For the past three months I have been on a Connective Tissue Exercise Program with the highly qualified Esoteric practitioner and physiotherapist Kate Greenaway-Twist.
These hour long online sessions have incorporated simple different Connective Tissue Exercises to assist in connecting deeper to my body, releasing long held ill-patterns and supporting my body to return to a natural harmonious way of moving, from the inside out.
Connective Tissue Exercises are very different to stretching exercises, or what you would do in a gym. They are very much about connecting to your body and breath first; then moving with quality, rather than in a mechanical way. They are inspired from the modality: Esoteric Connective Tissue Therapy founded by Serge Benhayon, of which Kate is a qualified practitioner.
“Connective Tissue Therapy is a gentle hands-on therapy that helps restore the whole body to its natural flexible flowing state. It restores the balance of the organ systems as well as the physical framework and thus, is an important key to the body’s energetic vitality.” Kate Greenaway-Twist
I commit to doing these exercises every morning when I get up, and every night before I go to bed. Kate and I have also been discussing how I can incorporate these exercises into my day, as at times I can go into my head, rush and stress, racing from one thing to the next; this raciness can drive me to react to a child’s behaviour in school.
Kate and I also talked about how I could introduce some of the exercises to the kids, and how it would be great for them to reconnect to their bodies before they learn, and how lovely their bodies can feel.
I experience children coming into the classroom and school – be it at the start of the day, morning break, or lunchtime – feeling anxious and disconnected from their bodies. This can be from personal things going on at home, fights in the playground, things they don’t want to feel, the pressures of school, or ‘hyper’ from a sugary lunch or play activity, which can create a lot of tension and unease in their body, thus affecting the classroom, other people, and their day. They simply don’t feel settled or ready to learn.
So over the past few weeks I have introduced two simple Connective Tissue Exercises to the kids at the beginning of each class, in two schools across 12 different classes. With this, I felt and saw a huge difference in a few minutes in the children and the feeling of the room – it was immense: other teachers have commented on this, they can feel it as soon as they walk in.
The classroom goes from being noisy, messy, not in the literal sense, but more the kids being ‘in their head’, distracted and all over the place, to an absolute quality of stillness, both in the classroom and in the children’s’ bodies. The talking stops, the children all settle into their bodies and are ready to start the day, the lesson, and receive what there is to learn.
When we come to start each lesson, nearly every child is much more present and still. When they move to watch the demonstration, there is no talking or rushing, they walk quietly and listen. They can feel the difference in their bodies too. It is very clear and easy to feel what is needed to support the kids and the class. Every class is different, even if the lessons are the same.
One pupil, even pulled me up because I wasn’t going to do the Connective Tissue Exercises and instead was going to start the work straight away that I had planned – as I had one lesson to do this in – and had gone ‘into my head’ and motion to get it done. He put his hand up and said: “Are we not going to do those exercises?” and then demonstrated one of them. I laughed, smiled and said yes, as he called what the class and I needed in that moment.
You may not think this is such a big deal, but when we look at the bigger picture IT IS, with the rise in mental health issues, self-harming and suicide rates in children and teenagers across the world.
These stats from the mental health organisation ‘Young Minds’ 1 show the growing rise in mental health issues in the UK.
- 1 in 10 children and young people aged 5 -16 suffer from a diagnosable mental health disorder – that is around three children in every class.2
- Between 1 in every 12 and 1 in 15 children and young people deliberately self-harm. 3
- There has been a big increase in the number of young people being admitted to hospital because of self-harm. Over the last ten years this figure has increased by 68%. 4
- Nearly 80,000 children and young people suffer from severe depression.2
- Over 8,000 children aged under 10 years old suffer from severe depression.2
- 72% of children in care have behavioural or emotional problems – these are some of the most vulnerable people in our society. 5
- The number of young people aged 15-16 with depression nearly doubled between the 1980s and the 2000s. 6
Children of all ages are facing enormous pressures with life and school these days, from parents fighting at home, exam stress, trying to fit in with how they think they should be or with other kids at school, being bullied, abused and/or feeling pressured to have sex or take part in sexual acts at a younger and younger age.
Children often can’t concentrate with all this going on, hence the levels of disconnection, depression, giving up, discontent and checking out on computer games, sport or studies… amongst many other things.
When it comes to school we often put far too much pressure and focus on the mind and the intellect, forgetting about the body; we make it all about goals, attainment and grades – as every teacher knows and will tell you if you sit down and honestly speak with them.
We are putting all this before the real reason we are there; to connect to and build relationships with the kids, which supports them to trust, learn and grow into responsible adults, fully committed to life.
What if we knew that by changing how we move and our posture, we can change our thoughts and behaviours, from ones of negativity, disconnection, depression and discontent, to being engaged, feeling lovely, much more open and ready to receive and learn.
It’s so important we stop and consider all this, AND what would our education be like if we truly supported our kids to connect to their body before they learn?
With deep love and appreciation of Serge Benhayon and Kate Greenaway-Twist.
By Gyl Rae, Teacher, Scotland
References:
- http://www.youngminds.org.uk/training_services/policy/mental_health_statistics
- Green, H., McGinnity, A., Meltzer, H., et al. (2005). Mental health of children and young people in Great Britain 2004. London: Palgrave.
- Mental Health Foundation (2006). Truth hurts: report of the National Inquiry into self-harm among young people. London: Mental Health Foundation
- YoungMinds (2011) 100,000 children and young people could be hospitalised due to self-harm by 2020 warns YoungMinds. London: YoungMinds.
- Sempik, J. et al. (2008) Emotional and behavioural difficulties of children and young people at entry into care. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 13 (2), pp. 221-233
- Nuffield Foundation (2013) Social trends and mental health: introducing the main findings. London: Nuffield Foundation
Further Reading:
Education, Schools & Teaching our Kids: ‘Quality of Presence’ in the Classroom
Teachers are Gold
So Long Sciatica – Thanks to Universal Medicine and Esoteric Connective Tissue Therapy
Teaching children to re-connect to their body is a much more beneficial teaching than ‘the educational curriculum’.
If there is a way that can support children to be with themselves then children should be given that support as the statistics as you say Gyl for ill mental health for young children and teenage is staggeringly high. What on earth are we doing as a society that has the younger generation in such an emotional mess? Why are we living in such a way that we cannot support our children to grow up to be fit, healthy and brimming full of natural vitality and confidence. There is so much pressure on them from a very young age to do ‘well’ and who puts the pressure on them – we do the adults of this world. We cannot blame the education system as we as a collective invented it, so we as the collective must be able to change it. What society are we creating if we have children on anti-depressants all their life?
I would love to know what the exercises were that you did with the kids ❤️ sounds super supportive and something I could use.
Thank you Gyl, a simple approach is what you are sharing and when we reconnect to the simplicities in life our bodies calls for more as you have shared with the boy asking for the “Esoteric Connective Tissue Therapy” exercises before the class started.
Wow, so interesting as this is a deep knowing that we teach ourselves to get over and push through when we are kids. There is a clear balance when we listen to our bodies and building an understanding of what our body is communicating and then learning to honour that is a very important life lesson.
I love it Gyl, it would benefit the students and the staff alike.
We have such an amazing opportunity to teach our children about things that will be of true benefit – how to truly look after themselves, how to build and maintain healthy and joyful relationships, how to honour their bodies, how to keep their innate connection with the universe.
I agree Le and the children can take these simple movements with them as they grow up. I know that I wish I had access to Universal Medicine when I was a child, I wouldn’t have got myself into such a mess because I was in disregard to my body and my own feelings as there was no role model to show me a different way to be.
Going back to resit my Maths and English I’ve learned that all the “I can’t do this/it’s too hard/I give up” comes when I am not with my body. Which is basically how I bumbled through school. Today however I feel more capable of doing Maths and English because I don’t escape into the “Can’t do it” attitude as much or at all now. I am starting to understand Maths in a way that I never got back then.
Leigh, this is an amazing turn around. Connecting to your body clearly has worked for you… and I know without question, that is has worked for me too. It supports me to not be anxious and more present with what I doing. Its such a simple thing, but very effective.
I have just finished a series of classes with Lisa Hansberry ( Yoga) and Kate Greenaway ( Connective Tissue Therapy) Not only do these two women work well together so too do these modalities. They allowed me more quality in my movements and insights into how I was living. I became more sensitive to what was supporting me or not. For example I chose to give some pairs of shoes to the charity shop because they no longer felt great on my feet. My standards rose and I was less willing to put up with anything that did not feel true to me.
Gyl, these statistics are shocking. The focus on the academic without the care and connection to the body are obviously not working for our young people.
Gyl, this is a great description and very helpful; ‘They are very much about connecting to your body and breath first; then moving with quality, rather than in a mechanical way.’
Most children are very restless these days so to bring the connective tissue exercises in and let them connect to their bodies is bringing more self awareness and settlement to these youngsters. This may have an affect on the way they move and relate to one another and for them to remind you when you have not started the day that way shows how much they appreciate the harmony that you are bringing with this new regime.
Connective tissue exercises are a fabulous addition to anyone’s day, I love the exercises and the modality, very honouring and loving for our bodies.
Beautiful Gyl, encouraging children to connect to their bodies feels great and from what you have experienced seems very supportive. When my son cannot sleep at night I encourage him to feel his body and notice how his toes feel and his ankles and work up the body, this usually makes him yawn and go to sleep.
“how lovely their bodies can feel” How beautiful for children to stay connected to how their body feels and understand that this is more important than all the ‘knowledge’ that they are expected to take on.
Most of the education system fosters an active mind but a disconnected body. Learning to pay attention to our body in school would be awesome and enable us to cope better with the onslaught of information that is endlessly supplied and the pressures of exams and friendships and all the challenges school brings.
I love this Gyl I could really feel how these simple exercises supported you and how, through Kate, this then expanded to you taking it to schools. Very cool. This is obviously what is needed and the children (as the boy shared) are literally asking for them.
What you are offering the children is the opportunity to settle into their bodies and then learn from there which is such a valuable life skill which will support them throughout their lives. With the current ever upward trend of mental health statistics in children this simple tool is desperately needed so it is awesome that you are sharing this and inspiring others to consider this awesome support for children.
Yes Helen it is very inspiring that such simple exercises when brought together with true purpose and focus, can have such a profound effect on these children. And that it will undoubtedly stay with them as a life skill for many years to come.
A great article Gyl, the stats from the UK are quite shocking to read, how the pressures of life are affecting our young children and youth. So beautiful bringing in the exercises to your classrooms and it is amazing how the body does respond to these gentle exercises.
Wow these statistics are staggering, sometimes I work in schools offering projects on mental well being and I am always disturbed by the amount of young people who really do not know their worth. Lack of self worth is crippling to young adults without self love and self acceptance as a foundation they are left to the mercy of all sorts of external forces and pressures.
Gyl, reading your article i can feel how crazy it is that we make school all about the academic rather than the children’s well being and supporting them to become responsible adults; ‘We are putting all this before the real reason we are there; to connect to and build relationships with the kids, which supports them to trust, learn and grow into responsible adults, fully committed to life.’
“With this, I felt and saw a huge difference in a few minutes in the children and the feeling of the room – it was immense: other teachers have commented on this, they can feel it as soon as they walk in.” – I can personally attest to the power of these simple connective tissue exercises after working with Kate Greenaway and practicing them on a daily basis. What blows me away is how quickly they help to bring us back into a centered focus on our body and just taking a moment to check in with ourselves has such a great benefit because we can then see if we have ‘gone astray’ and gotten wound up by something happening around us (as with the students perhaps) or if we have eaten something that made us feel heavy, dull, racy etc. and then make adjustments from there. Gyl, this blog really inspired me to possibly share these exercises with my daughter’s school, as they obviously have had a tremendous impact on yours!
It makes so much sense to introduce children to the amazingness of their bodies at an early age, how to care for them, how to reconnect with them and how to stay connected as much as possible. From what you have shared it is obvious that Connective Tissue Therapy exercises do just this; simple but profound exercises that when undertaken have the power to change the energy not only in the children but in the classroom. Very inspirational indeed.
The only way to truly learn is through the body so what are we imposing on our children and on ourselves, the stats you gave here are absolutely horrible and a simple and cheap tool as in connecting with our body by some gentle exercises could make a huge difference in our education system.
I have found that with students connecting to their body in a simple way, like feeling feet on the floor and feeling the texture of tights or socks around the feet, is a great way to create a pause moment, a stop , where there can be an inner settling very quickly.
Inspiring children to connect to their body is a lesson they will carry with them throughout life.
Thank you Gyl, for sharing with us that in fact we cannot give up on our education system, as there is so much more we can bring into it and lovingly change that is in truth — better for everyone. This is no heavy fix or complex salvation — but it asks us to connect and build further from there.
Surrendering to deeply honouring your body brings the untouched stillness within out. The stillness and harmony within is not known and thus taught or implemented in education and, Gyl has proved how successful it is for kids to be in connection to their bodies not only in school but always. I see many blaming the kids but this clearly points to how we all have been parenting. Big issue but can be solved through simple connection techniques.
We seem to seek through the world around us, through our lifestyles and our behaviours a way to have a sense of freedom, yet ironically our greatest potential to experience freedom is walking around with us every day, right under our noses literally. What you have shared here Gyl is just how amazing it is to live in connection to our bodies, in connection to the ‘natural flexible flowing state’ of our bodies that is innately harmonious, through which we are free to be ourselves, who we truly are, unencumbered by the activity of the disconnected mind and guided by the loving quality of truth from our bodies. Learning of this relationship, and how to live from this quality is the where our education needs to begin. Amazing Gyl that you are bringing this awareness, which is true empowerment, to your classroom.
So true if we started all education with this understanding then our children’s experience of going through the school system would be transformed.
When we are connected to the body, a lot of things fall into place and the usual drama and conflict need not arise; and when our children grow up in the knowing of this, school will also be very different, for them and the staff, the parents at home and the world at large, eventually.
I find that I am learning to hold more steady in the classroom when children go into more intense behaviours. In the past my body would start to take this on and I would feel tense and exhausted by the end of the day. I am working on being more connected in my body so that I can respond without any tension or judgement but deliver what is needed with greater care and then move on without me taking it on and then becoming part of it.
Those stats totally freak me out and they could seriously be easily turned around with the introduction of this totally amazing modality into all schools. Connective tissue therapy will change the world if given a chance because it does bring better connection to self and with that connection we are all able to deal much better with what life has to offer without going into checking or numbing out.
Yes, it would be incredibly valuable to bring connective Tissue Exercises into schools, ‘Kate and I also talked about how I could introduce some of the exercises to the kids, and how it would be great for them to reconnect to their bodies before they learn, and how lovely their bodies can feel.’
Connective Tissue Exercises in school?! Wow, this is incredibly valuable to the children and the environment. I have three kids and went into the school yesterday to attend a meeting. What I felt particularly in this meeting was the pressure children are under and this is not just coming from the education system but from parents alike… I found it quite shocking.
Connective Tissue Exercises are awesome and how wonderful would it be to be able to have space to share these in our work places, schools and sports clubs and see the potential for everyone to connect and enjoy the feel of their bodies too.
In my experience as a classroom teacher, children are looking for a way of settling within themselves. When space and time is offered even in small moments of the day, it is truly appreciated despite the odd murmur of protest. In fact, I have found it to be true that those that make the protest appreciate it more.
Our body holds our wisdom and thus, when we connect to our body, so much is possible that goes way beyond what sponsored science has yet officially sanctioned.
Well said Gyl there needs to be a reconfiguring of the whole education system …. And it will happen …. Eventually.
What I get when reading this is the deep responsibility of our role as adults is to have the connection with our own bodies so then the children have a true reflection of what this actually means and then are inspired to choose the same.
No matter our age, when we are connected to our body we feel a solidness that curbs the distracted thoughts that get us lost in our emotions and our behaviours that take us away from the purpose of the experience at hand.
The difference in how I move, how I talk, how I feel is immeasurable depending on whether I’m stuck in my head or solidly settled in my body.
” what would our education be like if we truly supported our kids to connect to their body before they learn? ”
Then we would have true education , where learning would be more important than what one can memorise.
How wonderful for the kids that they have you as a teacher.
Gyl, you show how a simple technique practised with children supports them to become more settled in their bodies and ready to learn and invaluable for teacher and pupil.. More teachers should be made aware of this, and offered to colleagues on staff training days.
I do start to realise more and more how important it is to be in connection with my body in everything I do and how much our current education system is in ignorance of this. Our education system is mainly about the the mental learning with no or little consideration for our bodies. In fact we could say they miss a great part in educating our young to become the fully self aware and responsible people in their adult life.
Without settlement in the body it’s difficult to learn and focus. We make choices every day that make us feel more or less settled, which add up over time to how much we’re in our bodies, reading and responding to what’s going on around us, instead of reacting.
We can give ourselves and others so much support, just by moving and breathing in a different way. Experimenting and feeling how moving, sitting, walking and breathing affects our thoughts and behaviours is fascinating and empowering, because we have the choice to change how we react to things – through the simplicity of focusing on our movements and breath.
I experienced bringing the Gentle Breath Meditation to children in a school as a volunteer on a weekly basis a few years ago and like what is shared here afterwards the children were more settled and engaged. It really is so simple and supportive for everyone to be in and with their bodies that the many body awareness practices that are offered with Universal Medicine are the most valuable of learnings if we want to initiate a reduction of the great harm that is anxiety and the extremes, such as suicide that come from such feelings.
Why is it that something so simple, cost effective and productive isnt a normal part of every child’s day? Where are we as a humanity when the likes of what is shared here is the exception? When it should be our normal.
“When it comes to school we often put far too much pressure and focus on the mind and the intellect, forgetting about the body; we make it all about goals, attainment and grades…” The focus on intellectual achievement that discounts the body doesn’t feel like true intelligence to me. Success isn’t about what you know – but how you live in your everyday life – adults and children alike.
Good comment Sue – success is very definitely not defined by what we know so it’s absurd that this seems to be all that the education system focusses on. Far better how we feel, but then that is awkward to measure and compare!
The children in your school are blessed to have you Gyl. “What if we knew that by changing how we move and our posture, we can change our thoughts and behaviours, from ones of negativity, disconnection, depression and discontent, to being engaged, feeling lovely, much more open and ready to receive and learn.” We know as adults our moves and posture can affect our thoughts. Children are no different.
What you have presented to the children in your care, Gyl, is gold, and the most valuable lesson they could possibly learn; how to be in connection with their bodies. I learned how powerful this is over the three years I spent working with children in our local school. I spent 45 minutes each fortnight at the beginning of their school day introducing them to a very simple mediation and then worked with their beautiful voices and their expression. The teacher loved the days I was there as she found that the children settled into the activities of the day without effort and their behaviour was much more even. She even noticed many changes in their confidence, their interactions with others and their school work. Unfortunately when she retired the school dispensed with my services and as a result it was the children that then missed out on some valuable life lessons.
When you read shocking statistics like these, it is easy to see why more teenagers are suiciding. There is so much about life that needs to be re-assessed and our education system is one of them.
Indeed Julie, parenting and education have a great move to make from not only parenting and educating on the physical and temporal level but to an integrated way of teaching and parenting in which our body awareness and spiritual background and heritage are addressed too.
Truly a question to deeply consider…”what would our education be like if we truly supported our kids to connect to their body before they learn?” For a start there would be a joy in being in our bodies, of being in harmony with ourselves, which would transpire into a joy of being with others and a joy for learning.
Valuing ourselves and what we bring rather than focusing on outcomes is crucial – in our education system, and in life in general.
‘What if we knew that by changing how we move and our posture, we can change our thoughts and behaviours, from ones of negativity, disconnection, depression and discontent, to being engaged, feeling lovely, much more open and ready to receive and learn.’ – This is so brilliant to hear Gyl, and makes me consider that is is not only the classroom that could benefit. We have a team of people who are very computer focused and they seem to end up slouching at their desks – which makes me consider that it does not have to be this way and that we can actually work in a way that supports the body.
