The Principles of Brain Education
- The brain is the origin of all our behavior and experience, transcending national, ethnic, and religious distinctions.
- Brain Education is a modern revision of traditional mind and body training integrated with neuroscientific findings.
- Brain Education is a systematic training to use the brain and body to develop our full potential.
Scientific Background
Enhancing Physical Well-Being and Self-Efficacy
We often think about our brain in terms of its cognitive processing powers such as reading and math. In fact, the brain guides all our activity – from breathing and muscle movement to sensations and emotions.
Brain Education recognizes that well-being requires appropriate and integrated activity of all of these functions. To accomplish integrated brain functioning, BE begins on a foundation of physical well-being, focused on the proper function of the autonomic, motor and sensory systems.
The autonomic system coordinates breathing, heart rate, blood pressure, digestion, and the immune system. Evidence suggests that balanced activity of the sympathetic (“fight or flight”) and parasympathetic (“rest and digest”) systems is essential for both physical and emotional well-being. The stress of modern life often throws these systems out of balance. BE includes abdominal breathing, endurance training, and specific postures which are designed to stimulate healthy, dynamic, and balanced functioning of the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems.
The motor system coordinates movement and balance. Physical exercise increases brain blood flow, the growth of cerebral blood vessels and increased levels of neurotransmitter and synapse development. Physical exercise also promotes emotional well-being and a greater sense of self-efficacy. BE emphasizes physical conditioning and coordination as the cornerstones of health, self-confidence, emotional well-being, and achievement.
The sensory system receives information both from the outside world and the body itself. Neuroscientists have shown that awareness of the body is necessary for emotional functioning, and emotional connection is necessary for higher judgment and executive powers. Therefore, the traditional distinctions between mind and body, and between thinking and feeling, are misguided. BE develops sensory and emotional awareness to promote effective higher executive functioning.
The brain has cooperative instincts, but cooperation depends on trust. In history, scientific studies, and everyday life, examples of the human brain’s cooperative and altruistic tendencies abound. However, these are not fixed traits. Cooperation and altruism thrive best in situations where there is a high level of trust and familiarity. BE creates environments for safe, meaningful and effective interaction, thereby enhancing trust and cooperation.
Evolution has given human beings response systems that create a cascade of hormonal and nervous system activity. If we feel threatened, adrenaline is released and our blood pressure rises. In the short-term, stress systems can improve performance. However, over time, uncoordinated and repeated activations of the stress system can injure both the body and brain. BE regulates the functioning of the stress system in the service of higher executive control. Tools for physical conditioning, such as strength and endurance training, are designed to confer resilience to stress activations. Emotional self-regulation encourages learners to manage the timing, context, and expression of stress activations.