Whole Brain Learning

In "About Under the Learning Tree" it says that we promote " whole brain learning to enhance learning and to set and reach goals in all of life's arenas." Some of you may ask, "What does that mean?
Whole brain learning is when we are engaging all areas of our brain in the task at hand. There are times when the right and left lobes of our brain aren't speaking to each other. There are times when most of the energy in our brain is in the brain stem and/or base of the brain. When this happens we are not able to engage in whole brain learning.
To understand the difference think about when you are upset, angry, or even excited. Do you make your best decisions when you are experiencing those emotions? If you are like I am, you will say, "No". The reason is that when we are feeling angry, upset, etc., most of the energy in our brain is in the central brain and/or brain stem. We are in survival mode and not using the lobes. The network of nerves between the left and right lobe are more of a wall instead of a working communication network. Thus we aren't benefiting from the whole brain. You know how that feels. Now think of a time when you are learning something new and it makes sense and is easy to understand, working through a problem, or doing well with your favorite sport. You know how that feels too. When we think about it we know what whole brain learning feels like. So how can we engage our whole brain when it isn't working together?
An easy way to turn the "wall" into the a communicating network again is movement. Any movement helps, but movements which are crossing the midline that divides our body right and left will benefit the most. A couple of Brain Gym movements you can use are cross crawls and lazy 8s. If you don't know them, use movements that take your arms, legs, and/or even eyes from one side of your body to the other. It is exciting and powerful to know that we can be in control in these types of situations to know that we are the ones in charge!