Having just had my first Skype session with Kate I am blown away by the power and simplicity of connecting to my body and moving from there. The gift that you are allowing your students to experience will support them throughout their lives if they choose this and it is awesome that the boy was able to speak up and remind you – a beautiful reflection for you and all the other children.
I Love how our student friends and colleagues pull us up with the very thing we have introduced to them some time before. When we really appreciate these modalities like Connective Tissue Therapy it is easy to support ourselves with them and to remind each other to support ourselves with them when we forget.
The number of young people aged 15-16 with depression nearly doubled between the 1980s and the 2000s. Surely when we see a statistic like this we must simply stop and say whatever is happening in the world pales into insignificance with this information. There is something so fundamentally wrong with our society that we need to re-wire from the ground up…. And this is most definitely where Universal medicine comes in.
what a beautiful way to start a class Gyl and not only class but what if we brought these beautiful simple exercises into our workplaces too. Last week I showed one of my staff members some simple stretches to help her with anxiety and she lapped it up. She said afterwards it made her feel so nice and she felt more present too. Connecting to the body and moving in a way that deeply supports us to then express from our full presence is truly magnificent and when others can experience this too, what a blessing for all.
Yes, when this is what we do for ourselves and we see how it works then we move it in our bodies as our normal. Our work places then get one less person who is feeling overwhelmed and an opportunity for others to see that this overwhelm does not need to be our normal.
Thank you Gyl for a very simple and profound sharing, how different children would be in the class room if this bringing children back to their bodies was the first part before any class started. How huge the impact would be on the whole school.
As an adult it’s already been drummed into us to accept the ways of moving our body that keep us feeling stress and tension-by our beliefs that we have to achieve first, ourselves second (or last). At the moment I am learning that it’s ok to accept how lovely I can feel by changing how I move my body. I don’t have to move in ways that lead to stress and tension. For children this stance is natural and to confirm them in that is massive Gyl.
Children are so encouraged to be in their heads at school, it is good to make space for some gentle body awareness
Gyl, this is amazing to read, what you are sharing has had such a huge impact on your classes, I see in my local school how children can be hyperactive, rushing about and can then find it hard to sit and concentrate, it makes sense that they need to be calm and in their bodies before they can focus on learning and it is very beautiful that you are sharing how this is possible, this could change education completely and make learning fun and enjoyable for all.
I loved returning to and reading this blog this morning. The difference that the Connective Tissue exercise makes is so easy to feel here and the points of responsibility we have to provide this support to all our children as well as other services provided is very important.
Big Kids or little kids – I appreciate understanding the huge difference it makes to connect to my body first before learning or doing anything. Not something that was shown to me as a young person, but now through Connective Tissue Therapy, not only can I feel in hindsight the benefits of growing up with this, as a ‘grown-up’ I am really appreciating the renewed wonders of learning again, because there is a foundation of connection with my body and there is no requirement for ‘mental activity’ and the associated pressure, expectations and rules.
Very Inspiring. Thank you Gyl. I have been asked to help out at the local primary school and can feel how being with the children and allowing them and/ or supporting them to be connected to themselves is a great foundation for anything they might do while in the classroom and could also back them up beyond school hours too.
With an increasing demand for results and an ever quickening pace demanded in the classroom there is less opportunity for children to simply connect to themselves. Yet, this is the simple answer to supporting children with their concentration, thinking and emotional wellbeing.
What’s really shocking Gyl is that the mental health statistics you’ve mentioned don’t even touch the surface of how many young people are disconnected, unhappy, stressed or distracted all the time – these things are seen as ‘still coping’ and thus aren’t treated with the same attention as depression, anxiety and other official mental health conditions.
Incredible how such a simple start to the day can have such a huge impact. This would be amazing for absolutely everyone, not just children.
Thank you Gyl, this is definitely something that is missing and we need to consider in our education system, as learning to meet life through our bodies first is the key for our health and wellbeing and teaching this to our children is preparing them to take true responsibility in their lives.
When you consider the wisdom of our bodies in knowing all there is to know, having access to all knowledge, then the question ‘What would our Education be like if we Truly Supported our Kids to Connect to their Body?’ becomes a no-brainer. Of course that is what we need to offer by way of education, to allow kids the access to their greatest course of life wisdom. Then there would be no war because we could feel the falseness of it.
The fact that we have ever increasing rates of mental health issues in young people is very alarming. And, although it is not any one person’s or institution’s responsibility to fix this, it is very much a whole society problem that we are all responsible for, so that does include teachers, parents, friends and extended families, as well as the work force that is dedicated to running the infrastructure of our communities, such as the social services, local government etc. This is a nation wide issue and perhaps if we each play our part, giving love where it is needed, and work to come from a whole body intelligence, which connective tissue exercises clearly initiates in the body, then we can begin to collectively make some real and sustainable changes to how our children and young people feel about themselves.
True education, showing children how to connect to their body and be still so that they are aware of what is being presented.
Now here is a revolution that is certainly an evolution… Just imagine if this was actually taught in every classroom and that this foundational connection with their bodies was able to support every student in their classroom of life.
I have had the chance to do these exercises too and wow what a huge change takes place in my body. Delicate, tender, warm and vulnerable these are just some of the words to describe how it feels. Just seeing something so simple unlock your body blows me away. Thank you Gyl for this reminder how re-connection can change so much for us all. It makes me wonder why I have let these exercises go.
When I was growing up, I had such a negative opinion about my body, even from a very early age. So if there has been what you are suggesting “I could introduce some of the exercises to the kids, and how it would be great for them to reconnect to their bodies before they learn, and how lovely their bodies can feel.” for kids to develop a loving relationship with their bodies, I know how much I would have appreciated that.
Education would be totally different if we truly supported our kids to connect to their body, we would not have high amounts of self harm, we would not have shocking mental health statistics and we would not have a generation of children who looked outside of themselves for the answer.
Without connection to our bodies we are left to the mercy of an often cruel world.
Bringing awareness to the physical body before and whilst we are working can make such a difference to how we feel when carrying out a task… it’s less draining and fatiguing.
Every classroom would greatly benefit with the connective tissue exercise, so simple and yet so profound in supporting our children to connect to their bodies and from their they are ready to learn….
If we supported kids to connect to their body, it would be hard to tell who the teacher is, other than age, as there would be truck loads of wisdom being shared by everyone.
‘It’s so important we stop and consider all this, AND what would our education be like if we truly supported our kids to connect to their body before they learn? ‘ As you gave the example of the boy putting up his hand asking you to start with the exercises I felt how education would be based on equality, teacher and children will be equally responsible for what they learn and need to learn to become responsible and loving people ready to serve humanity.
Sitting still and being able to concentrate is not as common as it used to be and I am sure this is due to the rise in sugar consumption. Until you get an experience of stillness you almost forget that the racy way you are is not completely normal. To offer this point of reference to other children and young people is a gift.
Thank you Gyl , for sharing what is so needed about a modality that teaches us another way of healing those things we have been unable to heal before. It is so beautiful to have this experiences now written on paper for all to see the effects of that this healing modality has.
Children are facing enormous pressures and the statistics are terrible, so clearly something is not working and needs to change. What you bring to the children is beautiful and makes so much sense, simply the act of reconnecting to themselves and their bodies can and does have a huge impact on their sense of wellbeing.
Gyl this should be in the government manifesto on Education, if a child is not settled and not in their body no worthwhile learning is going to take place. What you have shared about the response you have in your class room is priceless and needs to be taken seriously by those who set policy around what and how children learn.
Wow those stats on the mental heath issues in children are frightening. The stillness and connection you are offering in your classes are clearly supporting the children to reconnect with themselves. One day the type of support you are offering will be in every class world-wide for every child as more and more of us share stories live yours.
“When it comes to school we often put far too much pressure and focus on the mind and the intellect, forgetting about the body…” This is true Gyl. As this is the norm we don’t question it, but what I am learning is that through the body we truly learn wisdom and by negating the body we do not access a deeper understanding of life, thus we perpetuate a narrow focus of life that is head driven.
Gyl this is so awesome… Is there any way you can get this happening across the wider regions, perhaps it could become part of the curriculum??! It’s such a great idea… what an amazing platform to provide your kids for the learning that has to happen as part of their lives at such a tricky age for them (us) all. Just amazing – how different my schooling and levels of confidence would be if I had been taught so young to connect to my body instead of focussing entirely on my head and being “intelligent” from that place instead of from feeling my body.
The title of this blog is enough to ponder on its own. Kids can so easily loose themselves but the are also super quick to come back to their bodies. It is a huge support for them when they are encouraged to be in connection with themselves.
Gyl, thank you for presenting us with the statistics …and another way of approaching our education system. Our bodies and our minds make up parts of the one whole and if we are focussing on only one part we are not truly educating the whole, no wonder we have the situation we have today where people have ‘checked-out’ of their own bodies to not feel what is truly going on and are not committed to life. Commitment is about being present in life and this begins by being present with ourselves, in our bodies. What you are educating these children Gyl is priceless, a gift they can choose to continue for themselves throughout their whole lifetime.
Who would have thought how simple it can be to calm a class down and bring them back to themselves. I have heard many teachers complain and say they are not babysitters and yes they certainly not, but behaviour control does not have to be a challenge when we bring it back to honesty and understanding the body through connection.
It is great that the young lad in your class asked for the exercises on behalf of the class – it is so easy to be headstrong when we have much to get through, forgetting that every thing flows more smoothly if we are settled in our body first.
With statistics as disturbing as those, it is heart warming to know there is even one teacher out there offering children a moment of settlement in their body and an opportunity to not be a statistic. Keep it up, what you are doing is extraordinary and the fact the children are asking for it shows how much of a powerful support it is for them. Amazing.
As children get ‘educated’ to become more like adults, it is wonderful to read about a way to keep them in touch with their bodies and with the natural joy there within them. Coming back to our feeling, we have the choice to say no to a conditioned way of being and instead can play roles still free within us from the burden of expectations and the anxiety and guilt of not being perfect.
We possibly may have a much needed education revolution if we made education primarily about children connecting to their bodies first and foremost, we certainly need a change as children in education at present are really suffering.
I was just talking to a school teacher about this type of thing yesterday. We were talking about children and their behaviours and she was asking if I knew of anything that would support. I wake this morning and read this, “Kate and I also talked about how I could introduce some of the exercises to the kids, and how it would be great for them to reconnect to their bodies before they learn, and how lovely their bodies can feel.” This is exactly what I was looking for, thank you Gyl.
I know that the days when I start by connecting to my body are so different to the ones where I don’t. And if I lose connection with my body throughout the day the quality of my day changes and it effects everything I do. It makes sense as my body is my home and it’s what carries me around, therefore to be connected to it is natural. It’s amazing how you are giving these children a head start in this.
Education and schools too frequently make it all about the mind and academic success, what we can achieve, and forget about the importance of connecting with our bodies and connection. More emphasis needs to be put on helping children to connect and for the teacher to ‘ build relationships with the kids, which supports them to trust, learn and grow into responsible adults, fully committed to life.’
How gorgeous to bring this into the classroom – for kids to learn the difference between being out of their bodies or present. A great marker for them and a big gap in the education system. There is so much more than just learning from the head – body awareness holds the key to how we are in the day; how we move, talk, what quality we are in. There is so much for us all to feel and learn here – just from our bodies.
Gyl something that I have clocked recently as a parent of three young children is this pigeon holed expectation that all children have boundless energy that needs to be harnessed in every moment. Indeed as parents it’s considered normal to find AFTER SCHOOL activities to tire children out in the belief that they will sleep better, yet so often the hyper activity that we blindly refer to as being their nature is in fact the result of not being more restful in their day.
“What would our Education be like if we Truly Supported our Kids to Connect to their Body?” What a great question and I would extend it and ask what would our health and well-being be like if we supported both kids and adults to connect to their bodies? Once we are connected with our bodies it is so much easier to then feel and respond to life rather than react to it.
This blog is very inspiring Gyl. I tried Esoteric Connective Tissue exercises in the past and found them to be quite lovely. But they seem so simple and benign, as if nothing much is happening, I can see I underestimated their true power. For looking here at the simple way the kids transformed in your class and requested to do the exercise themselves, well that is something huge, many government organisations and countless white papers, would struggle to come close to. So I will return to these exercises myself too and remember the gorgeous power of moving lovingly with quality.
What you’ve shared here Gyl is brilliant, I feel we can apply this to support our children at home too. It shows how powerful it is when we choose to connect to our body, this is a great reminder for me to show by example how this is done. I would love to learn the Connective Tissue exercises so I can practice this with my children. It sounds hugely supportive and I am keen to learn more.
This is such a stunning article Gyl, I work in schools and can confirm what you write about and how we need to bring it back to connection to the body and the quality of appreciation.
Wow, this is amazing Gyl, the Connective Tissue exercises are so simple and powerful, how beautiful to introduce them to the children in your class .
Gyl, I love what you are sharing here, I can feel the huge pressure that teachers and pupils are under to ‘perform’, for the school to do well and the children to get certain results, this way of teaching and supporting kids feels beautiful and very different;’ the real reason we are there; to connect to and build relationships with the kids, which supports them to trust, learn and grow into responsible adults, fully committed to life.
To feel the children in your classroom Gyl, and what they then go home with, what they take out to the world with, is monumental. Teachers are so precious, they play such a pivotal part in a child’s life. That the children in your classroom to walk away having felt the care and connection you have brought to them, that leaves an imprint that will never leave them. It then ripples into our communities, families, and the generations to come. The power of sharing our love and care.
Children have a very powerful role to play in society, reflecting the innocence and timeless knowing we all have within. and yet children are not treated with the reverence that is needed; schools and the education system are part of a machine that is about outcomes, results, targets and never truly about the children themselves.
There is no greater example of the potential for children to learn then the commitment the teacher has to bring truth into the classroom. This blog show teachers there is another way to bringing stillness in the classroom that is a missing ingredients with the onslaught of the digital age.
How gorgeous for the children you teach to have that marker of stillness confirmed in their bodies… that is something they will remember and can return to any time in their lives – truly a gift for them and everyone they meet Gyl.
If children were supported to connect with their bodies they’d be such a profound change in society on all levels. The children would feel the rot in society but would be able to say, from their bodies, what was not true and adults would be given the chance to hear what they know is true too. The rates of self-harm in pupils and also in teachers themselves is increasing. I know that mental health services are at a loss and over subscribed. I have been told a few times with different young people by mental health services that a young person is only ‘doing it for effect’ and not serious about completing suicide. What is going on here is a cry for support that goes beyond thinking solutions. Introducing children connecting with their bodies and supporting them to listen, introduces them to the wisdom our bodies hold. This has been such a blessing in my life.
How lucky are these children to have you as their teacher Gyl? Introducing such simple exercises as these into the classroom before lessons is evidently having an enormous impact on the children on many levels, and has the potential to continue to inspire them as they grow.
When I am connected with my body, with the natural stillness within, I can focus, when I get busy, racy, worried driven I can not focus, I loose my purpose, everything becomes a struggle. This is the future of true education evolving and opening up before us. Wonderful work Gyl Rae.
I didn’t know this, but I do now, through inspiration of many others who have made life changes choices through committing to being aware of their movements “What if we knew that by changing how we move and our posture, we can change our thoughts and behaviours….” It is not just about sitting straight, or walking tall, these can support us, but the key is how we do this, connective tissue therapy, I feel really brings being in our body into focus, it connects us with our natural flow, our natural movement.
For children to learn to connect to their bodies, they require a supporting environment of parents, teachers and adults in general to first be committed and living a connection with their own bodies. For children to live connection in a society and world that does not support connection with ourselves, they require a firm and committed relationship and connection with their parents and adults who are committed to do the same. The education system is not something that promotes self-connection, this is not something we can change, so if as parents, teachers and adults we can deeply support ourselves in our own connection, we are already supporting our children immensely. It is the choice of our children then to choose. Well done Gyl.
Yes, Gyl, it is a huge deal and the fact that the children recognise it and ask for it themselves speaks volumes about how these movements are from a natural connection that can be felt and allows us to accept what we are feeling and to live more honestly in our bodies.
‘What would our Education be like if we Truly Supported our Kids to Connect to their Body?’ …. Our children would be empowered to live their truth, expressing it freely and openly rather than the current situation where they gradually shut down and look to each other to see how they ‘should be’. They would be approaching their learning from the knowing that they are already everything they need to be. It would be completely different and so much more supportive and true.
‘We are putting all this before the real reason we are there; to connect to and build relationships with the kids, which supports them to trust, learn and grow into responsible adults, fully committed to life.’ Gyl you have triggered a memory here. I remember reading that education was designed to be part of the socialisation process of children, it is a means of teaching our children how to become valued members of the community. Clearly you have presented a very strong case for bringing body awareness and the ability to self settle into this educative process. Its value is clearly demonstrated by the child pulling you up when you attempted to skip the exercises that one time!
How children behave and feel at school has a monumental impact on their learning, evident by how they respond so incredibly work-wise when the levels of stress, busyness or anxiousness are reduced in the classroom as you’ve explained in your blog.
This is very inspiring Gyl as the connective tissue exercises are so simple anyone can do them and everyone benefits from them. This would make a great study on the enormous impact two simple exercise have on a classroom environment.
Connecting to our bodies at any age or in any walk of life is super important. Our bodies hold it all and If this is nurtured and fostered in children how the world would become a different place as EVERYTHING would be affected. Starting with ourselves and our own self care and expression supports others to make the same choice. What you are bringing these children Gyl is awesome, thank you!
If we truly supported our children to reconnect to their bodies, I’m sure there would be less grumpiness, agitation, sadness and issues in children, which would have a positive impact in teenage health.
I would have loved to have the opportunity to learn to reconnect to my body when I was at school, imagine if we could create space in the curriculum at all schools where we taught Body -awareness how amazing that would be? true movement is the only way forth as it allows us to connect to the tender, delicate and loving part within.
If children were taught to connect to their body from young, we would be ‘showered’ with the energy of love. There’s nothing more lovely than to feel a child’s love emanating from her or his body.
Having two children who have been labelled with Dyslexia and Dysgraphia and ADHD, over the years I have dealt with feelings of rejection and failure as a mother. Most of all confusion that my children are happy healthy, vibrant articulate and intelligent. They don’t fit into the education system parameters and so that are labelled with a disorder, It took a lot of work to support them to not feel less than others around them because their recall was not as good. I got to the point where I would say to teachers I do not care about their grades I don’t want them to feel like there is something wrong with them, I want them to understand how they best learn and if that is different form others then so be it.
Our world would be very different it we educated our children differently. To foster who they are, that they are grander than what they can see, feel and touch. That there is a responsibility that comes with each life, that this isn’t just the only one they will have. There is so much that we could be developing in their foundation, that would change how they made decisions throughout their lives.
As an adult I have been learning the importance of reconnecting to my body and how I am aware of a much deeper level of wisdom when I do than when I am solely hoping that my brain will come up with all the goods. I cannot imagine anything worse than training our children from young to disassociate from what they feel and only praising them for repeating the information fed to them through education. What you have introduced here by supporting the children in recognizing when they are connected to their body and when finding ways to reconnect when they need to is amazing. And the fact that your student pulled you up when you forgot to start with Connective Tissue exercises shows how open and welcoming they are.
It is so obvious from what is being shared that the way we move affects our thoughts and therefore our behaviours.
So much gold in this blog. If there is, and I’m sure there is, an Education magazine, this article needs to go in it. This needs to be shared with the world. Here you are Gyl, blessing children left right and centre…everyone can be doing this. Keep it up, you’re doing amazing!
Gyl your sharing shows how dramatically different our education would be if we were to first connect and then make choices, teach, learn, move from our bodies. Given that for many we are seeking something that we feel is missing, our connection, then all that we learn, understand and even the purpose of education would change. We no longer would make it about “getting somewhere” but would instead make it about learning what is needed to support humanity as a whole to live with more consistency of love each day.
