sparkmygenius.com

Brain and Success Development

By Amy Price PhD
Somewhere in the world there is a child’s brain waiting to be salvaged. You have the power in your hands to change a destiny. With a few simple strategies and a little funding there can be answers. We can build it…You can help! You are invited to attend an art and media exhibit dedicated to brain development

Friday October 9: 6:30 opening, 7:30 – presentation by Dr. Gordon on The Brain Revolution, Creativity and Why Brain Development should be a Human Right.

Saturday October 10: Open Exhibition all day (10 am – 8 pm)

Sunday October 11: Open Exhibition all day (10 am – 8 pm)

Dr. Evian Gordon on his Brain Art: ‘Whilst there is a great deal about the brain that we do not yet know, the essence of what we do already know can be used to understand our behavior, as well as our sense of authentic Self and ultimately even influence the direction of human cultural evolution…… throughout my academic life and the past years in the corporate sector, I have always had an art life – painting metaphors of the Brain and Self (with symbols that reflect core brain dynamics). Where the testability of brain science ends, I have immersed myself in nonconscious speculations within my BrainArt, as part of a Brain Science – Brain Art Continuum.’

80% of profits from Dr. Gordon’s Exhibition on ‘Brain Art and Self’ will go towards funding The Brain Revolution Project (the other 20% will go to support the Nour Foundation’s initiatives). The Brain Revolution project serves to empower children around the world with ideas and ways to train their brain for Self Mastery. The overall goal of the project is to contribute to Brain Development being a Human Right. Click here for more information on how to participate and directions

Other material by Dr Price can be seen at Traumatic Brain Injury Centers Remember “A mind is a terrible thing to lose” You can be an answer!

In many traditions questions can best be answered by stories, and this is no exception. I’d like to tell you a story about Dr Rohn, another gifted underachiever, who is much too modest to write this about himself.

When I first met Dr Rohn in 1980, he had already had 7 years of experience as a psychologist in the office of the brilliant pediatrician Dr. William Crook. He was working primarily with kids who would now be diagnosed as ADHD, but some were just unmotivated and underachieving. They were not doing what they needed to do to succeed in school and in life.

Dr Rohn learned about Dr Crook’s pioneering work with food allergies (he later wrote the groundbreaking book The Yeast Connection). But after the allergies were taken care of, the kids and the families still needed help. So he devoted himself to finding out what they needed, including using what he called “psychological vitamins” which was basically noticing the positive in the child and in the family and bringing the positive to the forefront. Dr Rohn worked with whoever came through the door, intuitively finding the child’s strengths and finding some part of himself that could identify with and work with the child.

Dr Rohn’s work took him in many different directions including working with boys at the Eckerd Youth Development Center in Okeechobee. This was basically a prison for kids, the end of the line in the juvenile system. I was afraid to go into the place, and I don’t think that I ever did. These were kids who failed at school and in society. It didn’t stop Dr Rohn from connecting with the boys, identifying their strengths and developing programs that helped them

When he was in Okeechobee he started going for his Doctorate in Educational Leadership from FAU. After he got it and we moved to Boca Raton, Dr Rohn started working as a Family Counselor at 7 schools in Coral Springs. There he saw how many kids were not getting what they needed in schools, and were becoming frustrated, rebellious and depressed. Many could be diagnosed as ADHD, but many were bright underachievers. Dr Rohn started looking for strategies that could help these kids.

They say that we are never given a problem without being given the solution. When Dr Rohn was in Coral Springs, he learned about Play Attention, a computer program that worked to help kids learn to pay attention by given them real time feedback. He left his day job and started Thinking Pays, Inc., using Play Attention and other computer programs to help kids learn to pay attention. He focused on ADHD kids, because that’s what the software was designed for.

But we didn’t just get these kinds of kids. We got adults with age-related cognitive decline, mild dementia and brain injuries. And we got lots of bright underachievers. That’s what stimulated Dr Rohn to start Sparks of Genius, where he could really focus on the strengths. We use Spark of Genius with all of our students, but it was really inspired by those bright underachievers who needed something to motivate them.

At a time of self-reflection, Dr Rohn said, “When I was a kid I was so bored with school. I couldn’t wait for it to be over. I used to beg my teachers to give me special projects, something that would interest me. I love what I do now, because so many of the kids that I work with remind me of myself. I had trouble fitting into the school system, and so do they. They need someone to remind them of their gifts, their sparks of genius.”

By Ninah Kessler, LCSW
Life Coach

It’s the first day of school, the yellow school bus, the car, the minivan, and the lines. It’s the first week of school, the yellow school bus, the car, the minivan, the lines and the homework. It’s the first month of school, the yellow school bus, the car, the minivan, the lines the homework and the extra-curricular activities.

Recently we learned in Crazy Busy, a book by Dr. Edward Hallowell (http://sparkmygenius.com/?cat=22), that ours is a world where parents are overstretched, overbooked and about to snap.

