Parents of Special Needs Children: keep the learning alive in YOU

Anat Baniel has a wonderful article, available as pdf,
on the Revolutionary Possibilities for Special Needs
Children
with three of her nine essentials:
slow,
subtle,
variation

These are great principles for parents to remember when
touching their children,
and when "looking for change,"
and just in general when we are being impatient with
ourselves and our mates.

Slow is crucial.
The brain can have awareness only of what is
slow enough for our attention to track it.
Once we slip on the banana peel, ancient layers of the brain
quickly send us into action.
But if we want to learn to raise our foot up onto a chair,
and want to discover three or four different ways to do this,
just 'cranking it out,' won't do it.

And anyway, we like to soothe our children,
the lullaby effect,
so slow and gentle movement,
this is something we do anyway.

And how can we FEEL this movement in our children?
Again, if we are going slow, and really paying attention, we could be slowly
rotating the ribs and could feel what is happening in the spine.
And/or the pelvis
legs,
neck
shoulders,
feet and hands even.

Slow enough
and all will be revealed.

And from love,
everything we discover is good,
fine and wonderful.

Recall last week's article:
our ideas and intentions may hugely matter.



Slow, though, or we're just taking the kid for a ride.
Gentle, though, or we're getting them insensitive to their
own bodies and nervous system.

And what is the best way for a parent to learn this
slow and subtle/ gentle movement?

Having lessons.

And all good parents want 'it all' to go for their
children, but think of the airlines, and the oxygen masks,
first save yourself, then you can save your children.

The more a parent feels deeply and almost instinctively
the power of this slow and gentle, 
the more they sense in their own body
how slow and gentle in THEIR ribs
can connect to pelvis and neck and feet and hands and legs,
the more
likely they are to go home between lessons
and touch the child in a way that keeps the child's lessons alive.

.......
And the third essential in the article:
variation.
Well, go to my Life Potency blog,
and click on the Movement lesson label,
or here, I'll do it for you:
Movement lessons in Life Potency,
and start playing around with them,
slowly and gently with yourself.

Feel how this activates your brain
and
calms your nervous system,
all at the same time.

Good.