The way we connect to, support, hear and take care of our students has a huge impact on results. We innately know this and the evidence supports it. Why then are we still driving education with results as our guide and figurehead?
With what you’ve shared Gyl I can imagine this therapy would be wonderful for people suffering all kinds of ill conditions, from mental and emotional to physical conditions. I’m even wondering if mental health conditions in particular are the result of (or at the very least are exacerbated by) disconnection from our bodies. Providing people with the simple tools to bring them back into connection with their physical selves feels like it would be extremely helpful.
To answer the question (the title of this beautiful blog): they would keep their innocense, trust, selfworth and keep being connected to the whole they (and we all) belong to. Building and expanding on the light and love they allready are.
I love how simple it was for you to get the class to connect with themselves and then be readier to learn. There was no need for harsh discipline or dictation, or oppression,.
What a relief and an inspiration for the other teachers who see how you get such a flow with the kids.
These mental health statistics are shocking. However considering the pressures many kids are feeling at school and at home it is not surprising and these pressures are starting earlier and earlier. Working in a school I can see how some children are switching off before they even reach secondary school. Reflections from teachers who understand the importance of the connection with our bodies and each other is super important. The way education is at the moment will probably not change for a long time but how we are in it and how we bring ourselves to the environment can change and as you show can make a big difference. Thank you Gyl.
Thanks Gyl, I too find it incredible and super supportive how small movements made with presence and quality can shift old stuck patterns in the body once and for all. When I feel like I have gone into a reaction, the first thing I do is go to the body, feel where the tension is, and introduce gentle movement in that area. It is amazing that something so simple can bring us back to truth and connection – what a blessing for the kids in your class.
Yes it is a big deal Gyl, what you are offering to these kids is absolutely precious, and they are extremely fortunate to have you in their lives. Something this simple can change their whole school life.
The stats you share Gyl are alarming indicators of where we are truly at. Why are we settling for this? Why are we collectively ignoring what is really going on out there? Granted, some will be working hard to alleviate the situation through the implementation of various social and mental health programs, yet my sense is most of these will fail to resolve the issues and will offer a best a band-aid solution. Here we have something oh so simple yet doable and portable that can offer young people another way to be – or at least recover from what comes at them – as they navigate their way through school and life.
Education begins with the body.
I Love connective tissue, I trained in massage and so much of the training is about the muscles, but all along there is the connective tissue holding all the structures in the body together and giving the body structure. There is much to learn, research and develop concerning our relationship with this substance and the Esoteric connective therapy is a true support and innovation concerning overall body health, form and movement.
This is something that I am familiar with, observing my children go through the school system “When it comes to school we often put far too much pressure and focus on the mind and the intellect…” Even the exercise is about losing weight and competition, not true body connection. This sort of approach to teaching, that you are offering is a trail blazing, it is awesome to hear of this development, it is surely going to support the children that have the opportunity to experience it.
And we can all support this in the way we relate to children and in our celebration and appreciation of teachers.
Kids that are settled in their body will be much more aware than normal and will notice much more about the teacher. That may not be completely comfortable for all teachers.
The example of the young lad reminding you Gyl to come back to yourself, and to bring the class with you, is further testimony to the power of these simple exercises and their ability to bring us into greater harmony with ourselves and each other.
Whenever I am totally in sync with my body life feels much easier – there is a flow, and a power, that comes from the stillness it brings before anything else happens. Esoteric Connective Tissue Therapy, which I have also experienced, offers a very simple and practical way forward for everyone to come back to themselves – regardless of age and stage, as this blog amply demonstrates!
” You may not think this is such a big deal, but when we look at the bigger picture IT IS, with the rise in mental health issues, self-harming and suicide rates in children and teenagers across the world.” There is a quite crisis happening with our children Gyl, I’m reading about it and seeing it first hand, so yes I do feel it’s a big deal. We have young children that have no or little connection to people, having been raised by electronic devices. Your gift to these children by simply bring connection to their bodies is a step toward a relationship with themselves. Teachers are Gold!
Gyl, this is awesome what you have chosen to bring to the children, helping them to stay much more connected with themselves. This should be recorded and brought into the school curriculum so that all students get the chance to connect back to their true nature and start trusting in their own bodies.
Can you imagine if Kids planned their careers and education from having been supported to know themselves first, and not from the push to be academic and intelligent and secure with a well paid highly thought of job.
This is lovely Gyl, it just goes to show that children want to be in their bodies, they like the feeling of being in their bodies. It’s possible the parents would also prefer this feeling to the anxious or nervous stressful state we, as adults, often find ourselves in. These exercises must be a Godsend to us all.
There are so many things in this world, in the home, and at school that distract and then disconnect our children from their beautiful selves, so introducing them to these simple techniques is absolutely wonderful Gyl. And I also feel that not only will their presence and learning in the classroom be enhanced, but also every aspect of their lives now, and in the future. What an amazing gift you have presented to them.
If children were taught to listen to their body they would know that everything they truly needed to know is already found within them. The best encyclopedia ever is inside their body!
This is simply amazing, what a blessing for those kids, but also what you are proposing….what would education be like if kids could connect to the their bodies? It is no surprise at all that they respond so quickly, they can feel immediately the benefits of reconnection, as what you have shared is evidenced. How amazing also for kids to learn this so young, so they can continue with this as they get older.
There is an absolute exquisiteness when applying the connective tissue exercises. My body opens up, relaxes, lets go and surrenders to the most beautiful tender quality. The tension and anxiety I usually hold myself in melts away. Allowing myself to feel the subtle changes and remaining in connection to what I feel supports me the whole daylong.
Connection with self, connection with people, connection and love is what we all deep down yearn for.
Releasing tension held in the body’s connective tissue allows and supports the restorative and healing properties of the body to function as they are designed to do, thereby increasing health and vitality
If kids were supported to connect to their bodies during their school years, i would imagine that this would produce less comparison and competition between one another, and as they grow into adulthood, be able to recognise one another by their natural qualities rather than the recognition of what job they end up doing.
Those statistics are shocking! The education system is pushing and pushing students to perform more and more and the social and emotional pressures in schools and universities is getting ever more intense, and hence the need for this form of support in schools is more needed than ever. Inspiring work Gyl.
Just considering the title of your blog Gyl is enough to about-face a whole trend of abuse and lack of self-care that is a growing trend with kids today. The self harm and consumption of drugs and alcohol with young people is on the rise and unless we teach our kids to truly connect with their body and feel the beauty of who they are, this will continue – the destructive consequences of not doing this are already playing out.
“…When it comes to school we often put far too much pressure and focus on the mind and the intellect, forgetting about the body; we make it all about goals, attainment and grades…” I have found this to be very true with the system focusing on the grades, numbers and ranking. Yes this has importance but not more important than the child.
“What if we knew that by changing how we move and our posture, we can change our thoughts and behaviours, from ones of negativity, disconnection, depression and discontent, to being engaged, feeling lovely, much more open and ready to receive and learn.’- such an impressive and inspiring article clearly revealing how profound the simple connective tissues exercises you teach to your children in the classroom are on their behaviour and learning ability.
Amazing work!
The pressures on young people are huge and if school is not a place where they are nurtured and cared for but told they must perform and their performance matters more than they do, then it is no wonder they self-harm. What you are offering them is potentially life saving. Schools often talk about life long learning – what an amazing realization they have here that they can be lifelong students of their own bodies and the wisdom we all have access through our being.
Wow Gyl, amazing work you are doing with these children. What you are doing makes so much sense and it feels crazy that it is not the norm. Through the current system our children are suffering their minds become full of unnecessary knowledge that weighs them down and puts pressure on them. Children when given space and encouraged to connect to their bodies naturally know so much.
I love how simple this is; stop making it all about the mind, re-connect to our bodies more and observe the results.
Doing a couple of theses simple exercises consistently has helped me become more focused and able to feel what I need. This has been a life changer for me at 44 yrs old.
It would have been wonderful to have a role model like Gyl when I was a child.
What you share Gyl is so important. I know and appreciate Connective Tissue Therapy however your experience is bringing the importance and power of it to me in its fullness when applied to classrooms. This same science would apply to everyone and everywhere. It is quite shocking to read the statistics yet to prevent these being the outcome of ignoring what children are experiencing, connection back to themselves is is as simple as applying a few moments of CTT. What you share is very inspiring and it will be awesome to hear more from you.
“What if we knew that by changing how we move and our posture, we can change our thoughts and behaviours, from ones of negativity, disconnection, depression and discontent, to being engaged, feeling lovely, much more open and ready to receive and learn.” How important is this?! This is invaluable for all of us not just for children. It shows us that we can choose how we feel through making a conscious choice about how we move. Everyone needs to know this.
If these exercises and the Gentle Breath Meditation were in all schools it would make for a very different society and world. By being so connected to the body there is little need to harm oneself or others and the increased learning potential would be huge.
It is true revelation to know and understand that education is allowing the wisdom in our bodies to unfold and lead the way in brining forth what is important for us and humanity to understand and appreciate. For instance, true education would be listening to the body in relation to over exercising, staying up past ‘body says bedtime’. The universal multidimensionality is there to be revealed if and when we are not caught up in individualism and competition.
Only when we connect to the body can nervous tension or stress be reduced and true learning occur – the learning that is simply an emergence of what is already there within. Gyl you are bringing this possibility to your students! So Awesome!
Gyl this is amazing. Not only would education be different but the whole of society would be too. Amazing.
We all crave connection, irrespective of what age we are, whether we admit it or not.
What you are presenting here Gyl is indeed groundbreaking. How wonderful would it be if these simple techniques were introduced as part of the school curriculum, so that all school children had the opportuntiy to experience this connection to themselves before they began their school day, and even brought it to the start of each lesson. What a difference there would be in class room behaviour if this were to happen.
Bringing children back to connect with their bodies is vital. We make our education system all about what we can do in our heads, but we are so much more than that. In truth we have no idea what we can achieve when we are connected and living from our whole body, not just one part of it.
I received esoteric connective tissue therapy from Kate Greenway for treatment for heal spurs several years ago, and not only did it assist me to heal from what was meant to be a chronic condition, but equally served to connect me to just how dedicate and sensitive our bodies truly are.
Gyl, the fact that your students are asking to do the exercises is very confirming of the power in these sinple movement, and that it really does work. It shows that children can feel something is not right with education systems and the lifestyle that goes with it, and innately know that there is another way. This is very deeply touching.
That was gorgeous Katie, to have had a teacher who valued connection and the difference you felt. I can imagine it makes a world of difference to have teachers who value connection.
Sounds like you are supporting the kids to feel what it is like to be who they are and the ease in which it can be when at school and having the space to learn and understand what is being presented in each lesson. Such a key element to life, connecting to the body but yet we are all taught that it is about what you do not who you are. This is ground breaking the way you are connecting and teaching with the kids.
We all know we learn better, when we are harmonious and balanced. Would it be useful if schools spend more time and effort to make it easier for children to be harmonious and balanced?
Connective Tissue Therapy is keeping my body in working order!
Lots of money is spent on medication for kids with mental health issues. We would need studies about your experience, Gyl, so that one day this modality can be funded and be offered in schools.
One only has to look at these statistics to see that the world is not supportive for children. Gyl what a gift to offer them the connection with their bodies. This is so rare and for a child to know they are supported by an adult to feel everything is just so amazing. Children are super aware. I have a five week old daughter and she senses and feels everything. To appreciate that and not show her that crying is a bad thing is to honour how she feels rather than try and fix a baby to be quiet and good. The world has so much that we feel – some of it we don’t like, some of it we do. If children can learn to honour what they feel but not take things on, then what an inspiration that is.
When I look at all the statistics in health and mental health, and the way things are in the world in general, I feel that we as a global community need to begin looking very critically at all the systems we have in place, including education, and make big changes. We cannot bury our heads in the sand and not make the connections between the way life is so miserable for so many, and not deeply question why this is. Change is really needed.
I wonder what elderly life would look like, if at an early age we were taught to connect to our bodies? My feeling is that things would look and be very different, our bodies would have incurred so much less damage, and we would be alive, vital and checked in until the end.
What a great analogy to life in general – if we are disconnected from our innermost (heart classroom) we are governed by the complications and distractions that mental energy brings in, then we can be in emotional chaos and messiness in daily life rather than with moving from the centre and strength of ourselves.
“The classroom goes from being noisy, messy, not in the literal sense, but more the kids being ‘in their head’, distracted and all over the place, to an absolute quality of stillness, both in the classroom and in the children’s bodies”.
“What if we knew that by changing how we move and our posture, we can change our thoughts and behaviours, from ones of negativity, disconnection, depression and discontent, to being engaged, feeling lovely, much more open and ready to receive and learn” This couldnt be more true, changing our body and our movements has amazing effects on our whole being, and this doesn’t mean aerobic style-gymnastic tricks, it means simple movements and connection with the body, it is very delicate.
“I experience children coming into the classroom and school – be it at the start of the day, morning break, or lunchtime – feeling anxious and disconnected from their bodies” Its true that even before school children can be anxious and unsettled in their body, as many things can be happening at home, on the way to school or many children even play soccer before school!
Knowing how much our posture and our physical actions influence how we feel and what we perceive is a great tool to have and teaching it to children transforms their life as it gives them much more control and choice over their life.
I love what you present here and are very inspired to have some Connective Tissue Treatments with Kate Greenaway Twist!
I imagine the difference in the expression of the reading when the children are present and connected with their bodies, simply glorious.
Children so naturally can be connected and in tune with what their bodies are saying and yet with increasing distractions from so many different types of screens they are losing connection from the bodies natural wisdom.
Children so simply bring us back to the moment by feeling what is needed. This is somehting that many of us as adults have separated from.
What seems so beautiful about these simple connetive tissue exercises is that it brings us back to a connection with ourselves in just one moment.
I also practice some connective tissue exercises every morning and evening and also teach them to my clients and they are invaluable to supporting greater vitality, flexibility, ease and posture in bodies everywhere!
With being in connection to our bodies and the essence therein, competition and conflict are revealed as imposters from outside and so a foundation for a true understanding of the relationships between us all is established.
Connective tissue therapy and connective tissue exercises allows for a deeper connection and surrender to the body. From there it is possible to feel more clearly what the body is communicating. When this is felt, it becomes harder to override the messages given and different life style choices can be made more easily.
Connective Tissue Therapy is the most amazing modality. Gorgeous and gentle exercises that bring us back to the appreciation of how lovely we can feel when connected to our body. Fantastic for the classroom. Great work Gyl!
Imagine if True Movement was introduced to all schools first thing in the morning at assembly….this would benefit all the kids and teachers and set a solid foundation for the day…..this seems like a very common sense thing to do……the fact that it is not happening shows us how far we are away from truth.
It is very simple, kids need to be met and deeply appreciated for who they are. This rarely happens in schools and at home, no wonder their behaviors are out of control.
I totally agree with you Mary-Louise. It’s almost like a game is being played in our schools where the school administration focuses mainly on getting the kids to get good grades through testing (and thus comparison and a message of the students not being allowed to feel enough as they are) and not truly connecting to them, the kids then feel this lack of connection and then rebel against it via various behavioural methods and checking out further with electronic devices and entertainment to not feel this void of connection and the pressures that are placed on them to ‘perform’. A vicious cycle indeed, and one that can easily be reversed with the beautiful approach that Gyl has described in this blog through connecting with their bodies and meeting the students in a way that sends the message that they have nothing to prove.
Exercise which is truly supportive for us to reconnect to our bodies such as this would make a difference to us all in our daily lives and this effect is profound in children at school, offering them a marker of truth which they can feel in their bodies throughout their day and into later life.
How amazing would it be if kids did learn to feel into and come from their bodies more. They would feel much more empowered and build a very solid foundation of self worth and would naturally want to care for their bodies when they got older because they would feel their own support feeding them back.
True Intelligence has nothing to do with remembering and cramming in as much information as possible to get the highest mark, it is about our ability to connect deeply to our bodies and move in a way that creates a flow in life where everything that is needed comes to us, so all that is required is to learn to move in our own quality and to surrender to what is presented in our lives, magical! and a amazing support for our children to re-learn this.
Gyll, this is awesome article and highlights how we have made our schooling system about survival and all about the intellect creating such pressures and impositions on young children from such an early age, it is crazy! thank goodness for teachers like yourself who can present a different way that allows them to connect to their body and to feel the power within that we all have access to and can tap into at any time, which supports one to make more supportive choices in life. Thank you.
I help children with their reading in a First School. When they first come to me they sit down, open the book and start reading. I say, “just stop a moment, we haven’t even said hello yet!” After a couple of weeks they become more relaxed and willing to have a little talk about what has been going on for them, and the rush at the beginning disappears. Then they are more open to sharing their own views and answer any questions. This prepares the way for a suggestion to close their eyes and notice their breathing and feel their bodies. From that can flow the Connective Tissue exercises, thank you for that Gyl, I have introduced other movements but never thought of that. The sitting down and starting to read before they have even touched the chair is a habit formed from the rush teachers are in to get through the daily curriculum and achieve the targets. My children, with those few brief moments of pause, once a week, enjoy reading and progress faster. The Minister of Education needs to take a few pauses in his/her day!
I have been finding that if I tense up, contract or harden in the body due to a reaction, by introducing gentle movement I can bring the body back a more harmonious flow. The reaction no longer has any hold over me, because I have re-introduced something more powerful and true. Introducing the Connective Tissue movements to the kids, Gyl, is a wonderful gift that will support them on many levels.
Imagine every classroom like this. There would be no frazzle in the kids nor in the teachers, no distraction or delay trying to settle everybody down. A much more conducive environment for learning and for teaching.
Supporting the kids to re-connect to their body with simple exercises is the very thing they need in an environment that actually does not support them to be them selves.
“What would our Education be like if we Truly Supported our Kids to Connect to their Body?”
It would be so much more fun!
We can all learn something from this Gyl. A great reminder to connect to our bodies before we step into life. What a difference this can make to all of us.
Our filters are our protection and being free to ask for what we want and what our bodies know is nourishment is something to be honoured and nurtured. This is true education.
Yesterday I worked with a group of Early Years Educators and asked them what it would be like if they expressed with the freedom of the children in their care. They found it difficult to imagine just truly being themselves. One woman asked – ‘you mean without any filters!’
Our bodies know truth and will seek it when it is free to express what it knows and not hijacked by ideals and beliefs that we have chosen instead.
Awesome – how amazing is it to teach those kids something other than competition and how to pass tests, to allow them space to also develop equally a relationship with them and their bodies.
Children love simplicity and the simple moves offered with connective tissue exercise will be supportive of every child in the classroom.
It is great to read how something so simple is making a huge difference to how those children feel and then are more open to learning – isn’t that what every teacher would love to see in their classroom.
Thank you for bringing light and discussion to such a huge and important issue Gyl – and how the answer is so simple.
Allowing children to come out of their heads and into their bodies is something that they love, and it is wonderful that you are giving them the opportunity in your classroom. If only all teachers were that astute and switched on to their children’s true needs instead of making it all about achievement.
As teachers, this true connectedness is what we are sharing and imparting first and foremost – way beyond whatever it is that we may be ‘doing’.
It’s truly awesome to read and sense here what is going on in your classroom Gyl. Absolutely awesome work.
In my experience with teaching children, teenagers and adults music, I couldn’t agree more with you Gyl. The first ‘task at hand’ for any teacher is actually to support the person to connect with themselves and their body. Seeing many people ‘after school’ or at the end of a work day, it’s so common for students to come in quite disconnected, agitated and commonly quite tired. Once they move gently – even via the simplest awarenesses in posture and breath – everything shifts…
This is absolutely brilliant Gyl, offering these kids true support for their entire lifetime, in a world that ceaselessly demands us to move and get on with things (inclusive of ‘achieving’) without truly being connected to ourselves. True education begins with such a foundation.
What a relief for the kids to have their bodies acknowledged… to feel and stay connected, knowing themselves first.
