On the Ball – Learning in Motion

August 4th, 2010

Learning in motion ignites the creative right brain, which supports fluid flexibility, creative innovation and passionate aliveness to flourish.

Dedicated to support ageless vitality to flourish, twenty-five years ago I exchanged all the furniture in my living room for different sized balls! Sitting on the Ball as my chair while working at a computer keeps my mind more alert, awake and aware. When feeling fatigued I dangle my head over the Ball, which gets fresh blood circulating in my brain. As a balancing meditative practice, rocking my pelvis and spine in subtle motion quickly clears mental chatter and expands awareness of the present moment.

Factoid: 5,000 children in Swiss classrooms are sitting on balls. ‘Learning in motion’ decreases hyperactive tendencies, attention deficit disorders, improves posture, presence, and promotes innovative thinking all at the same time.

Living and working in an era of accelerating change, a more fluid, adaptable body language is required to move us feelingly and decisively into a new and different future.

Raised in a mechanized world that has separated the mind from the body static posture, monotone speaking and repetitive modes of behavior is the style of the times. The habit of ‘sameness’  is the holding pattern that supports past trauma, rigidity of perception, of feeling and of cognition. New growth and productivity is not about sitting still and playing it safe. For several decades, I led all my groups, regardless of theme,  with people on Balls. Almost instantly people unmask tense, stressful predictable behavior, and an authenticity of being is unleashed. Building trust and rapport in motion communication lightens up and flows with abandon.

Factoid: People get 28% more oxygen to the brain when balancing on a ball than sitting on an unyielding chair.

Learning in Motion is spreading far and wind. A company in Mainland China called me in as a consultant because his employees were becoming very susceptible to repetitive strain injuries, chronic fatigue and depression. After my program, people shouted with joy when he officially announced that their company is the first company in all of China that is exchanging their chairs for Balls. It’s been over a year, and the reports have been admirable. The willingness to step out of the box of tradition and put the ‘bounce’ back into people’s dispositions his employees are not only healthier, they are happier.

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