We see incredible mothers at Sparks of Genius, totally dedicated to their children’s well- being. It’s very inspiring. But most of these mothers can do a better job of taking care of themselves.

Mothers and their children benefit from some de-stressing technologies we use it in our business, Sparks of Genius www.sparksofgenius.com.

Two programs come to mind.

One is the emWave® PC Stress Relief System, which will helps parents transform stress and anxiety into vibrant positive energy. You can learn more here.

The other is Journey to the Wild Divine, a unique biofeedback adventure game for mind and body which creates a healthy and beautiful experience of peace and relaxation.

These computer programs teach us how to shift from a negative emotional state to a positive one. Negative emotions, just like frantic multi-taking, shut down the frontal lobes of your brain and cause stress, disorganization and poor decision-making.

In a CrazyBusy world, the #1 rule is to make sure you do what matters most to you. Here’s Dr. Hallowell’s complete list:
1. Make sure you do what matters most to you. Don’t get sidetracked.
2. Create a positive emotional environment where you are.
3. Find your unique rhythm
4. Invest your time wisely
5. Don’t waste time screensucking (computer, TV, video games, blackberry, etc.)
6. Identify and control gemmelsmerch — any force that distracts you from what you ought to be doing, such as telephones, cell phones, TV, radio, email, and, my favorite “the seemingly uncontrollable wanderings of your mind.”
7. Delegate what you don’t like or are not good at if at all possible
8. Slow down
9. Give one task your full attention and stop ineffective multitasking
10. Play

But for CrazyBusy mothers with kids in school, I’d like to keep the list but change the order:
1. Create a positive emotional environment where you are.
2. Make sure you do what matters most to you. Don’t get sidetracked.
3. Delegate what you don’t like or are not good at if at all possible
4. Slow down
5. Play
6. Find your unique rhythm
7. Invest your time wisely
8. Give one task your full attention and stop ineffective multitasking
9. Identify and control gemmelsmerch — any force that distracts you from what you ought to be doing, such as telephones, cell phones, TV, radio, email, and, my favorite “the seemingly uncontrollable wanderings of your mind.”
10. Don’t waste time screensucking (computer, TV, video games, blackberry, etc.)

Don’t like this order or some items on this list? Excellent! Take a few from this list and make your own.

In fact, cut the list in half and focus on one item. What’s yours? Remember to make sure that you do what matters most to you.
Mental exercises alone do not influence our actions, so make a radical positive change in one attitude and each day increase the number of positive actions in the #1 area on your list.

They needn’t be “big” acts. In fact many small acts are much more effective than one “big” act! Be sure to do them with high energy, full focus and real enthusiasm. That way, your improvement will become a habit. Eventually the habit will internalize and become a part of you.

–Dr. Rohn Kessler

I don’t know about you, but I find the world a little too fast these days. Hectic, frantic, frenzied are other words that come to mind. Juggling too many things? Think multi-tasking is good for you? Think again.

A recent article in the New York Times (“Slow Down, Brave Multitasker, and Don’t Read This in Traffic”) summarizes research on the limits of multitasking.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/25/business/25multi.html?_r=1&ref=health&oref=slogin

Neuroscientists and psychologists have discovered that we benefit from not multitasking so much at work, doing homework, or while driving a car.

The brain cannot concentrate on two things at the same time. Distractions and interruptions hurt our ability to process information. Cognitive scientists are saying that multitasking slows you down and increases mistakes.

Here’s one quick example: It took Microsoft employees who were interrupted by email or instant messaging while writing reports or computer code an average of 15 minutes to return to their work.

What did people do after being interrupted? Things like answering other email or browsing the internet. Sound familiar? It sure does to me.

Here’s another example: Research at Oxford University compared two groups (18-21 years olds versus 35-39 year olds) performance on a simple task. One would think the younger generation, with their iPods, instant messaging, camera phones, etc., would be better at multi-tasking. But not really.

“While the younger group did 10 percent better when not interrupted, when both groups were interrupted by a phone call, a cell phone short-text message, or an instant message, the older group matched the younger group in speed and accuracy.”

The older group, it seems, “…had faster fluid intelligence with which to block out interruptions and choose what to focus on.”

At Sparks of Genius we use a combination of software to train the brain for success to improve cognitive skills. Children and adults can learn to improve attention stamina. They can learn to stay on task and not respond to distractors. The result is an ability to ignore distractions and interruptions, stay on task and successfully complete the task.

“[When I am interrupted,] it sometimes takes me as long as an hour to get back on track.”

At dinner the other night, a friend of mine confirmed the problems of multitasking and has decided to work more at home, where there are fewer interruptions. A brilliant thinker and programmer, he said something like, “It sometimes takes me as long as an hour to get back on track. Not only do I waste time and energy, but multi-tasking is not good for my health. ”

I don’t have time, energy or health to waste. Do you?