Gyl your blog title ” What would our Education be like if we Truly Supported our Kids to Connect to their Body? ” had me contemplate the long term benefits for our kids when they were honoured for the Wisdom the body holds that they could naturally express and use this ability, but the education system does not acknowledge it so it slowly diminishes as the emphasis is on remembering, getting things right and uniformity. It would return a wholistic, well rounded child with each unique quality being supported, they could naturally express from there body all of there feelings, sensitivities that would naturally support their body in learning and prepare a child for living connected to the world around them.
‘You may not think this is such a big deal, but when we look at the bigger picture IT IS, with the rise in mental health issues, self-harming and suicide rates in children and teenagers across the world.’ The enormity of the effect of a global population growing up in disconnection is hard to convey but all you have to do is to look carefully at the state of humanity and feel deep within yourself the truth of it all and it becomes clear.
I am not surprised by the mental health statistics. I have seen many of our youth exhausted and checking out with all forms of distractions to help cope with the pressures they are feeling within the current school system. To be met by a teacher who is open, supportive and works with getting students back to basics is wonderful to hear and a great sharing for the children.
Kids are naturally connected to their bodies, it’s us disconnected adults that teach our kids to severe their connection to themselves.
If i look back at my school days I would get frustrated as I could not work things out in my head in the way that the teachers wanted me to work them out. There would be a constant battle of trying and not ever reaching that place of “getting it all right”, on the few occasions I did then I was in fear of not being able to do it again. How different would school be if we first connected to our bodies and then went on to learn what is needed. I have no doubt the classroom and the feeling in all the kid’s bodies and lives would be totally different. This is something we can start to do today, with all our kids in supporting them to come back to their body instead of being focused on the getting it with their head first.
The world is crying out for teachers like you Gyl. After seeing a presentation on how the focus these days in almost all schools is totally on the mind and results with little care about what it is doing to our children, we need teachers that will help our kids stay with themselves instead of a life of stress and checking out.
What would our education be like if our teachers would be able to express love without reservation – this need not be at all a physical expression.
I know my son is very lucky this year to have a teacher that is truly joy full in her job. My son loves his teacher and expresses it to her openly. He has also developed a love of learning this year, through the playfulness, acceptance and connection that his teacher has offered.
Our body is what takes our head to school or work so it makes absolute sense to pay attention to our body. After all we don’t expect to drive our car without putting petrol in and regularly servicing it! The education system is as it is but how we are in it and how we are with our children as a teacher or parent is the part where we have a choice. Empowering children to speak up and listen to their bodies is a way forward.
Those numbers are shocking. I didn’t know it. We are responsible for our children – our next generation, the way they are. We are the ones who are doing the bringing up. If we can see that the current system is not working – whatever that is, it is our responsibility to impart and share with them everything that we know to be of truth from our lived experience, or in fact with anyone really – to show there is another Way.
It is remarkable to read that when you support the children in your class with the connective tissue exercises to reconnect to their bodies there is a noticeable shift: “the kids being ‘in their head’, distracted and all over the place, to an absolute quality of stillness, both in the classroom and in the children’s’ bodies. The talking stops, the children all settle into their bodies and are ready to start the day”. This shows that there could be a lot of behavioural issues throughout society that could also so very simply be supported.
What a wonderful support your introduction of the connective tissue exercises have been to the children. The fact that other children have commented on the change they have observed and also one of the children pulled you up when you forgot to include the exercises shows the powerful positive impact it has.
Dear Gyl, what you’ve introduced to the children, teenagers attending your classes is pure gold. The preciousness of what you’ve introduced and the benefits this has to every one in the classroom should be studied, examined, understood and introduced to every classroom. Life is indeed simple and the stress reduces ‘naturally’ as soon as we connect back to our bodies. I’m appreciative and full of gratitude for what you’re sharing with the kids.
Connective Tissue Therapy is so simple and yet so profoundly changing., and based on good basic knowledge of the body’s anatomy and use. It brings children back to what they have lost, that natural, innate sense of being in their bodies, and how movement can be. We adults too, we can all learn together, and the more we come back to that body connection and fluid, expanded way of moving, the more we will be role models for children growing up in this complex society.
Well said, Joan. When any of us move with this deeper connection to the flow in our bodies, we inspire others to be more present and gentle with themselves.
This is profound in its simplicity and power. The entire education system in its commercialisation, culture of competitiveness and treatment of teachers has lost that essential understanding of its true mandate, that paramount to all is the connection to the children, supporting them to stay connected and true to themselves. What you have shown here Gyl is how simple that process can be, and the difference that it can make. Better than waiting until they become the next generation of disconnected, disaffected teenagers and then having to deal with all the ramifications of their angst and rebellion against their hurts and what they know is not true.. or alternatively the even more lost who have given up, shut down, individualised and joined in the game, thus continuing the destructive blindness and separativeness that is harming to all.
In a system made all about doing, to have someone who is willing to take the time to teach children that there is power to be found in being first – that they are important before they do anything
Yes Rebecca Briant and the quality of this relationship to develop over the year or over years with this teacher sets a marker for the students that will stay with them forever,
What I really find supportive from my experience with connective tissue exercise is how it involves the mind in very subtle movement and really increases deep sensitivity to the body very simply and quickly without any force. It introduces gentleness as a felt experience of release of tension in body tissue around muscles and joints. Then a more expansive, tender quality of movement. I would call it a very practical and meaningful form of body meditation which is going to be amazing for young children who are already so sensitive and may not be able to sit or lay still so easily.
I remember school in the 60s and 70s. The issues were much milder then but I still didn’t enjoy school. It would have been very different if these exercises were available at the time.
What an amazing example of how we can move the body and get an instant result of more stillness, which the children are connecting to and asking for. What would happen if a teacher went into the play ground just before the bell rang for class and shared the benefits of first connecting and then walking to the class in that connection this would be before the students did their Connective Tissue Exercises?
It feels as though what you are doing Gyl is monumental – to change the dynamics in the classroom with such a simple and life changing experience for all your students. It is simply revolutionary and I feel sure will one day be the norm. For so long humanity has been crying out for such a simple way to change how they are in the world and what you are offering is something that doesn’t cost any money and has very evident results, as I feel sure that your pupils are more able to be present in the whole lesson – and can feel what you are teaching them as a bodily experience and not just something they can recall. And as every area in the world is looking to save money, it will mean that overall not only will pupils be more productive, but when they grow up they will have so much more to offer at work.
What you’re offering here is a true role for teachers – ‘to connect to and build relationships with the kids, which supports them to trust, learn and grow into responsible adults, fully committed to life.’ That’s true responsibility and true service.
To hear that the students in your class are asking for the Connective Tissue exercises confirms the amazing work you are doing Gyl.
I can see the benefits of closely tuning into what our bodies require, not only nutritionally and physically. For a long time I only adhered to the latter to principles to having a healthy body. However the component of a living stillness to be connected to on a daily basis had been over looked.
The deep quality of a sense of stability sets any individual up to make productive and loving choices with consistency and reliability.
Could this be a possible exercise to help us live a more consistently loveable and connected life.
Gyl, the work that you are doing is truly inspiring and much needed. We need teachers like you who connect with the kids that they are teaching because they have connected with themselves first.
Inspired by your blog Gyl I too have a booked session with Kate so that I can develop connective tissue style exercises with my class! I am looking forward to applying them!
Yes Rachel, me too! I feel these exercises would be very supportive for children, and this is a great opportunity to bring them to school.
School life certainly would be transformed if connection to our body and movement was part of the syllabus. School would become the foundations of how to live life because it would offer necessary tools that would be utilised and applied in the world beyond the school gates… Lessons relevant to all pupils, not just grading kids on their ability to do or not be able to do, algebra…
What would our Education be like if we Truly Supported our Kids to Connect to their Body?
We would have interested and naturally engaged children/students who would have a very strong self awareness as their foundation, which they could hold all the way through their educational years and into adulthood, because they would be totally supported and encouraged by the curriculum and Teachers. This relationship would be built on honouring and growing their sense of self worth from the beginning, and seeing them for who they are, not what they can do.
It is amazing how by making a simple change to the way that we move can change the way that we think. A simple fundamental principle such as this has the potential to change so much for so many if it was introduced into schools, colleges, workplaces…what a difference it would make to all of our lives.
‘What if we knew that by changing how we move and our posture, we can change our thoughts and behaviours, from ones of negativity, disconnection, depression and discontent, to being engaged, feeling lovely, much more open and ready to receive and learn.’ This is gold Gyl, and what you and other teachers are bringing to the education system is amazing, the ripple effect will be felt everywhere in the community as these children feel more supported to live connected to their bodies.
First up we connect to our bodies (as in feel and listen to what they tell us) then we go about our daily activities. This as a foundation would totally change the face of our lives and yes if we ‘taught’ this in schools our education system would get the same uplift.
Absolutely Matilda, the only thing school teaches about the body is sports or exercises that are disconnecting us from our bodies. Allowing children to ‘connect’ to their bodies would revolutionise the classroom and the playing fields.
‘What if we knew that by changing how we move and our posture, we can change our thoughts and behaviours, from ones of negativity, disconnection, depression and discontent, to being engaged, feeling lovely, much more open and ready to receive and learn.’ – Great point Gyl, I have observed and experienced this time and time again, and it is amazing how instant the change is.
What a beautiful way to get the children to connect to themselves at the beginning of the day. IF all classroom teachers were prepared to do this I feel the children would be more open and ready to be present in their bodies, we would see most enjoying school and their lives. Teachers and Students would all enjoy the experience of learning.
Especially, if all teachers (or even a few) had the livingness to do this.
I too used to day dream all of the time also, to avoid what I was feeling around me. If I had known of these simple tools to bring me back to me, it would have changed my life way back then. Yes, this needs to be common knowledge, I agree.
I was a child who was so out of my body that I was in a dream world of my own making . . . it was my escape, my way of avoiding feeling what was going on around me. To have known how to observe the world without involving myself and to know that to get back to that place of being able to observe is as simple as changing your posture would have been so empowering for me as it is for all children. I am with you Gyl. This needs to be common knowledge.
Great observations of how children’s behaviour changes when they are shown how to connect to their body; these simple exercises would not just change education, they would change everything – how we relate to ourselves, how we relate to each other, how we walk, talk, think and plan, absolutely everything.
Yes, Gabriele, bringing focus and presence to the body can even help deal with trauma, so we should not underestimate the power of what is being shared here.
Great point. If we learned more about how to look after ourselves (our bodies) we would be well on our way to improving our ill health and alleviating the increasing tension placed on our public health systems.
I can see how valuable these exercises could be for children Gyl, as you describe it allows each child to stop to take a moment and connect with themselves and feel their bodies and come back to themselves.
I agree what seems like such subtle and simple movements in connective tissue exercises yet are so powerful, highlight for me how it is always the quality of the energy that we move in that makes the difference.
When I take the time to connect to the quality of my movements there is much more of me or presence in what I do. Just as you describe Gyl there is less rushing and agitation and this can be felt by others.
Every moment we honour our bodies and what they are telling us, we are loosening the apparently vice like grip our minds and the rush of life seem to have over us. And yes wouldn’t it be great to support our kids with this.
Having recently had a session with Kate Greenaway Twist I can understand why the children respond to the Esoteric Connective Tissue Therapy .The movements are very simple but amazingly effective and my whole day felt completely different after the session. What you are bringing to the school Gyl, is very powerful and incredibly supportive for both the children and the teachers
Thank you for sharing. A very inspiring story.
How powerful for those kids to have you in their life showing them that someone cares about them and how they feel more than the knowledge they can put down on paper and the number it matches up to
These statistics are so mind-blowing. How can we be tolerating such a society? My, and I presume many others’, reaction to these kinds of numbers and facts has so often been a sense of over-whelm – “how on earth do we reverse the tide” and from that over-whelm I would often go in to just simply ignoring it and continuing in my own little bubble. But your blog, and many experiences that I have had along the same lines, show absolutely categorically that the solutions are so achingly simple, affordable, enact-able and deeply effective. Thus the responsibility is firmly at our door. We, each of us, have the power to effect very real change.
I feel this too Gyl, “I experience children coming into the classroom and school – be it at the start of the day, morning break, or lunchtime – feeling anxious and disconnected from their bodies” by offering the children a moment to connect to their bodies even by bringing awareness to their feet inside their shoes enables the edginess to dissolve and a settlement to occur.
It makes so much sense to work with children in this way. It brings them a tool that they will be able to use for life. This is true eduation.
So true Rebecca learning to connect with our bodies and move them in such a way which reflects our tenderness and power is indeed true education.
Such a great evidence that all what is needed is the simplicity of attending to the body! Love it, Gyl you are presenting the future of our education system, based on the past and the now as it comes from the universal truth.
Kids today (as well as adults) don’t feel settled and ready to learn as the learning is all about the mind and not about the body. The mind will never be satisfied when it is not walking along with the body’s activity. We have to start attending to the body and stop pandering the mind!!
Gyl, you are building the new foundations of what education needs that builds the relationship with themselves.
It does make sense if we feel unsettled, that children do also, as they are so much more in touch and can feel everything. Choosing to be self responsible and making sure your end of things is as together and connected as you can be at any given time, supports them to come back to a balance that they more easily return to if we create the space for them to do so.
It is quite interesting that the education of children either ignores the body – sitting in class rooms – or asks children to harden their bodies – sport and competition when the answer is for children to come back to their body.
The way we think of stress and anxiety, it often can be quite dramatic. But the more we build this relationship with our body the more we get to see, stress has a way of being that is in a sense quite subtle and sneaky. Before you know it you walk around with you shoulders hunched up and your back rolled over – and pretty soon this is what we call ‘normal’ or healthy. How stunningly beautiful then Gyl to have simple exercises that help us come back to simplicity and connection. The more I choose these in my day, the more I feel like making the biggest thank you note the world has seen, because these small movements and subtle adjustments lead to huge changes in me.
Brilliant Gyl! Amongst all the stress and tension that kids face on a daily basis from peers, school, family issues – and growing up in today’s crazy world, we have this amazing tool that can support us and bring us back to the the simplicity and beauty of our true nature. How wonderful is that!
We all have a marker in our body for being ourselves. The moment we loose that foundation we get unsettled in our bodies. So let’s observe our kids without judgment and understand what is truly going on when there is havoc in the classroom. The way of educating them might be the reason for them to be so unsettled.
What would our world be like if we Truly Supported everybody to Connect to their Body?
‘What would our education system be like if we truly supported our kids to connect to their body?’ …. It would be awesome, a system that was truly supporting our children during a very vulnerable stage in their lives, a system that encouraged them to reach for the stars, not for the benefit of the school’s ranking, but for themselves and their own development.
No wonder the child asked for the exercises on the day you were going to miss them – he or she was missing them too!
When I read the statistics in this blog Gyl I felt deep appreciation for what the quality of care you have for your body and because of that what you are then naturally offering to the students in your care.
‘this raciness can drive me to react to a child’s behaviour in school.’ this is true for many of us at work – our colleagues or, in your case, the children, can come together with all sorts of things going on in their home lives which can leave them unsettled and unprepared for the day ahead, and we can all react to each other and set up a deadly atmosphere that is unproductive and totally drains everyone. Introducing these gentle exercises that bring everyone back into their bodies sounds an amazing way to start the day.
This is an awesome illustration of how we can help children help themselves, and that there is much to be gained from supporting children at this stage to learn connection and the benefits that flow from that, rather than having to manage all the problems that arise from a lifetime of disconnection – lack of confidence, anxiousness, depression, and on to alcohol, drugs, pornography etc.
In fact being connected to our bodies is the only way to truly learn. Without this connection it is just about retained knowledge for dissemination at a later date – I know that this been my approach for a long time constantly striving for strategies to enhance my retention ability when all the time, all I had to do was connect to my body and start to let the knowledge becoming a livingness that then requires no effort to have and share.
I do see the changes in the kids that you have described as a very big deal. So many teachers get frazzled and are at a loss with how to manage 30 odd kids in the classroom. Not only are the kids happier and more connected they are no doubt more able to focus and learn. This is something that would be amazing in all schools, for the teachers and kids.
Moving with respect for the connective tissue, does very much affect vitality and energy levels. Moving in a forced or harsh way that tightens and hardens the connective tissue is draining, as it goes against the way we naturally were designed to move. Its like trying to move moving parts, without any oil or grease.
I always wonder what people think is meant by the saying ‘moving with quality’. Its one of those things you need to feel for yourself before you get the ‘aha’ moment. For me it is moving with respect of my body and maintaining the known feeling of when my connective tissue is feeling open, free and spacious. This can begin with deliberately choosing to be gentle but it becomes a flowing feeling where my body moves me, rather than me moving/forcing it to move.
I would have to agree that connective tissue exercises are nothing like traditional stretching or gym exercises. When people first start doing connective tissue exercises it can take a while before they let go of that way of moving. Often there is still a forcing or pushing the body. Whereas there is no trying in connective tissue exercise. It allows the body to open up as much as it can, and the slightest movement creates a very tangible change in the way the body feels and moves.
True education can only come through/from the body…..this is the foundation of all true learning.
Your blog touched me very deeply Gyl. Oh that all children could experience this and have you as their teacher. This is such power-full stuff….thank you for being at the forefront of much needed change in our education systems worldwide.
“What if we knew that by changing how we move and our posture, we can change our thoughts and behaviours, from ones of negativity, disconnection, depression and discontent, to being engaged, feeling lovely, much more open and ready to receive and learn.”- a simple technique, but what a profound effect it can have on our whole body- mentally and physically, as shown by our school children in the classroom. Thank you Gyl for sharing the power of esoteric connective tissue through body posture and awareness.
What if we knew that by changing how we move and our posture, we can change our thoughts and behaviours, from ones of negativity, disconnection, depression and discontent, to being engaged, feeling lovely, much more open and ready to receive and learn.
Imagine how classrooms, schools and communities might change if all teachers began their lessons in this way, offering an opportunity for children to connect to their bodies first.
I’m not a teacher, but you’re inspiring me to spread the word on the changes you are making within your classroom to all the educators I know.
This is such a brilliant and simple technique to bring to a classroom. Connecting with our body eliminates competition and pressures we may be carrying without even realising. This opens us up to truly learn.
Love it Gyl. I believe you when you say that there is difference in the classroom after some connection exercises. It makes complete sense, because when have we ever been taught to check in with our bodies? We’ve never even been taught that we actually need to care for them, we just drag them around and expect them to keep up. What an amazing and yet so simple and practical thing to do. And how powerful it is. It doesn’t have to be hard, and you’re proving that right here!
“… supporting my body to return to a natural harmonious way of moving, from the inside out.” My experience of connective tissue exercise is exactly this, coming from an awareness of what I am feeling inside me and expressing it through the most exquisite, tender and realigning movement. To bring this to children to support them to remain with this sensitivity as they grow older is a god send.
This is such a powerful blog Gyl. The statistics you quote are alarming and highlight the need to truly connect to and meet children. You have shown how easy it is to bring children back to themselves and as a result create a more conducive learning environment. This is amazing and truly inspiring.
The stats of mental ill health, depression and emotional problem are deeply alarming and should be front-page news. Yet, we have accepted these as a normal part of growing up. You have shared something so simple that is easy to apply and can make a huge difference to how a child feels about themselves in the day. It’s so worth taking a few minutes at the start of each lesson to settle everyone and to allow a moment of connection…this they can apply in their own time too. Completely brilliant Gyl.
None of the focus at school is on who you are as a person – during my exam period they where saying stress was good for you, rather than stopping and seeing that the effect prolonged stress was having on these kids was hugely detrimental. Kids are not vital and glowing with youth and love, they are more often than not weighted down by school and peer pressure and statics are showing the increase in drugs, alcohol and self harm – we cannot say our current education system is working when on so many levels it is failing our kids. To bring a focus to the body and that actually who we are and how we feel are important and do have a place is a breath of fresh air.
“what would our education be like if we truly supported our kids to connect to their body before they learn?”…I think remarkably different. I know how much my life has changed in the past 5 years since I have learnt (and continue to do so) to (re)connect to my body. It’s a whole new ball game – life is much more solid when you are in your body and you can cope with the stressors of life much more easily.
