioceptors in the ankles and ribs are key to one’s sense of balance and the ability to restore balance. Leg strength and joint functioning are essential factors in balance as well.

When you improve your balance you invest in an improved quality of life. What do you feel safe doing? Even a slight erosion of confidence in you balance over time, will subtly narrow the range of activities you choose to engage in. As confidence in your balance grows, you will broaden your options, move freely and enjoy a more active life.

Whether you are rehabilitating from an injury, training for top performance, or anywhere in between, you will find the right level of challenge for you. If are interested in graceful aging, neuroplasticity, fall prevention or improved decision-making, you will find the Balance Challenge Training Circuit Course fascinating and engaging.

Questions?

Contact Suzane Van Amburgh by email: spacetomoveinfo(at)gmail.com

Find your Space To Move at Multnomah Aikikai

6415 SW Macadam Ave, Portland OR 97239

Tuesdays: drop in and center yourself.

Center Yourself

Tuesdays at 5:30pm drop in, take off your shoes, move, center yourself…

Transition from your day, clear your head and be present for the evening.   So often we don’t take the time to attend to our transitions.  Just a half hour of moving your body with attention does a world of good.

Come to the dojo Tuesdays 5:30pm. Give yourself time and space to center yourself and orient to practice.

Practice is a mind set and an activity where you repeat an operation or movement, assessing and attending to how you do it. You introduce new variables, try something, make mistakes, form questions, change strategy and try again.

Learning to practice you will :

Make good use of the ground so that gravity becomes a friendly force • enable the bones to transmit power cleanly so that your muscles can relax • engage the left hand so that it knows what the right hand is doing • educate the left and right half of the body to coordinate around a central axis • allow the ribs to expand and contract in sync with the rise and fall of the breath • train the eyes to settle and align with your intention •  improve your balance so that dynamic stability is realized

“Being centered” and “moving from center” will shift from abstract concepts to tangible experiences.

A dojo is a place where we “practice the way.” At Multnomah Aikikai our primary practice is the martial art of Aikido. In this class, utilizing basic movements of Aikido, you will orient to the joy of practice. Whether you continue with Aikido practice or take up another practice, you will have cultivated the inner tools to direct your own learning with compassion, a sense of humor and the joy of movement.

Drop by any Tuesday. No experience required. Public welcome, fee is just $10. Members participate free. Class is 5:30- 6:00pm. Instructor: Suzane Van Amburgh.

Location: Multnomah Aikikai,  6415 SW Macadam Ave, Portland OR 97239

Center Yourself Tuesdays. 

Train your brain, Move your body, Center yourself.

Orientation to Practice

Orientation to Practice is the February-March theme for Center Yourself Tuesdays:

Practice is a mind set and an activity where you repeat an operation or movement, assessing and attending to how you do it. You introduce new variables, try something, make mistakes, form questions, change strategy and try again.

This can happen at a very mental/analytical level or it can happen with a more diffuse mindset. We can explore, play, fall, get up, try again. Sometimes we engage in practice with knitted brow and self judgement, but learning often slows down under such circumstances. Practice can be approached with an open curious mindset, a sense of humor and compassion for self.

When you start something new there’s a transition; an adjustment is required.  So often we are thrust into a situation where we must perform before we’ve even had a chance to get our bearings.

Whatever your practice, give yourself time and space to orient. Come to the dojo Tuesdays 5:30pm for a half hour orientation to practice.

A dojo is a place where we “practice the way.” At Multnomah Aikikai our primary practice is the martial art of Aikido. In this class, utilizing basic movements of Aikido, you will orient to the joy of practice. Whether you continue with Aikido practice or take up another practice, you will have cultivated the inner tools to direct your own learning with compassion, a sense of humor and the joy of movement.

Tuesdays 5:30 – 6:00pm – Free for members; $10 drop in for non-members.

Primary Instructor: Suzane Van Amburgh

Location: Multnomah Aikikai,  6415 SW Macadam Ave, Portland OR 97239

Train your brain, Move your body, Center yourself.

Bokken Basics: Center Yourself Tuesdays in December

In this Center Yourself Tuesday series for December, we will study the fundamentals of sword work using the wooden bokken while practicing an eight part kata. No falling is required in this class. Footwork patterns include pivoting, sliding and stepping forward and backward. If you do not have your own bokken you may borrow one from the school during class time.  Come practice! Center yourself with the wooden sword, balance and breath.

During this class we will:

•    Raise the sword in line with the spine
•    Execute sword motions relative to the center line of the body
•    Move our upper body so it’s supported by the motion of the lower body
•    Develop footwork that supports movements of the sword

By learning these skills we will :

make good use of the ground so that gravity becomes a friendly force • enable our bones to transmit power cleanly so that our muscles can relax • engage the left hand so that it knows what the right hand is doing • educate the left and right half’s of our bodies to coordinate around a central axis • allow our ribs to expand and contract in sync with the rise and fall of the sword and breath • allow our eyes to settle and align with our intention •  improve our balance so that dynamic stability is realized

“Being centered” and “moving from center” will shift from abstract concepts to tangible experiences.

Your instructor: Suzane Van Amburgh

This class is open to the public for a $10 drop in fee.
Free to Regular and Community Members of Multnomah Aikikai.
Center Yourself, Tuesdays, 5:30-6:00pm

Find your Space to Move® at Multnomah Aikikai: 6415 SW Macadam Ave, Portland OR 97239

Bokken Basics: Center Yourself Tuesdays in December

Come learn to center yourself with the wooden sword, balance and breath.

In this Center Yourself Tuesday series we will study the fundamentals of sword work using the wooden bokken while practicing an eight part kata. No falling is required in this class. Footwork patterns include pivoting, sliding and stepping forward and backward. If you do not have your own bokken you may borrow one from the school during class time.

During this class we will:

•    Raise the sword in line with the spine
•    Execute sword motions relative to the center line of the body
•    Move our upper body so it’s supported by the motion of the lower body
•    Develop footwork that supports movements of the sword

By learning these skills we will :

make good use of the ground so that gravity becomes a friendly force • enable our bones to transmit power cleanly so that our muscles can relax • engage the left hand so that it knows what the right hand is doing • educate the left and right half’s of our bodies to coordinate around a central axis • allow our ribs to expand and contract in sync with the rise and fall of the sword and breath • allow our eyes to settle and align with our intention •  improve our balance so that dynamic stability is realized

“Being centered” and “moving from center” will shift from abstract concepts to tangible experiences.

Your instructor: Suzane Van Amburgh

This class is open to the public for a $10 drop in fee.
Free to Regular and Community dojo members.
Center Yourself, Tuesdays, 5:30-6:00pm

Find your Space to Move® at Multnomah Aikikai: 6415 SW Macadam Ave, Portland OR 97239