Making the Brain Body Connection, A Playful Guide to Release Mental, Physical and Emotional Blocks to Stress by Sharon Promislow is a gold mine. This book is readable, helpful and at times profound in its simple and practical approach to the connection between one’s brain and body. I feel this book could be every teacher’s guide to their brain, stress relief and health. It is a great resource for teacher’s wanting to integrate stress-relieving techniques into the classroom.

Ms. Promislow has several great chapters on how to deal with stress, and its affects on the body and brain. New research on the brain shows us that our brains grow up to 20,000 branches for interconnection and communication on all 100 billion neurons. Everything is connected to everything, literally.

More and more information is coming to light daily that teachers can use to help themselves relieve stress and be healthier and happier in their lives. This is so important because they can then teach their students not just by words, but by example how to live a productive, healthy lifestyle. Managing stress is a vital component to helping children grow, develop and learn
consistently.

Ms. Promislow has some great techniques called, “The Quick Six,” “The Top 10 Brain/ Body Integrators” and “The Top Ten Stress Releasers” that can be found in her book, on her website (www.enhancedlearning.com) or she sells them separately in packets for teachers. One of my favorite techniques she proposes is called “Jump Start Your Brain.” This cross patterning exercise makes the brain shift between integrated and one-sided hemispheric processing. All you do is march across the room touching the elbow to the opposite knee and
then switch to the other side. It is fun to do for children and adults.

One of the reasons I really like Ms. Promislow’s book for teachers is because she stresses how important a balanced lifestyle with drinking lots of water, a little meditation, movement and creative outlets is for people of all ages, especially those under stress. Of course I would add that being happy and getting to go to the bathroom more than once a day while teaching would also be really a great boost to a teacher’s stress relief.

I would love to hear your comments on this topic or any other that I address either in my blogs or in my latest book Happy Teachers Happy Students: The Power of Intention.