Wow! Gyl, I found what you have presented works the same for me and I am 63 years old. And what I have found is that when ‘I commit to doing these exercises every morning when I get up, and every night before I go to bed’ it turns my whole day upside down in a good way.
I like that, Fiona, whole-body-mindedness. This is definitely the way forward.
“The talking stops, the children all settle into their bodies and are ready to start the day, the lesson, and receive what there is to learn.” How confirming Gyl that the children are so ready, so willing to be called to the one place from which they learn and experience life, through their bodies, not through the portal of their heads as is currently taught by our education system.
Well said, Lucinda. This simple approach to learning by connecting first to the body is so obvious as a way forward, I am confounded that it is not in every school curriculum from kindergarten upwards.
Amazing Gyl, the simplicity and yet the giant impact of what you are offering to these children is huge – I am greatly inspired. I am a swimming teacher and too have found that the children make amazing self discovery when you ask them to be aware of their bodies, their movements and breath.
Gyl what you write about here is a huge deal, especially as those children will grow up and go onto secondary school where from all accounts it can be quite full on for the teenagers, so learning the difference of how it feels to be in their bodies and then finding it easier to learn is massive – this should be taught in every school and then maybe the teachers would not be as stressed also.
Finding it easier to learn, and so much more fun. When we make learning something experiential and tangible and not just something to be learned by the mind, it’s a process that engages the whole body and is so much more enjoyable than the absorption of cold hard facts.
Connection with the body is exactly what is missing in education, and it just so happens to be the key that would change the education system from something that harms to something that supports. I have been amazed to begin to fully feel the effects of the education system on my body and how it effects everyone. Your blog brings a lot of light to what is happening in education, and how to bring true education to the world.
Gyl I do love your sharing here as it was nothing like my school experience, well the connecting to the body part. I do find it fascinating that we make education solely about the mind and “intelligence” when we then ignore the body and the far greater intelligence it holds.
What Gyl has presented here to me is huge! A teacher supporting the pupils to connect to themselves before class begins… I’m not surprised the pupil put his hand up asking for the Connective Tissue Exercises. I have three children of my own and sometimes when I meet them off the bus from a day at school I don’t know what’s hit me as the energy they are in can be very draining. I have become more aware of this recently that is the difference in the quality of my energy during the day and after I have picked them up. I have much to ponder on here. Thank you Gyl for sharing as I enjoyed reading very much your experience with the Connective Tissue Exercises and how they are supporting you during the day and also very inspiring in not holding back but sharing the exercises with the pupils. Awesome!
Children know, we all know what is needed in any moment and the pupil putting his hand up and asking for the Connective Tissue Exercises is a beautiful confirmation, clearly feeling the effects and impact on his body and the quality in the room from doing the exercises – beautiful.
Wow Gyl you just set the foundation for what in future will be sports or physical exercise in schools. Moving with the body and not against it.
True education comes from the body and is about the body. To deepen our awareness and with this responsibility is true education.
Beautifully said Rachel, moving with the body and not against it – it really is that simple.
This is what needs to be looked and studied as the results and impact that it is having on the children is significant. It would be great to see with this learning approach what the grades would be like. I know from my own personal experience that if I am learning something and I fully embody and feel it completely in my body because I am fully connected to my body that this then becomes a knowing in me.
These figures ought to be a show stopper when we put down all our tools and look at what is required, because what is in place is clearly not working. I love what you have shared here Gyl. If we are genuine in our care and commitment to truly support our kids, findings such as what is shared here need to be looked into and taken seriously. In fact we could even learn a thing a two about how this applies to our own lives as adults too.
A beautiful and very needed and real sharing Gyl. Bringing it back to the body first in education is so needed as the statistics with not only children’s health but teacher health are showing this. Daily I use simple exercises from both connective tissue with Kate Greenaway-Twist and other esoteric modalities that support me to remain in my body and in connection with myself during my school day as a teacher. Both the students and I benefit from this connection. Bringing body first to education would be far more supportive.
Something we have yet to realise as a humanity is the power of intelligence that is at our disposal via honouring and developing our connection to the whole of our body. When you learn to move with such presence, it comes with it a way of understanding life that consistently offers revelation.
How amazing that you can get this sort of support via internet! Amazing also that the body can unlock the ill patterns held.
Gyl, the importance of what you just shared was felt in my whole body. What I have observed and felt with troublesome behaviour is that, time and care hasn’t been taken to make space where one can find their stillness and feel how connected and amazing they are. Because of this a marker, or place in their bodies that knows their true loving, tender self, has not been felt. This marker would help them to feel when they are away from their incredible self. What you are teaching the kids is a life skill that could change there world, awesome Gyl.
This is beautiful Gyl and makes such a difference in the lives of kids, their parents and the teachers. To actually connect with the students and feel what it is that is required to support them as individuals and a class I have no doubt will support them as people in society, not only their education.
Generally there is an attitude to exercise in society, that it needs to hurt, be frenetic, be competitive, not one of these is necessary and we benefit so much more from truly connecting, strengthening and releasing exercises that support the whole body and how we feel in our body. Connecting with how we feel and exercising from there allows us to make choices from an increased awareness, rather than living on emotion and heady thoughts that can sabotage us. IT supports the whole of us.
Being goal orientated in school, brings attention to the mind rather than the whole body. And it is not about just racing around the playground or running as fast as you can. Connection with the body is a significant support for children and adults alike. Great that the connective tissue exercises have been established in the schools that you work at. And great that they are being appreciated.
The statistics you quote are staggering. With the rise in mental health issues, self-harming and suicide rates in children and teenagers across the world, is it not worth introducing projects like this that clearly make a huge difference to the school day – as noted by the children themselves. What more confirmation could be needed?!
‘The classroom goes from being noisy, messy, not in the literal sense, but more the kids being ‘in their head’, distracted and all over the place’ – I love how you’ve written and exposed this Gyl. Things can become very loud and messy because of how we are in our heads and the quality of our movements. I know there are times when I can be alone with no physical noise around me but everything feels very noisy because of the noise in my head and the thoughts I’m letting in.
To truly support our children in school to connect to their bodies, would be great to have connective tissue classes in school for all the teachers, so that they learn the exercises and can then do them for themselves…. then each teacher brings a different quality to the classroom.
Fantastic that you have introduced the children you teach to some connective tissue exercises. I am also taking group classes with Kate, and have found the connective tissue exercises such a support for my body, which allows me to feel more of my body and in my body. Connective tissue is a huge support for the body no matter what age.
Schools are getting far more intense than ever with pressures increasingly being placed on students at younger and younger ages. With such intensity, such a simple technique is not only needed it is essential.
And this intensity is waining on our children – missing supporting them as a person and preparing them for being in all of life.
What’s so lovely here is that the children actually want to do the exercises. It seems this is a great way to bring everyone together at the beginning of the class- and maybe the end too. When the children realise they can do this for themselves it will support even more their relationships with parents and everyone. Other teachers too could benefit from doing these exercises for themselves and for their children. What a great gift we have here,
True, it is just like they have been waiting and asking for someone to offer them connection, depth and stillness. Connective Tissue Exercises are deeply supportive. The children were clearly so receptive and appreciative, this is awesome.
Yeah I agree Elaine. This is very cool and actually shows that it is a deeply natural way of being for all of us. Something we do all know and want.
Wow Gyl, how amazing this is!! Firstly that you have been committing to your own development and building within yourself a stillness and connection that clearly is working. Then to take that out to the kids you teach, so amazing and incredibly inspiring.
Yes it is so amazing. I simply love how Gyl has taken this to the kids with no holding back about the true support this offers the body and the children as people and their learning.
I love coming back to read this, Gyl, as it gives me a sense of the way forward. In a world that is spinning out of control, simple exercises in connecting to and feeling the body encourage personal responsibility and a foundation that we can rely on, to guide us through the challenges of life and constantly remind us that we are so much more than what we have allowed ourselves to become.
Gyl, I love reading this, I can feel how simple what you are sharing is and how profound being in our bodies and not our heads is, how wonderful for the children in your school to be able to feel the difference so clearly, it makes complete sense to focus on being in the body and then the learning, concentration and openness is naturally there.
True Rebecca. And to add, it makes total sense that when we surrender to our natural way in our bodies that we will naturally learn better and easier.
Interestingly also, is the trend of increasing divorce rates, on top of the alarming youth mental health statistics that have been raised in this article, indicating relationship and communication breakdown – an inability to relate to each other in a way that is wholesome and well. I often speak with people about the paucity of these “essential to life” subjects – that is – relationships and communication, NOT being in the curriculum at school. To me – these form the foundation of life and society and clearly – with the way the world is, we are failing. What if relationships and true communication was a core subject that you had to pass, and that was considered more important than maths or science?? What if you had to show, in all your interactions at school, your care and consideration for, yourself and for people AS something that was considered essential to your learning? We assume that these skills are going to be learned along the way – but often they are not and it seems to me that they are considered secondary to the academic subjects – What if they were considered equally important?
All these things come from the body – rather than the mind – or should I say – the mind – the part of us that has been running the show has somehow gone off course – paying attention to the body – communicating, living and relating from our hearts may just be the answer.
Gyl you wrote: “When it comes to school we often put far too much pressure and focus on the mind and the intellect, forgetting about the body; we make it all about goals, attainment and grades – as every teacher knows and will tell you if you sit down and honestly speak with them.” What made me a bit sad is that not all teachers are speaking up about the situation at school as it seems that they too can feel that there is something wrong.
What you describe you do in your classes is actually so simple Gyl. It made me question: why do we not have this already in every school? Exercises that emphasise on connecting to our body first as our minds do only brings in the raciness, restlessness and clutter that we see that much not only in children, but in adults too. This would be true education and of great value for the rest of your life.
My son, who is eight years old and in grade two would benefit immensely from a more balanced approach to education. He feels the pressure of doing everything mentally, in the head and is much more concrete and physical than the education system will at the time accommodate. He is an incredibly intelligent child, who would benefit from this approach.
The education of the body and connection is far far greater than any education of an empty mind. There is no contest – the intelligence of the body is the true intelligence…how i (we) have been taken in by the so-called intelligence or intellectualness of the mind and its presiding in arrogance, over the humbleness of an honest body and what this reveals on so many levels.
Hear hear Zofia. I love it. ‘The education of the body’
For it is well known that the body holds all the wisdom in the world so we do need to make the effort to allow this to be there.
As a child i recall absolutely loving the classes we had at infant school on body movement, where the teacher would get us to move and sway our body like the branches on a tree… and i remember feeling how my body was, felt, and everything around me, including the other students, i had no inhibitions, felt safe, and could hear the leaves on the trees outside rustling in the wind, the wind itself speaking as i moved my body. It was my favourite class out of all of classes, i loved this time. Loved this connection to my body, and everything around me. I lost that connection when school became serious and studious, and i grew up and studied absent of any body connection, and with it confidence too. Body connection at school is of essential and paramount importance in confirming a child and supporting them with trust to know who they are, and to be confident about themselves.
A student will forever remember their teachers for the impact they had, positive or negative. We needn’t place more importance on grades and academic performance over supporting young people to build a strong foundation of self-worth, love and care for themselves and others. Because you have done this for yourself Gyl, you are able to easily guide your students in this way.
What a gift to be able to support children and young people to come back to their body and breath when they are being bombarded with a lot of messages and pressures that take them from the truth of who they are.
I see it daily the stress from parents working fulltime and having to then look after children after they have picked them up by 6pm. It’s a long day and because we haven’t learnt or been taught about self care and how supportive it can be for us, we struggle through our day exhausted and then have more to contend with when we pick up the kids. This I feel contributes to kids checking out on computers, ipads and tv because the parents feel they just need a break and don’t have time to really connect with themselves, let alone their children. Learning basic movements to bring us back to our bodies is simple to do and would be a enormous help to ease the pressure and anxiety most feel.
Put this way we can see Gyl that we are all effectively in the classroom of life, learning to return to the power of our bodies. We attribute so much importance to academic learning yet what I get from what you share is something as simple as an Esoteric Connective Tissue Exercise, is something that can actually stay with us our whole life. It’s a tool to connect we can return to any time, and from this place we can access knowledge and a knowing that is truly divine, in a way that far eclipses the knowledge and facts we store in books.
Very good question: “what would our education be like if we truly supported our kids to connect to their body before they learn? ” How would our education system be like if we would honor energetic laws? How would the world be like? You Gyl make a great start here and it is very inspiring! Please share more from your workplace and your experiences with children and education by honoring the fact that all is energy and our connection with our bodies. Love to read more about it.
This is important information for anyone related to education to take heed of, as surely a technique that settles kids into their bodies so that they are present and ready to learn is something to be explored across the board? It would make sense to have these exercises as a fundamental part of the school day.
‘What if we knew that by changing how we move and our posture, we can change our thoughts and behaviours’ – In my experience this is so true Gyl. I used to have many self-loathing thoughts come into my head and this has now dramatically lessened as I have found way that can offset them – by changing my movements and making a conscious choice to bring attention to how I am with my body, how I pick up things, how I walk etc.
I agree that currently in education we are training young people essentially to be walking and talking brains that can remember and regurgitate information but we are not really preparing people for the world. Is it no wonder then that young people and adults are struggling to cope as evidenced by these statistics?
Gyl what you are presenting here as a model for teaching is huge. You should do a study on this!
To be connected to our bodies and a deeper stillness within us before we move or do anything is a science in itself that Serge Benhayon has been presenting for some time. It guarantees the quality of energy we move in and therefore the quality of our movements and even our thoughts.
I have also worked with Kate’s inspired connective tissue exercises both as a client and practitioner and can say they are revolutionary in terms of what we currently believe the goal of exercise to be.
Gyl you are such a good role model for all the kids. Perhaps you should also be a role model for the teacher as well – you wrote: “What if we knew that by changing how we move and our posture, we can change our thoughts and behaviours, from ones of negativity, disconnection, depression and discontent, to being engaged, feeling lovely, much more open and ready to receive and learn.” How beautiful would it be if all teachers around the world could get this insight.
Gyl this sounds wonderful and something so simple for teachers to implement the world around – perhaps you can share the two exercises and post this on utube or somewhere in a teachers federation – newsletter ! I am always feeling disturbed at how we are forcing our young ones into their heads at an earlier and earlier age both with education and the electronic games they are given to play at such young ages – we do need to bring this awareness to many people – especially when the children are then often diagnosed and drugged for being hyperactive!!!
How gorgeous Gyl, the children can really feel the difference in their bodies – true science – ‘One pupil, even pulled me up because I wasn’t going to do the Connective Tissue Exercises and instead was going to start the work straight away that I had planned – as I had one lesson to do this in – and had gone ‘into my head’ and motion to get it done. He put his hand up and said: “Are we not going to do those exercises?” and then demonstrated one of them. I laughed, smiled and said yes, as he called what the class and I needed in that moment.’
Those statistics are staggering and seriously scary. The exercise you introduced for yourself and the children sound like they really did support the relationship with your body over the mental energy. What a great inspiration you are for all those children and you’re not just doing your thing and leaving it there. You are sharing the finest detail in how connecting to the body is a fundamental process for true health, clarity and vitality.
A great question Gyl… the impact would not only be in education but something they take with them for the rest of their lives… it would be a worldwide game-changer – with our youth bringing forth the stillness the world so desperately needs.
Children are so open and receptive, and very much connected to their bodies – after all it is our natural way of being, so to bring them back to their natural way is a gift for life Gyl… very inspiring to read. This needs to be shared far and wide especially within education.
Love the simplicity you present here Gyl… by doing 2 Connective Tissue exercises the whole classroom changes! For one, how powerful are these exercises, and two, how simple and easy is it? How often do we go into great detail with long term studies trying to solve issues e.g. childrens behaviour, when it can be this simple.
I agree Gyl, we tend to put too much focus and pressure on our mind and intellect that we forget what it is like to connect to our body. Yet our body is so sacred, divine and intelligent. It is incredible and inspiring how you have brought what you’ve learnt to the children in your class. To support them to reconnect to their body will support their learning and support them to connect to themselves and to others too. This is such a joy to read and appreciate what you bring and share with the world. Truly inspiring Gyl, thank you.
As a Mum of 3 boys, I can so relate to what you share, Gyl. Everything in life is encouraging them to ‘live in their heads’, yet they feel so much better in themselves when given the space to connect to their bodies. They love it and we get to enjoy their amazingness.
Gyl what you are doing with these children is showing them a true love and respect that they all deserve, but most have probably never experienced in this lifetime. How incredible to be able to show them with these exercises that they are worth taking care of and that they can also take care of themselves in this way. It is inspirational to read that these simple exercises are having such a positive impact and so effortlessly – I can think of no better way than to start a lesson or even the whole day in this way.
These statistics are staggering and should be all over the front pages of our newspapers every single day until we find a way to change the crisis in our younger generations. There are many very willing people out there that are setting up programs but nothing has brought true and lasting change because we have not made the change within ourselves. You made the effort and commitment Gyl to change within yourself so that what you offer is not a quick fix, a method or an idea(l) but something you have lived and experienced within your own body and only from that place can you share it and bring true change.
Gyl this is absolute Gold and should become mandatory for each teacher to experience within themselves and then share with their classes. As you say our young are under so much stress, and so are our teachers, that help is very much needed. The power of these simple exercises when done from a livingness is immeasurable, as it is not just in the class, but in their whole lives and their future that the benefits of this will play out.
Working in a school also, with nursery children, the push to make the focus about what is learnt starts at a very early age and it is very obvious in younger children when they are being asked to do something that doesn’t feel right for them as they wriggle and squirm so much! If this is happening I always feel it is important to take notice and ask what is going on. I often get a sense that they are being asked to only work from their head and their body is reacting to the disconnection as the task does not feel natural for them so yes absolutely I agree “When it comes to school we often put far too much pressure and focus on the mind and the intellect, forgetting about the body; we make it all about goals, attainment and grades”
What a beautiful blog, I loved reading it and I am actually very curious right now what these exercises are. This should be the start of every classroom in the world!
Kate Greenaway-Twist certainly has a way with the body. I’ve been in a live course with her before and absolutely appreciated the playfulness and inquisitiveness she has with the body, how it moves and the science we are all living by virtue of being alive.
‘…moving with quality, rather than in a mechanical way.’ Once this is realised and understood, movement takes on a whole other meaning. No longer is it just the physical body we are moving, but HOW we are moving it that brings so much more presence and awareness to life.
Our bodies are such great markers and tools we can use to check in with how things are going and way we are living. To be able to give this to the children you teach is great. Otherwise like with most of us we wait until things get out of control until we seek to arrest the problem. The body shows us straight away.
What a great way to turn education on its head! A school has been about losing who we are in the factory that is preparing us for the world we are heading to like young salmon reaching the sea. What if we can do both, keep who we are and let the world grow with us. Amazing times in education are here with teachers like you and others Gyl.
School classes are divided into two kinds: those that rely upon mental faculties and those that offer relief (playground and physical education). What about introducing reconnection and work through it on how we teach and learn? Perhaps relief will not be needed any longer.
The statistics cited in this blog are great. Yet, the truth that is enough to simply walk in a High School and observe people to realise the extent to which education is a system run under the sign of disconnection and how devastating this is for everyone.
One of the lessons learned during the project intervention I have referred to in another comment to this blog, was the fact that it is not easy for a kid to hold himself after being treated if the rest of the class is still running on business as usual, even more if the person treated is a leader in the creation of disturbance and people require its services. That is why is so important to do class exercises that are able to work with everybody at the same time.
In a recent project carried in a local high school, we offered short sessions of connective tissue therapy to kids and to teachers. The difference between what came to us and what went back to the classroom was staggering. Totally out of control kids, running in a really high level of nervous tension, totally unable to pay attention and to stop misbehaving and attracting others into their drive were able to stop and to connect back to themselves. The results were absolutely impressive. Teachers could not believe the change in these disruptive kids that taxed everyone on the class and they were extremely thankful for this.
