Simplicity is a beautiful way of life. It offers us the ability to create harmonious family rhythms and choose healthy ways of interacting with our children and families that honor who they are at their core. A profound result of these interactions with our children is an improvement in the way in which children learn and absorb knowledge.
By honoring the principles of simplicity, I have seen children’s capacity to learn and manage their emotions improve dramatically.
Other wonderful improvements are their ability to:
- More easily focus
- Engage and access the creative parts of their brain when solving problems
- Communicate more clearly and effectively
- Overall, learn with more ease and confidence
Living Simplicity allows for the reduction of the “noise” and distractions around us so that we are able to focus more easily and allow individuality to flourish. However, in the fast paced, do more, learn more information age it can be easy to get distracted with the demands on our time and mental real-estate. When we get overloaded with information and interruptions our brain and body can have a challenging time processing, storing and retrieving information effectively. This can appear as lack of focus, low motivation and other behavior or emotional challenges. An overload of information is hard on us because, biologically, we are still processing and responding to this information on a system that was built to make sense of the world as it existed thousands of years ago. Have we garnered the strength and intellect to do it? Yes, but at what cost?
When our brains are presented with too many choices or too much information, we have a tendency to go into multi-tasking mode. Current research tells us that multi-tasking can negatively affect our mental clarity, and that the act of switching between tasks makes us less efficient. This is counter-intuitive, but the reality is that while multi-tasking may allow us to work faster with the assistance of technology, we are actually in danger of producing less. Our creativity, ingenuity and imagination have a hard time keeping up with multiple demands on our mental functional energy.
When we multi-task, there is a tendency for us to have to work harder on the act of concentrating. This act requires that we route the energy we need from our higher level parts of our brain (areas used for memory, creative thinking, problem solving, etc.) to other regions that specialize in such tasks as visual processing and physical coordination. Ultimately, this means that we lose access to whole brain learning and thinking.
What can we do as families to help equip our children to honor the rhythm of simplicity while living in a world that isn’t always structured in a way that values a slower pace? Part of the answer is amazingly simple, MOVEMENT.
Over the course of the next few articles, I will share with you how movement can help reignite connections within the brain and between the brain and body. Reigniting these connections will help us learn easier, cope with stress better, and live calmer, more peaceful lives.
Leanna has over 13 years of therapeutic experience with individuals and families. This experience helps her develop a customized, results driven approach for her clients of all ages. Her work in Neuro Integration and Balancing awakens her client’s abilities to integrate their brain body functions. This holistic approach promotes an increased focus, more creativity and stronger emotional resilience. The results…a joyful, balanced life.
Leanna has a Masters in Social Work and is a certified practitioner of Neuro Integration techniques. She engages her audiences in polished presentations sharing insights on personal growth, stress management and Simplicity Parenting. Leanna is endorsed and licensed by the Pastoral Medical Association. For more information on the science and methods she uses please go to www.leannarae.me