This blog confirms 100% the hypothesis behind a project we carried also in a local high school. Disconnection from self and the body (inside and outside the school) has a huge negative impact on everything (learning and behaviour) and it is absolutely necessary to help them to connect back and to understand that they hold the responsibility of the quality they bring to school everyday and that such quality has an impact on everybody.
I remember far more about my teachers, the impression they made; and the way they were with me than I do about what we learnt within each lesson. I still remember intricate details of my relationship with my school teachers to this day.
‘We are putting all this before the real reason we are there; to connect to and build relationships with the kids, which supports them to trust, learn and grow into responsible adults, fully committed to life.’
This is very true, and we cannot underestimate the value of every relationship in a child’s life. The learning aspect in school is important, but the quality of relationships built is invaluable.
The body is where the truth and all wisdom is felt – the education system focuses on taking the kids out of their body and keeping them in their heads. Huge separation of the most evil kind and sadly we currently have a society that celebrates this.
Being in connection to our bodies keeps us deeply in touch with who we are – a revelation to be taught this at school where the majority of our focus has been on developing the mind which has led to such a disconnection from feeling the truth within.
Great change comes from very simple acts. It does not take long to change the world. Perhaps 2 minutes of Connective Tissue Exercise each day is is all that is needed.
Wow Nikki you could be right! The answers to our problems are always very simple.
Wow. Gyl, what you are offering the kids is hugely powerful.
It is so amazing that you brought this into your classes. This should be introduced in the school system to support the body, as this is also so important in learning how to be functioning adult in society, whith commitment and responsibility to yourself and to life.
What you share here show so beautifully what an effect being aware of the body has on our wellbeing, and this of the children. It is indeed so important to not forget our body, as that is what the whole system is build on, forgetting our bodies through the intense activation of the mind, which only brings problems with it as I know so well, classes are never in rest there are always people who can’t be still, in a constant need of activation.
Gyl your sharing is very appreciated – thank you. I can feel the call to choose a stop moment much more often in my day to check in with my body for all the reason you out-line. As adults we don’t have a teacher to support us to regulate our bodies along the way. We are the responsible ones to choose this for ourselves and no task is greater or more important than our connection with our bodies, no matter what the mind thinks up.
Awesome blog – what your showing is how sometimes taking time out to connect doesn’t waste time, but supports for more to be done and in a far better quality. We cannot keep with the way we treat our bodies as secondary to everything else, and this lesson is such a valuable one for those kids.
The stats that you present is scary stuff – we need to really honestly start looking at WHY?
How amazing that the children can feel the difference in their own bodies, to such extent that someone pulls you up when you attempt to go ahead with class without offering the excersises first. Imagine if the norm was that every student was supporting and pulling each other up whenever it was needed.
It is crucial for everyone to know that our posture and the way we move, higly influence the way we feel about ourselves, and how immensely it impacts on every choice we make. This should be a standard teaching for every human being.
‘You may not think this is such a big deal, but when we look at the bigger picture IT IS, with the rise in mental health issues, self-harming and suicide rates in children and teenagers across the world.’ Often big issues have simple solutions. The impact of the smallest of movements can have a profound impact on how we feel within ourselves.
I have had sessions in Esoteric Connective Tissue Therapy and I love it as this modality brings my body into a very gentle and tender state – it releases all the hardness of life that I have taken on and reminds me again that inside me is the vitality and tenderness of a baby.
Your report is incredible how a few simple and gentle exercises can have such an impact on the behavior and moods of children. I guess ultimately it is the same for adults, we are just more desensitized.
Thank you Gyl for opening our eyes and bringing our awareness to these dramatic statistics and the desperate need for stillness and connection amongst us and especially teaching this to our children what a difference this can make.
Thank you Gyl Rae for making a start at bringing something truly helpful into schools. May it spread like wild-fire in a parched land.
Oh how we could all use a way to get back into our bodies and be with ourselves more; oh what un-ending benefits would arise from this for the individuals and for the world.
Our children are our future. If our schools are not working, let’s do something different! Serge Benhayon is presenting something different and it has helped me to be more in my body and not as racy.
It is very powerful to be a role model as a teacher as Gyl clearly is here. Her kids have more fun and are easiest to work and play with.
Amazing article Gyl, what you are sharing here is huge and feels like the future of teaching where the children are supported to be in their bodies and not in their heads. An area I am particularly interested in is children’s diet and play at school and how these affect the children, I have noticed that after playing sports the children are very racy and competitive and after eating sugary foods at lunchtime they are buzzy and that the foods and play affect how they go into the classrooms in the afternoons.
I have experienced connective tissue exercises also with Kate Greenaway-Twist, and found them profoundly supportive in bringing me into a very steady and still place, light and free and ready to face the world. That you are sharing this with children and getting such a great response is wonderful. This needs to be in every classroom.
It’s so important that children learn to connect with their bodies and have consistent check-ins with how they’re feeling, because as you share Gyl there are enormous pressures now being imposed on kids from very young ages and this connection supports them to trust how THEY feel and not go along with what other people say/impose on them.
This is a simple but powerful point – “by changing how we move and our posture, we can change our thoughts and behaviours”. Is this not an accessible and easy way to bring greater presence and body awareness to children of all ages, who are struggling to stay connected to what is going on inside them and cope with daily pressures?
‘You may not think this is such a big deal, but when we look at the bigger picture IT IS, with the rise in mental health issues, self-harming and suicide rates in children and teenagers across the world.’ Yes, Gyl this is a big deal! When we consider the real state children are living in. Mindfulness is a trend that is sweeping across the UK, but that’s just it… it focuses on the mind not the body and misses this important bit out. Connecting to the body in the way you describe changes everything in a very simple way and is much needed in schools today.
Imagine the change in the stats you quoted in your article if all schools introduced these exercises before each lesson. Eventually a lot of kids would be able to come back to this marker if they choose to and change the propensity to have a mental illness.
The kids cannot concentrate because they are not in their bodies, they are off in their heads, makes sense that these simple yet profound exercises support them back to their body therefore enabling them to focus on the lesson and take in what is being taught. Definitely need to role this out in all schools.
What a difference there is, in the description between pre and post connective tissue body movements. Reconnection to the body really does bring the heart back into everything. Thank you for sharing, and yes, it seems clear to me how the improvement of wellbeing in children would flow onto producing well balanced adults of the future.
Connective Tissue Exercises support the body both physically and energetically. They are super simple yet deeply profound in their affects on the body. A very different way of exercising that offers the body true rest, deep connection and release through this connection.
I agree with you, I think this is a big deal, as supporting kids to re-connect to their body and to start the day in this connection changes the whole way they approach their school day. Awesome work Gyl
By teaching kids to remain connected with their body, to see it as precious and honour themselves would solve a lot of the problems that we see today in teenagers such as increased levels of stress, anxiety, self-harming, pornography etc. A loving connection with our body is a solid foundation for life and should be taught in every school worldwide.
This is an enormous contribution to a child’s education Gyl. To connect, feel they can be with themselves, choose gentleness, know how to rest and rejuvenate for themselves, or at least balance the excitation in their lives and come to an honesty of being that way – and so much more through these beautiful, tender, simple movements that connective tissue exercise offers.
The kids would literally lap it up because they already know it and would feel it immediately. This is a way of true education that is being brought to the world by Serge Benhayon.
Children can feel how stifling the current education system really is. My experience with young people has been that they question why they are being asked to perform in such a specific way. Allowing them to connect with themselves first with your exercises would completely change their approach to their learning, allowing them to come more from their bodies, which is our natural way, rather than their heads.
What you are offering in your classroom will be having such a beautiful ripple effect throughout the whole school, into the homes of the children and beyond. It is so simple and it makes total sense, when we choose to connect to ourselves and the love that we are, what we are then sharing with each other changes into being so much more with so much potential, the sky is not the limit is way bigger than that.
I have introduced the gently breath meditation to some of my classes. It works very well after lunch when they can come back to class rather boisterous. I was surprised at how willing the students were to trying it, and even after just one time where I introduced it for 5 minutes, the same class were asking for it again the next time I saw them. This shows me that young people are crying out for something that gives them an opportunity to just be.
The statistics you have shared Gyl are very disturbing and I see the evidence of them in some of the students I come into contact with at work. Starting a class with the simple connective tissue movements is obviously having a big impact. Students are timetabled to the hilt and you are offering them a moment to stop and simply connect. I am almost certain most students don’t get a chance to do that often.
Gyl Rae takes teaching and learning on to a whole other level. Simply by incorporating the body. This gives a new outlook on what intelligence, success, and achievement truly are and at what cost they come in to our lives.
What would our education be like if we truly supported our kids to connect to their body before they learn? If this was implemented, there would be a huge difference to how kids are as they would get a reflection of what self responsibility looks like from their teachers and this would be the foundation of the curriculum and practices for the children and so they would be fully supported and encouraged to choose to stay with their amazing bodies and work from there, setting them up for truly loving self responsibility and a deep knowing of themselves to boot. No more lack of self confidence.
Gyl this is amazing coming from a teacher. It is so honest in identifying that schooling has become all about the grades and learning and not truly supporting the children. It is amazing to feel the difference that you describe between when the children are settled in their bodies and when they are not.
What your sharing with us in this blog, but most importantly with the kids in your classes is amazing and so very needed. Having just left school and now at university, the pressures and tensions only increase and being brought up and educated from a place that totally discounts the body sets you up to have so many problems. What you are teaching these kids is that it is possible to connect to themselves, AND to learn and do what needs to be done.
This blog is making it very clear how important it is for children to connect to their bodies in order to know themselves, rather than disconnecting from their bodies and constantly looking for attention and recognition. And in doing so, wasting an incredible amount of energy which leads to nervousness and craving sugar to keep pushing themselves through the days. No true confidence will ever be gathered this way. What Gyl is offering here is the opposite, lovingly supporting children to reconnect to their bodies with these gentle, simple exercises. Which will give them the opportunity to find that they feel much more still and loving when they choose to be with themselves. Absolutely GOLD. And an example that deserves global following!
Gyl this is huge – this is so important – for everyone, and yes lets start from very young our kids.
This is great Gyl, we don’t start out with suicidal kids, where are the first steps that lead us away from ourselves, to begin that disconnection we can feel from ourselves and from everyone else. Something so simple as a few exercises to help the children be connected and in their bodies can make a profound difference to their day, and every day, and the ripple effect throughout their work, and relationships with others is immense.
I have experienced before the change in children in classrooms through simple movement and breathing, so it is exciting to read of the development of connective tissue exercises. As having done these myself with Kate Greenaway I can feel how immensely supportive they would be in the class environment and what a huge potential they have to increase the wellbeing of the child and their potential to enjoy the learning having done these movements.
With all the stresses and pressures that most school children today are subjected to wouldn’t it be wonderful to show them that connecting to their bodies with these simple and very gentle, but at that same time profound exercises, can bring them a strong foundation for the lessons ahead. You have clearly shown that teaching children to connect to their bodies before they do anything else can have such a positive impact on the rest of the lesson, their learning, the rest of the day and possibly their future lives.
“We are putting all this before the real reason we are there; to connect to and build relationships with the kids, which supports them to trust, learn and grow into responsible adults, fully committed to life.” Absolutely Gyl. When I first read this I thought ‘no teachers are there to teach children knowledge etc.’, but pondering on it I feel what you are saying is very true, it is about the relationships first and not about getting the children to know things. That will actually naturally happen when the children are met, feel connected to and therefore are connected with themselves. It is natural for us to want to learn and contribute to society in the way we feel, but to be able to connect to that a loving foundation is needed which teachers indeed play a huge support role in.
“The talking stops, the children all settle into their bodies and are ready to start the day, the lesson, and receive what there is to learn.” Wow this is absolutely a revolution in teaching! As far as I know the common way to get kids silent and working with the teacher is discipline, rewards and penalties. Yet here you have a simple connective tissue exercise that helps the children settle and surrender and ready to work with you, the teacher on learning thins. This is really beautiful.
Reading these statistics I’m staggered that we are not talking about this more in our society. The effects of the way of living for the majority of society on the development of our children is clear and yet we still seem to take the head on the sand approach. Initiatives such as this which begin to show another way in changing any trend should be presented across the board so that those things which truly work can be shared.
This is an amazing work, Gyl, and very needed in schools. Thank you for bringing all of you in there.
I am also experience gentle movements based on Esoteric Connective Tissue Therapy as very supportive to come back to my natural flexible flow in my body. It is like we have unlearnt our natural movements once and now can come back to it. To support children here to stay in their natural flow or come back to it is from my view very valuable. To read about how a whole class of children come back to their natural-body-flow and so work together as a group and in harmony is just lovely. What a support!
When kids are ‘hyper’ and ‘racy’ we tend to blame it on the fact that they’re ‘just being kids’, but your blog questions this rightly so and I think it’s so true what you’ve suggested about how children shouldn’t be living in this erratic state of being all the time as it’s very important for them to connect to their bodies and how they feel all the time.
“You may not think this is such a big deal, but when we look at the bigger picture IT IS…” So very true and it is time to look at the education system worldwide and how it is harming big time by producing functioning (although less and less) human resources instead of self-loving human beings who live in constant evolution.
Connective tissue exercises are profound as is the technique also for our bodies and is clearly something so needed to support us and our bodies as one and starting this with children and the effects on their concentration and settlement in the classroom is absolutely amazing and needs to be shared with the whole education system for teachers and the world.
Wow Gyl this is amazing for all children and adults alike. What a difference bringing stillness and connection with such simplicity to the classroom and children it makes This is a gentle reminder of the importance of coming back into our bodies and the beauty of this and also calls out all the pressures and statistics that are really going on and how much this is needed in the world espcially for children and how they they have this to take with them throughout their whole life also.
Gyl one of the things I remember from being a kid was how the class was all about what I could remember, I would be really frustrated at not being able to remember things as well as some of the other kids. Always feeling stupid or not worth anything, with your sharing here today you bring us an entirely different perspective on education. You bring education of connection and being. I would certainly have loved this as the foundation of my classes.
These mental health statistics are shocking to say the least, and the state of wellbeing of the younger generations needs to surely be at the top of every priority list. Initiatives like you describe, Gyl, feel super powerful to introduce in the classroom, as a way for the kids to have balance and settlement back into their bodies, and be better equipped to deal with modern day challenges.
Awesome blog Gyl and what an incredible shift to bring to the class in such a simple and very accessible way. It proves beyond doubt that the missing ingredient, the one that we seemed to have thrown out with the bath water, is Connection, to our bodies, to our selves and to one another. The statistics you list about the state of our children’s health is both shocking and alarming and cannot be ignored. Your approach holds many, many resolutions for us that we would be well to heed, both personally and professionally.
The connection starts with the one I hold to myself, then to the kids in class, then by reflection the kids will be inspired to reconnect themselves to their bodies. This is the true teaching. On top of this maths, physics and chemistry can be added!
Gyl, the success you’ve had using esoteric connective tissue exercises to settle down pupils before lessons start could be shared with other teachers at your school. Imagine how it would be, if each time a child steps into a classroom and before the lesson begins they connect first to their bodies. The bigger picture is introducing this into the curriculum of teachers in training.
Wow this has got to be part of the future of education and teaching. I wonder if there is a way you could record what you’ve found so it could be presented to governments and education boards?
This is definitely a big deal Gyl. If the difference in the children is so obvious then the world needs to sit up and notice. How amazing this would be if it were more widely known.
This is the way of the future Gyl, by including how the body feels in schooling instead of just the mind we will ensure that our kids will get through this learning period of their lives and enter the workforce without being burnt out or exhausted already.
When I was at school cutting did not exist, bulimia and eating disorders were almost unheard of and mental illness if it existed was never discussed. The pressure for children to perform not only at school but with their friends is now a 24/7 thing, there is no time to stop and get themselves back. The stress this cause is compounded daily, no wonder so many are exhausted and given up before they leave school. What you offer Gyl gives the school kids a moment to be themselves without the pressure of the school regime, that in it’s self is a wonderful gift to offer and one that should be explored by the school.
Its a big problem that youth face these kinds of issues, we generally think of our younger days being the times of freedom, but the reality is things are very shocking for the younger generation. Whatever the coping mechanism is, it isn’t working.
Gyl, what you are sharing is wonderful, ‘It’s so important we stop and consider all this, AND what would our education be like if we truly supported our kids to connect to their body before they learn?’ I see the rush and busyness in my local school – I see kids running around getting hurt in the playground, playing sport, and getting boisterous and bringing this into the classroom – I can feel how supportive it would be to support them to stop and re-connect to their bodies and to feel their loveliness, to feel calm and then have their lessons – what a difference this would make for the children and teachers.
‘What would our Education be like if we Truly Supported our Kids to Connect to their Body?’ A great question to ask Gyl…for my money education would be a completely different ball game. Firstly we would be able to live in less anxiety and less stress and be able to observe life more than being caught in it, knowing we are enough as we are. Secondly we would be more connected to our hearts and would be more caring, less competitive and not seeking to dominate others by outdoing them. Thirdly we would activate our innate inner wisdom that supersedes the intelligence we call being intelligent. Yes this would truly change education, as we know it!
I remember well going into a classroom at high school and it “being noisy, messy, not in the literal sense, but more the kids being ‘in their head’, distracted and all over the place”, it was very rare to have a moment of stillness, every moment was needing to be filled with something! If I could do it again, I would be more observant and less reactive to everything that was going on, this would be a great lesson to teach high school kids.
This is a beautiful blog, Gyl. What you are bringing to school is huge. Children really need to feel their body to manage their emotions and all what happens to them during the day. This is a gentle initiative which takes care of them while supports them to be aware of what they feel and responsible of what they do.
I also work in a school and I would really love to offer there something like this. Where can I find more information about Connective Tissue Exercise Programs?
Thank you for sharing your invaluable experience. Hopefully this be expanded to more schools!
Connecting to your breath and to your body is so important. It would be fantastic if all children were brought up to know this. It is my ‘go-to’ default now when I am disconnected and ‘out’.
From the fed-up-ness feeling of slouching, to the openness of straightening my back and letting my shoulders release back and down, I am really beginning to appreciate the power of posture and its influence on my outlook on life. It is gorgeous to consider the impact of us all living with a connection to, and respect for, our bodies.
This is the way forward for the future Gyl, it would bring a bit of love back into education, so as people go through school and university they won’t end up by entering their work life exhausted and burnt out before they even start.
The simplicity of connection is something we override – at our own cost and to our own detriment.
Love what you are offering these young people, Gyl, a very practical way for them to feel the love that they already are in their little bodies and to share this together in the classroom. People are obviously noticing the difference in the classroom and, therefore, the effect of these exercises. Could this lead to a revolution within the education system which is so incredibly rigid and controlling …… lets hope so.
Re-visiting your blog this morning, Gyl, I felt how awesome it would be to bring this amazing modality to the other end of the age spectrum too, for our elderly in their retirement homes.
Esoteric Connective Tissue Therapy is a very powerful modality as you have clearly demonstrated.
Its application is far-reaching and it’s method simple and connecting.
Such a simple concept and yet how powerful in returning us to our true centre.
This is important not only in the classroom but in our workplace and homes.
It makes a lot of sense that if we are connected to our bodies we will be more present and receptive to learning.
Connective Tissue Therapy is a joy to experience, I am not surprised the children love to feel this deeper connection with their bodies and themselves. Kate Greenaway Twist expresses it so beautifully above “Connective Tissue Therapy is a gentle hands-on therapy that helps restore the whole body to its natural flexible flowing state. It restores the balance of the organ systems as well as the physical framework and thus, is an important key to the body’s energetic vitality.”
Thank You Gyl, what you are offering and sharing is deeply inspiring. These children in your classroom are getting amazing support and are blessed to have you as their teacher who truly cares. I have been thinking about joining Kate Greenaway- Twist’s classes too and after reading your blog I feel it is going to be a huge support for me and my family. You are setting a new way of learning in classrooms and I feel this is what is deeply needed for these beautiful children and our society.
This is a great question Gyl, and one we may not as yet fully appreciate. The power of the quality of our movements can change our experiences.
“What if we knew that by changing how we move and our posture, we can change our thoughts and behaviours, from ones of negativity, disconnection, depression and discontent, to being engaged, feeling lovely, much more open and ready to receive and learn.”
What a wonderful way to begin your classes Gyl and one that that all teachers could easily incorporate into their classes. Supporting our children to connect to and honour their bodies through consistent loving care is also teaching them self-loving responsibility and what possibly could be more important than that. Connective Tissue Therapy exercises also demonstrate to them how special they all truly are and that there is more to learning than just the set curriculum. From my own experience I have found Esoteric Connective Tissue therapy Exercises to be a beautiful and simple way to connect to feeling what is going on in my body and also very healing.
Very inspiring Gyl, if we were all taught from young how to connect and be with our bodies before we go into doing we would not be witnessing the exhaustion and dis- ease that is so familiar today. This is true life long education.
Educating children would be very different if all teachers understood for themselves and then shared the benefits and importance on developing body connection as much as developing the intellect. You are leading the way of the education of the future in sharing with kids the importance of their relationship to and with their body.
I have been working with Connective Tissue Exercises for the past 18 months and have found that they have made a significant difference to bringing awareness to my body and releasing tension. I will often incorporate them into my day whilst sitting at my desk or whilst I am cooking in the kitchen. These movements are so gentle and call us to go deep within and to feel. Although the movements are very small, their affect is big as they work on the releasing deep held patterns in the body. I have deep appreciation to Kate Greenaway-Twist for developing these exercises and sharing them with humanity.
Change our posture and this will change how we feel. I have personally experienced this time and time again. One just has to look at how someone holds themselves when they are in a down mood, the shoulders often droop forward and the chest slumps. Connecting to our body and opening up to our natural elongated posture makes a world of difference to how we feel, the effect is immediate. What you are offering here Gyl is revolutionary and no doubt life changing for these children. Tools that will stay with them into their lives ahead.
When we understand the causes of ill-behaviour of children, it is easy and often simple to find a remedy for those causes. The understanding of the causes can be very sophisticated but the application of the remedies can be very simple and powerful as Gyl shows.
It is clear from the shocking statistics you have shared that something is not working with our current education system. Our children are not being met at home, with friends and in their lives in general and this is reflected through the quality in which they arrive at school to learn. We have responded with way of managing this through an achievement based system rather than focusing on connection where children are met and confirmed for who they are, inspired to understand that there is more to life than achieving good grades and understanding responsibility and how to live and work with a quality that honors the connection to their bodies and each other.
Connecting to our bodies is something that needs to be an intrinsic part of our education. It is through the lack of connection to our bodies that we as a society are so dis-empowered and in such ill-health. As it is our bodies that are forever reflecting to us how we are living, our forever guide as to what is supporting us and what is not, yet we generally do not listen until we are forced to, by our bodies not being able to continue in with the same ill-pattern. Learning of the power of our connection to our bodies should be one of the fundamentals of our schooling as in truth it is a fundamental for living with vitality. This is a real life skill that will serve to support any child as they grow, develop and begin to engage with the world as adults. This is future of our education system being lived now though you, your wisdom and all that you bring in-truth to the classroom – thank you Gyl.
Not only is it hugely beneficial for the children to connect to themselves and their bodies in class, but it also will be something that can support them throughout their life. They are getting to experience a marker in their body and a way to reconnect. I wonder how different my life would have been if I would have had a teacher like Gyl when I was a child.
This is absolutely amazing and stunning in two ways. Firstly, because I can feel what a HUGE and massively beneficial effect a couple of minutes of simple reconnecting exercises would have on the children and secondly because why are we not doing this in every class in every school – it is such a no brainer!
Wow, this is amazing feedback you have been getting Gyl – I love how the other teachers have felt and commented on the difference in the kids, but above all I love how the one kid called you up on the exercises and asked for them – this shows they do love being in their body and I am guessing it has to do with feeling safe in the body, something we don’t always get to feel in this crazy world of ours.
I love how you honor the wisdom in your students and hold your students as equals. This is so inspiring to feel, and I can also feel from what you have shared that it allows inspiration to be alive in the classroom. Honoring and confirming the wisdom in our children is true education, as we are honoring who they are, the wisdom they hold within so they feel confident to express and share with the world what it is they bring for our future.
Great questions Gyl – ‘ …what would our education be like if we truly supported our kids to connect to their body before they learn?’ and following on from this what would the future lives of such children look like with the knowing of this foundation in their body?
Thank you Gyl for a beautiful sharing, these children are so blessed to have you as their teacher. I remember seeing a video of where a teacher introduced the Gentle Breath Meditation to her class of unruly children and over time the effects on those children was nothing short of amazing.
Gyl how beautiful and supportive it must be for your students to have a teacher like you. One that cares deeply for her students, so much so that you are able to consider why they acting up and behave the way they do. One that sees who they are within first and does not judge who they are from their behaviours. One that is willing to truly be open to meet her students so as to offer the best opportunity for them to learn. You are a shining example of what true care is in the classroom, what an amazing foundation for learning you offer.
The settlement that occurs in the body as a result of these exercises is an absolute necessity in our current climate of push, drive, anxiety and not feeling enough. For children to feel this settling gives them an absolute marker of how they can be when connected to themselves and offers ballast on the waves and currents of life.
“When it comes to school we often put far too much pressure and focus on the mind and the intellect, forgetting about the body.” Gyl I agree. When I have made space and time for children to connect to their bodies even if it is for a moment getting them to feel their feet before they sit down the change in classroom dynamic is palpable. Sometimes some resist, but what is fascinating that when a moment of pressure is coming up like a class performance, or a test they choose this as a tool without fail to manage their stress levels…it truly works and they can feel it.
It is so true Rachel, we are not just heads walking around, we have a complete body – and by educating only our mind without connection to our body we are totally selling ourselves short.
The kids love it when we give them the time and space to connect, I had a class who did gentle breathing after lunch and they loved it so much it didn’t matter if they had a supply teacher instead of their normal teacher they would tell them they do breathing after lunch and one of the children would take it, it was totally off their own backs ! Amazing.
The tools of connection that you’re offering the children Gyl are something that they will be able to take with them on an ongoing basis into their lives.
To be taught that ” … by changing how we move and our posture, we can change our thoughts and behaviours, from ones of negativity, disconnection, depression and discontent, to being engaged, feeling lovely, much more open and ready to receive and learn” is the very highest form education of all – for it not only determines the quality of individual lives but also that of humanity as a whole, and the path we tread together on Earth.
Hello Gyl and it’s amazing how the simplest of stretching routine can have such a profound impact. I go through the same stretching routine every morning and just adjust it to how I am feeling. It’s not a regime but something that’s tailor made every morning to how my body feels. To me it gets me in touch with my whole body before part of my day starts. It’s like a check in, an awareness to where there is tightness, soreness etc. As you are saying Gyl there is much to be gained with a true connection to our body and there are little things that support this.
‘Teachers are gold’ is such a great initiative and you Gyl are the living example of how it can be.
The statistics you have shared are shocking and just show us how it has not worked for so long. so good that you can bring something as simple and powerful as connective tissue exercises to the classroom, and how awesome that the children are asking for it!
And so it can spread to the world – love these blogs that can just give an idea or an impulse for others offering different choices.
This is so true and in my own experience I have found that this is so missing in most school systems: “We are putting all this before the real reason we are there; to connect to and build relationships with the kids, which supports them to trust, learn and grow into responsible adults, fully committed to life.” Your work will be a milestone Gyl, I hope many will be inspired and take on this awesome way of re-learning how it can truly be for the best of all…
Gyl, what you are sharing here is outstanding, so simple and needed in every classroom. How fortunate are those children to have you in their lives showing them a different way.
And I love connective tissue Therapy – both in giving and receiving, it is such a beautiful gentle and powerful way to connect to the body again and feel its flow, am so glad that I got to learn this therapy with Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine, thank you.
What an awesome blog Gyl, and this is so true – ‘What if we knew that by changing how we move and our posture, we can change our thoughts and behaviours, from ones of negativity, disconnection, depression and discontent, to being engaged, feeling lovely, much more open and ready to receive and learn.” Something to continuously work towards as you are doing, just awesome!
In many of the workshops I give I offer a few minutes of exercises and breathing and this always supports us all. It also makes it so much easier to connect to each other when we are connected to our body.
This is evolutionary Gyl, a true way forward for our children in the education world…to be feeling their bodies and who they are before anything is asked of them is paramount to their wellbeing and connection.
Gyl, what an amazing way to start every class to have a room full of open and connected children, ready and up for what is next. Imagine taking this into board meetings, into government meetings, in fact at any get together. What a different place our world would be.
Hi Gyl – what a beautiful gift you have brought to your children and to their lives going forward. It would be amazing to see this in all our schools.
Your care and love for these children leaps off the screen. Thank you.
We seem to spend a lot of time keeping kids entertained and busy rather than supporting them to feel and know that how they feel is important and matters. What you are doing is inspirational Gyl, teaching your children to have that foundation within themselves by being aware and in their bodies. It would have been lovely to have known this earlier.
Connective Tissue Exercises are a deeply simple yet profound way of connecting with the body. This is so awesome Gyl that you are sharing these exercises with the children.
Thank you for sharing this Gyl. We are determined as a society to find complex solutions to what are often simple problems, but what you offer by experience is but one example of where the solution is actually quite simple to an age old problem.
Wow Gyl what you share here is truly inspiring and shows that through simple changes to our movements and how we connect with children beautiful transformations are possible. The education can change if we share how we live everyday. Change is indeed possible and its experiences like these that will bring true inspiration to the world.
How about taking it a bit wider and changing the title of this blog to: EL: What would our World be like if we Truly Supported Every Human Being to Connect to their Body? We all benefit hugely by connecting to our body and Connective Exercises are a great support in that.
‘What would our Education be like if we Truly Supported our Kids to Connect to their Body?’ a great question but there is so much more that would be altered than just our education if we were connected to our bodies. I truly believe that if we could support children to stay connected to their bodies (because they are connected when they are born) then this would bring such radical changes to all aspects of our life, that life would not actually bear much resemblance to the life we currently have. We live in a world borne from disconnection, it is the bastard child of disconnection and irresponsibility.
When you consider that the connective tissue is a sheath that covers our organs, bones and runs itself throughout the entire body then you come to realise how effected it is by everything that we do. Literally everything that we say, thing and do is registered by our connective tissue, which is why connective tissue therapy and connective tissue exercises are so incredibly effective in supporting the body in letting go very deeply.
These exercises seem life-changing and so very power-full to change and support kids the way they learn and deal with life. Why are these exercises not in all schools? It also seems Gyl that by this reflection you are helping to make it happen.
Gyl what you have shared is so incredibly simple and yet has the power to change the next generation and from there potentially the world.
Focusing on my movement, no matter how slight it might be, brings me back to my body, I then have the opportunity to chose with clarity how I continue the day or the task at hand.
These statistics really make you stop and consider what is going on in the world and question why these facts are not front page news every single day until we decide to do something major about it and address the issue. But saying that, it does not seem that humanity are unified in shock at these statistics; I have heard or read similar percentages in other articles, speeches, presentations and so forth and the response has not been ‘gosh we need to action this’… Perhaps we need to seriously de-normalise mental health conditions before they become just ‘another part of life’ which they are in danger of being seen as.
With these statistics, something is very wrong with our system for so many children to be experiencing mental health conditions. Something as simple as teaching them how to reconnect to their own bodies is having a marked affect on them…it would be great to see this become part of school curriculum – maybe one day!
How awesome and supportive this is for your classroom of kids Gyl. I love the relationship you have shared with your students, and how you mentioned that one of the students asked to do the exercises when you were going to skip them one day. With all that is going on for kids and high schoolers these days, doing exercises such as this to set a foundation for a productive and connected lesson is restoring the meaning of true education.
I do a few of the exercises during the day and before I go to bed because I feel how they bring me back to my body more either during the day when it’s busy, or at the end of the day after work. It’s a great support so I can imagine how supportive it is for the children in your class Gyl. What a gift. And something they can use throughout their entire life – the best thing they’ll learn at school I’d say.
There is so much gold in this blog Gyl! Connective tissue encompasses nearly all of our body, even our blood is connective tissue, so it is no surprise how these exercises are a must for connection with the body and are so useful in any situation of getting us ‘out of our heads’ and settled in our bodies.
Our movements dictate every thought and behaviour we have. Firstly we should qualify what movement is because movement is everything. It is what you eat, how you talk and the posture you take.
When we align our movements to the thoughts and behaviour we wish to have then we are more likely to have success. Chasing thoughts or implementing behaviour changing techniques is like catching a rabbit that has already been trapped. Meaning that it doesn’t do much because you chase a trapped rabbit.
Gyl this is truly awesome and I loved your honesty in mentioning the times you were in your head or busy. How beautifull it is that that child put up their hand and asked to do the exercises!!!! That just shows how open and willing they are and as adults we have a responsibility to honour this and be a true reflection of what is supporting for them. Great that you have started to do this. I take classes in sexual health in schools and am feeling to do this as well, I loved the sound of the programme you are doing with Kate Greenaway-Twist, I have done some work with her as well … she is awesome. Also I know the Young Minds website you referred to and have seen those statistics, every time I see them it’s a wake up call of what is going on with our children and young people .. today it was this one ‘Over 8,000 children aged under 10 years old suffer from severe depression.2’ That’s crazy 80,000 children under 10 suffer from severe depression!!! 80,000! This alone tells us something is very wrong; that we need to address, and also how we have been living is so not working. Forever inspired by the work of Serge Benhayon and his dedication and love of humanity.
When the kids can feel it and the teachers can feel it, this needs to be expanded into as many schools as possible.
It would be great if the education secretary and government could read and understand the enormous positive effect this could have on our kids instead of bombarding them with more information than ever and expecting them to cope with that and all the other pressures of life theses days.
It would be a leap of faith for government to do this, like committing to completely change direction in a tanker to an unknown course but away from a proven ill-fated one. It will happen one day and we can just prepare the ground for it by practising what Gyl has written about.
The intensity and pressure of the education is definitely on the increase. Is it really necessary to make learning environments focused so much on competition and memory retention?
This is great and clearly shows that we can relate everything back to movement. Any so called misbehavior or problems have its root in movement and what you share here is great evidence of it. Very inspiring!
Gyl firstly its inspiring to see and hear the changes that the connective tissue exercises make both for you and the kids you teach, secondly the state of what kids have to deal with today is extreme. Yet what you share is that our education system and way of teaching does not support them to deal with this, in fact in probably creates much of the problem. Yet all is not lost, a few simple techniques and everything changes. It shows the answers to the world’s problems are already known and have been for lifetimes.
Very inspiring to read about the changes that have come about due to some very simple Connective Tissue exercises and how the children are responding. This paints a whole new picture on how different teaching can be and how differently those children will experience school and learning. This is how all schools should be run.
The rates of depression and self-harm in young people are truly shocking and are clear evidence that the current system is not working. These exercises could easily be incorporated into the school day on a much wider scale and deserve to be explored as a matter of urgency because so many young people are not just getting turned off education but also life which has massive implications for the whole of society.
This is totally inspiring Gyl and just demonstrates the amazing difference for all children if they are connected to their bodies and move from there, they are then in a much better position to learn whatever the next task/activity is. Not only this but you are giving them an invaluable tool for how to be in life which will support them through their education and beyond.
Thank you, Gyl. The truth of what is going on inside us is there to be felt in the body, so once we connect back with this awareness, we are able to ‘drop in’ to ourselves and settle once again. This is incredibly important for children to have as a resource to help them navigate their way through school and home life, and I LOVE the fact that it is being taught in your classes. My work as a counsellor is also very much focussed on body awareness, as a key to understanding ourselves, letting go of old holding patterns and allowing the essence of who we are to come to the fore.
Ill mental health is on the rise and those stats are a pretty loud wake-up call that childhood is not the ‘free and easy’ picture that I know I have been blinded with. It’s as if adult life is stressful and children don’t experience these particular stresses but that doesn’t mean they aren’t experiencing pressure, it’s not a tax return but a maths test – same thing. There is definitely a link between the increase in technology and mental health as the more screens are focused on the less attention is given to the body. But this isn’t a set in down way as you’ve shared Gyl, coming back to the body clears all these pressures and needs of distraction so simply, Thank you.
‘It’s so important we stop and consider all this, AND what would our education be like if we truly supported our kids to connect to their body before they learn?’ – And what would our societies in general look like if children from a young age learnt to connect to their bodies? Very different.
’When it comes to school we often put far too much pressure and focus on the mind and the intellect, forgetting about the body; we make it all about goals, attainment and grades – as every teacher knows and will tell you if you sit down and honestly speak with them.’ – Indeed – I used to always hate school because it was solely about getting ’better’ and never about being good enough just for being who we are.
Gyl, this is amazing, these Connective Tissue Therapy exercises sound so simple and yet are so profound, working part time in a school I can feel how supportive these would be in the classroom, thank you for sharing this.
i feel you are speaking to all of us Gyl and confirms that when we connect to ourselves through gentle exercise, the gentle breath or esoteric connective exercise aligns body and mind.
I was thinking about this just the other day – how important it is for kids to be connected to their bodies. With so much of the modern world online – gaming, social media, the internet etc its becoming increasingly easy to miss this vital step. Without it we easily get lost in the myriad of distractions, but with it we can stay connected to everything we are and can bring that to the world at this critical time.
There’s beauty in what you share Gyl: two simple exercises enabling children to be settled and still before a lesson begins. Instead of telling them to sit still or listen, you simply offered them esoteric connective tissue exercises. if the same was offered to all teachers, it would support them as well as children.
“What would our education be like if we truly supported our kids to connect to their body before they learn?” What a great question? Also it is very important that one is very discerning as to which techniques one uses to support the children to connect. This is because some techniques can enable a person to appear to be connected to themselves but in fact they are only learning manage their tension and in fact bury it deeper into the body. This will only cause further problems later in later life. With the Connective Tissue Exercises and Esoteric Yoga, for instance, this does not occur as these forms of body connection do release the tension as the connection to the body is a re-establishment of the harmony in the body prior to the state of tension. Furthermore, why it is so fabulous to be introducing this to children is because it releases the tension before these patterns of tension become ingrained in the body.
That is great Gyl both for yourself and how you have brought what you have learnt to the children you teach. With cases of ADHD on the rise rather than medicating children to get them to settle down, what about actually addressing the issue ad working with them. What if children, like adults, are deeply sensitive and often cannot handle what they are feeling? I know this has been the case for me. Having a stop moment to come back to myself puts everything into perspective, otherwise I can easily get overwhelmed.
This is amazing Gyl. What a gift you are bringing to the children you teach. They will always have a marker to come back to when they feel they are out of sorts in any way. You have given them the gift of connection.
A beautiful example of the true sharing of teaching when a child appreciates what is being taught and reminds the teacher use the connective tissue exercises to bring the children into their bodies.
I have enjoyed Connective Tissue Exercises with Kate Greenaway-Twist in the past and found them invaluable in bringing more awareness into how I move and when sitting. These small changes support the body throughout the day = less tiredness.
What a great idea Gyl in bringing some simple exercise influenced from your own experience with Kate Greenway and the awareness of the connective tissue. It is so easy to allow our thoughts to take over and run us but when we bring it back to the body it truly is like as settling back into ourselves. What amazing way for the kids to start the session which can then be continued into their adult life. The getting on with life and with what needs to be done has such hold over us if we let it. Bring it back to feeling us in our bodies is key.
Great blog Gyl. Thank you for sharing the shocking statistics exposing the rise in mental illness in children – the end product of too much focus on mental stimulation and learning continues to bring a disconnection to the body. I can remember feeling totally squashed into what felt like a totally alien school system and spent much time being in trouble for not ‘thinking’ about what I was doing. Being reminded to stay with my body would have been far more supportive for a solid foundation through the school years.
A new and true model for education, Gyl. Thank you. I know what it would look like ‘if we truly supported our kids to connect to their bodies before they learn’ and just wonder why we resist such transformation.
It should be a normal part of our education system Gyl, to integrate true health and wellbeing exercises into the daily lessons. The lives of us all is so messed up with information we receive from every angle which all do inspire us to go into our head instead of into our body that it is important to have a counter for that, another way of being. And that is to be in our body as there is that deep connection with the source we are all from and all have equally access to if we allow it through our body and do not escape into our minds and behavioural patterns we have built into our lives.
Anything that supports and encourages us to be in our bodies is a great thing in my books. Absolutely gorgeous that this was confirmed by a child asking for this too, reminding you that nothing is more important.
Wow, such an inspirational article, thank you, Gyl. What you are offering these children is a VERY BIG deal, as one of your pupils confirmed when they reminded you about doing the exercises. This is so needed, as shown in the statistics, but also from just observing young people. It seems that each generation is being pushed to more extreme behaviour as they don’t know how to just be their gorgeous selves in their exquisite bodies. They are desperately searching for something else to complete them not realising it’s already there, deep inside themselves, just waiting to be felt, claimed and lived.
One of the current buzz phrases in education is ‘being life-long learners’, however, what Gyl has provided her students by incorporating Connective Tissue Exercises at the start of her lessons is true ‘lifetime learning’ – a learning that serves, every day, for the rest of one’s life and an absolute life changer. Education at its best!
If our education is for life, then it makes perfect sense that we build a relationship with our body first.
This is brilliant. This introduces a completely different relationship with the body for the kids at school, where physical exercise is geared more towards competing and achieving certain levels of gross-motor skills – which I hated as a kid and thought to myself I was very disconnected from my body and felt uncomfortable because I couldn’t jump high enough, or I couldn’t touch my toes.
Gyl this is a much needed topic to share with other Teachers and Parents of young children, and older children as well. These are figures most of us don’t know about but should be kept up to date with. Nothing will change until people such as yourself working as Teachers and seeing it first hand, share as you have done ! I do know the “Teachers are Gold” and Pre school teachers also who are all committed to making a difference to the Education system.
I would also love to see children learn more at school about the body functions. We are taught that looking after our bodies is important, however understanding more about how it works can empower us to take more responsibility for it. For example if I understood more about my kidneys, this information can lead to appreciating how hydrating my body supports me and how to tell if I am hydrated or not.
What a gift you bring to these children Gyl! Education for life. You will be one of those teachers that when we look back to our school days, really taught us about who we are and how to be in life! Amazing and inspirational!
There are many studies that show that movement supports our ability to think. I know when I was a student I found it difficult to sit still for hours on end in school. By the end of the day I did not have the ability to concentrate. However when I was able to move around and engage with others of something purposeful my attention was there for hours.
This is quite remarkable Gyl. What a difference you are bringing to your students lives ! And it shows how appreciated it is- for a student to speak up so they don’t miss out on the Exercise. I love Kate’s connective tissue exercises, my body feels absolutely amazing and delicious afterwards… Everytime.
“other teachers have commented on this, they can feel it as soon as they walk in.” I love this- how tangible the change is. Simple, yet profound.
Yes, people do notice when we are connected to our bodies – the mental race and distraction is arrested and there is space and stillness that is tangibly different. For someone to feel this in another is a transformational opportunity.
What would our Education be like if we Truly Supported our Kids to Connect to their Body?
This is such a great question Gyl and your blog provides a powerful answer that leaves us in no doubt that our kids would benefit amazingly. You are indeed a shining light and example in our schools.
Gyl I really love that a child pulled you up and asked about the exercises when you had decided you were too busy to afford time to this activity. It shows not only how much the children valued to connecting to their bodies and the lovely connectedness that flows from that, but also the quality of relationship and trust you had built with the class. This is Gold and it would be great to see this in more classes.
We need more teachers like you in this world Gyl. What you share is true education, allowing students to reconnect to their soul which is giving them the foundation to go into life with who they truly are and not who they think they should be. Very inspiring.
Gyl you are amazingly amazing! You are a gorgeous, living, loving and inspiring example of what ‘Teachers are Gold‘ is all about.
“The talking stops, the children all settle into their bodies and are ready to start the day, the lesson, and receive what there is to learn” – i would have loved to have had a Teacher like you Gyl, wow, what care and great life skills you are offering your kids and their education. I loved to learn, enjoyed school and the lessons, though do remember feeling stressed and pressured in a silent internal way especially around exams. For a teacher to have connected with me like you do with your kids Gyl, and to come out of my head into my body would have allowed such space, and confidence to be there instead of the anxiousness which continued into further education. Allowing kids space, allows confidence to be and trust themselves , and in this flourish. Great work Gyl you are doing here.
“So over the past few weeks I have introduced two simple Connective Tissue Exercises to the kids at the beginning of each class, in two schools across 12 different classes. With this, I felt and saw a huge difference in a few minutes in the children and the feeling of the room – it was immense: other teachers have commented on this, they can feel it as soon as they walk in.” Someone (maybe Otto Bathurst) should make a documentary on this – it would be an amazing gift which holds the potential of being a world changer!
Gyl it’s beautiful to read of the connective tissue exercises with the kids and the profound effects on their wellbeing. It’s also simple and not time consuming to implement, but the benefits are extraordinary. Maybe there is an opportunity here for you to train all the teachers in connective tissue exercises with Kate and implement short programs at the beginning of every class every day to support pupils and staff. You could then travel to other schools and repeat the process with Kate’s support.
Extremely interesting Gyl, and really great that the pupil had been so in love and engaged with the exercises enough to call it out when it got missed. Shows not only his connection for his body, and such exercises, but also the importance of consistency and how supportive this is to young kids in providing a backbone for not only their day, but life. Imagine taking this foundation onto further study, and then the workplaces. What is grounded in school paves the way for work.
‘What would our education be like if we truly supported our kids to connect to their body?’ It would be Amazing – just as you have so clearly experienced the profound impact that a few simple connective tissue exercises has had on the children. Definitely should be front page story worldwide!
The statistics you presented of the state of our youth are incredibly shocking and yet what you do in class to support them to not be a statistic is remarkable. It makes sense that they would ask for the exercises when you forget… for having the opportunity to feel themselves and settle in their bodies is a rarity with the pressures of life and the education system as they currently are. Very cool.
Eventually, we will realise that there is another way, as our bodies just keep shouting at us all the signs and cries for attention, we have to realise that our mind is not the be all and end all, that there is a deeper knowing and knowledge, we have to come back to the body one day, surely.
What you’re sharing Gyl could be likened to what happens in workplaces. People arrive feeling anxious about what’s ahead in their workplace, get stressed, get racy from sugar and caffeine and behave in ways that they wouldn’t if they were more connected to their body. Something as simple as a few connective tissue exercises could easily be incorporated into workplaces too.
It’s teachers like you Gyl that are the turning point in a child’s life when they get to be reflected true love and nurturing, in fact true education.
“When it comes to school we often put far too much pressure and focus on the mind and the intellect, forgetting about the body; we make it all about goals, attainment and grades – as every teacher knows and will tell you if you sit down and honestly speak with them.” This is in fact life now, we have forgotten we are sensitive beings first, especially our children, we have forgotten to play and have joy but made life full of demands. Teachers like you Gyl with your all encompassing, loving perspective will be the balance the education system and humanity are revealing we are so in need of.
This is super powerful Gyl…transformational. Something so simple as bringing the children back to themselves when they’ve gone into anxiousness or racyness. Sounds like what you’ve started in your classroom is getting noticed and is having a ripple effect to other teachers. Super awesome to read about.
True education is about the body and being connected to how you feel and being aware of that, but more than that, reconnecting to the inner heart where all the gold is, because when you do that magic happens!
This may be a simple way to increase the quality of life of the students.
Gyl if we took the few minutes to let kids connect at the beginning of each lesson the whole school day and beyond would be entirely different. It would change the world.
I have been bringing connective tissue exercises into my day as a stop and return from raciness to a stillness. I cannot believe the difference it has made to my life. The extreme aches and patterns of exhaustion are declining in my body. Learning to come back to the body and checking in to how it is feeling is the greatest gift I have brought to myself; deepening this is the greatest relationship I have in my world.
Just brilliant Gyl. I also teach, up to 150 kids in a day, and they are all off the radar a lot of time in their behaviours. Only this week I have been reflecting how ‘chatty’ and in hyper motion they are in when they enter a class – it has been challenging to settle them into the lesson. They are not behaving badly, just hyper and extremely excitable. I teach high school kids, but noticed when I recently visited my 7 year old daughter’s school this hyper behaviour was even more extreme with the younger kids. Their world is surrounded by pressures and foods to take them out of their natural state of being so how absolutely incredible to introduce some exercises where their bodies respond immediately to this natural way of being. Kids are brilliant for this; they can get to their natural state very quickly. They know.
Life in school is about motion, this builds the momentum for children growing into adults to live life in the world as motion. But all motion and no stillness does not make any”body” contented, this applies to teachers and students alike.
How beautiful this is Gyl for your students, to have the opportunity to reconnect back to themselves and feel the difference within themselves, giving them a marker to come back to. This should be practiced in all classes and schools.
Children always remind me that rushing is awful, and when I return more to a connection with my body, then my body constantly reminds me not to rush. Not rushing does not mean going about life slow, or doing nothing, but it is having our body and our thoughts together in the same place.
So simple yet so profound Gyl, like all wisdom from the heart. If we support children to re-connect with their bodies, we are actually supporting them to re-connect to themselves, each other, the world, the Universe and to God. All of this sings in our every particle but if we do not re-connect to it because we are numbing our bodies, then it is all just words and ideas with no true lived experience to tell us otherwise. The Kingdom of God lives within, but try telling that to the busy mind that has usurped the throne…
We get so caught up in our minds that we forget they are housed in a body. If true harmony is to be established between body and mind then we need to re-learn how to let the body impulse the mind rather than rely on the mind to impulse the body. We feel things well before we think them but because we live in such separation to our bodies, we are not registering this and so what we end up with is a vehicle (our body) that is driven by a reckless driver (the mind) that has no regard for that which enhouses it.
Many times I wish I could be more positive and focused instead of stressed, scatterbrained, or emotional. Having tried all the magic pills nothing works like reconnecting to by breath and my body. This is so effective and so needed in schools, the only way forward is to make it mandatory. To feel someone like you Gyl that lives in stillness and connection it is easy for children to connect to their own bodies.
Gyl, this is wonderful what you are bringing to the young ones, to re-connect with their growing bodies and get out of the turmoil in their heads. Kate Greenaway-Twist has taught me some very simple Connective Tissue exercises that are so profound in bringing connection back to my body and stopping the mental download that happens when I am disconnected.
Hello Gyl and I can also attest to the great feeling Esoteric Connective Tissue Therapy gives you. It’s a great settler for me and allows me to move in a completely different way in my day. From the statistics you have quoted and I’ve seen it would seem we could all benefit from these moments to stop in our days, whether driving, walking or serving at a counter. Thank you for bringing your story to this modality and to us.
Thats great Gyl, teaching firstly CTT so the children are in their bodies ready to engage with the class, makes just so much sense, and feels so honouring of the children. They obviously love to connection with themselves also, what a marker for the rest of their lives
A great reminder that in all of life, every aspect of life, our true purpose is to foster connection. Just imagine how many times we have not connected with each other—at work, at home, with our children, with colleagues, with family members, with friends, because we have something “important” we have to do and complete. We have been led by the pressures and rhythms of life in expense of the rhythm we have with ourselves naturally in connection, and thus we have lost the connection with others, and have reinforced the lack of connection in the world.
The responsibility that has been reminded of me today in a city of rush and busyness is poignant and necessary.
and just taking to time to connect on a blog – or comment, just stopping for a moment to connect with someone, no matter where they are in the world, can make such a difference. Taking a breath and knowing that we are all part of one big sphere of life brings me to being more still and calm within myself.
There is so much to distract children from being focused and present in and outside the classroom that what you are offering Gyl must be a godsend. To have all the children in the class feel settled must be very rare and noticeable. What you are offering could revolutionise the education system and make teachers lives a lot less stressful.
I love how you bring your own experience of connecting with yourself to the children. When we teach/present from what really works for us it inspires as others can feel it in themselves.
So well expressed from one who is at the coal face so that you get to see and feel the end results of a few simple Connective Tissue exercises. Could it be a randomised study is needed to be done on groups of school children so the educational institutions get the message that these simple techniques work magic in a power-full way.
Amazing sharing Gyl. I feel so much joy knowing that there are children in this world that have been given an opportunity to connect to themselves. The way you support the children in your class and indeed all of us through the choices you make is truly superb.
It is wonderful, Gyl, that you are sharing your knowledge of the connective tissue exercises with your young pupils and that other teachers are noticing the difference in behaviour and feeling of your classroom when they visit your room. This could be ground-breaking in the schools you are working in, as the word spreads about the results you are getting. Maybe these schools will introduce these exercises more widely as they get to see the results you will achieve.
I attended a mental health first aid course for youth recently in Australia and I was shocked by the statistics. The young people are in a sad state of affairs and and having experienced and trained in Connective tissue therapy, I can imagine that it would be so easy to incorporate it into school, and so beneficial.
“What if we knew that by changing how we move and our posture, we can change our thoughts and behaviours, from ones of negativity, disconnection, depression and discontent, to being engaged, feeling lovely, much more open and ready to receive and learn.” I know from my experience that what you describe here, Gyl, is actually so very real, we can change how we feel so very simply when we know how to move truly connected to our own bodies. Taking what you have said here even further, what if everyone in the world knew how to do this, what would the world be like. But then, it would depend on the willingness of people to take true responsibility for themselves first, as to whether people would avail themselves of this knowledge. But worthy of contemplation.
I agree with you, Gyl, there is far too much emphasis on the head and the end results in schools. And the things we really need to learn, like how to live a loving life with each other and communicate about what you feel, aren’t taught at school.
The numbers you mention are heartbreaking. So much going for our children and how simple is it to support them with the gorgeous connective tissue exercises you mention.
Wow, that is amazing what you describe: “The classroom goes from being noisy, messy, not in the literal sense, but more the kids being ‘in their head’, distracted and all over the place, to an absolute quality of stillness, both in the classroom and in the children’s’ bodies. The talking stops, the children all settle into their bodies and are ready to start the day, the lesson, and receive what there is to learn.”
What a great idea to let children connect to their bodies first before they learn anything. Learning while connected to your body makes it so simple.
I’m already on it Jane
That is great news Gyl – it will be such an asset to all that will be getting this report and teaching journal, what a great project for humanity!
Gyl, you have introduced a really important subject here, thank you. The title of your article says it all really “What would our Education be like if we Truly Supported our Kids to Connect to their Body?” I know from my own experience how stilling it can be in my own head from doing simple connective tissue exercises. Moving even slightly can make the world of difference to how we feel, and our outlook on life. To be truly connected to our own bodies makes the world of difference in our ability to concentrate and not be distracted by all the worries that we may be experiencing in our home life as well as in the broader world. It is wonderful that you are introducing these little exercises into the beginning of your class with these young people, and you have shown just how popular they are. And it is great that other teachers are noticing the difference in the stability of your classes after the children have been doing the exercises. How supporting this is for your pupils. It would be wonderful if the education system were to introduce these exercises into the education system, I am sure the results would be very beneficial.
What a gorgeous way to start a lesson, connect to your body first creating a steadiness from where you are ready to learn. I love the fact that one child felt how by not doing the connective tissue exercises it felt like there was something missing, a foundation that would support and been skipped.
The statistics described above are truly shocking as I remember my formative years being so incredibly joyful and light hearted. I do recall one girl I knew who was suffering from a mental issue and I knew some girls who were anorexic but the statistics today of self harm, depression and mental illness in young people is truly shocking. Why is it that so many feel unable to cope with life that they resort to such extremes as to self harm to relieve themselves from the tension?
Such a simple way to reconnect kids back to themselves, bring focus and from there more purposeful activity. You can really feel how much more conducive the environment then is for learning.
I have had many Connective Tissue sessions with Kate and I can testify that these sessions have a deeply healing effect on the body.
’So over the past few weeks I have introduced two simple Connective Tissue Exercises to the kids at the beginning of each class, in two schools across 12 different classes. With this, I felt and saw a huge difference in a few minutes in the children and the feeling of the room – it was immense: other teachers have commented on this, they can feel it as soon as they walk in.’ – This paragraph literally gave me goose bumps, what a profound gift you are offering these children.
How are we in the school of life? It seems to me we may all relate to the distracted and nervous state you observe with the kids Gyl. After all, if we started out like this at 5 and 6 what makes us think that we ‘moved past this’ by 25? How amazing to have such a brilliant tool such as the Connective Tissue Exercises, right in our lap that can bring us right back to our body and life’s simple facts. You have certainly inspired me to make these exercises an important part of my life.
Wow Gyl this is a very powerful testimonial, and very inspirational. Reading this has absolutely deepened my appreciation for the power and purpose of Connective Tissue Therapy. It’s not to be underestimated what is going on just because it is simple and unseen so to speak. What is revealed here for me is still a little of the old ‘bells and whistles belief’. However I do have some understanding and practical experience with CTT and I know even more of what it offers when simply shared.
‘I experience children coming into the classroom and school – be it at the start of the day, morning break, or lunchtime – feeling anxious and disconnected from their bodies.’ – The sad reality is that this is the state of our society and how most people live.
‘Kate and I also talked about how I could introduce some of the exercises to the kids, and how it would be great for them to reconnect to their bodies before they learn, and how lovely their bodies can feel.’ – I love this Gyl, how often do children get encouraged to truly connect to their own bodies and just feel the loveliness of it. Every child deserve this.
We need teachers like you Gyl, listening to what the children and their bodies need and what you need. There is such a pressure throughout the whole education system and every child is equally affected. Your question ‘AND what would our education be like if we truly supported our kids to connect to their body before they learn?’ asks us to have an honest look and truly feel how we could raise our children with love and understanding and not divide the mind and body to ‘forget’ about our heart.
What a blessing for all those kids attending your classes Gyl. I’ve got similar experiences. When I truly connect to children, they instantly reconnect to their bodies. It’s time for the world to integrate our bodies into our schooling system all over the world. What you’re offering Gyl is ground breaking, should be studied and used everywhere. Kate Greenaway-Twist and you are an amazing couple that use true power in union to bring a very much needed change. All those statistics you’re sharing Gyl, are children. Not a number, but a person, obviously crying out for support. If I really let this in, I can feel the desperateness and the loud call for true support which you’re very clearly offering.
What a completely worthwhile thing to introduce at the start of lessons Gyl, it makes absolute sense that if the children’s bodies feel open and harmonious then so will their approach to learning be more open, with that ease to receive and learn.
That is an amazing article Gyl, if only this could be the normality in every class in the world, what a big difference this would make to life on Earth.
Brilliant, Gyl! This kind of practical, real life anecdotal evidence demonstrates just what is missing from our education system. A fully developed person is connected to all aspects of themselves, not just intellectual knowledge.
Great work Gyl. Our natural state of being is stillness, but as we get older we bury it beneath a whole load of doing, but children haven’t yet buried it as deeply as adults so it makes sense they would respond amazingly to a simple exercise to reconnect to it again. We can learn so much from them.
Children are so receptive to stillness – they know it in their bodies and Gyl this example very much confirms that. What an amazing support you are offering these children to come back to who they are before it is about the knowledge. To me that is true education.
Thank you Gyl, something stood out very strongly in this blog is the fact : 72% of children in care have behavioural or emotional problems – these are some of the most vulnerable people in our society.
This fact is very shocking, or should I say absolutely out of hand. How come that our children have behavioural or emotional problems? First to SEE it and WORK out why this is going on and how we can support children not only to learn the things they need to learn but show them how to be with and in their bodies first. I think that by this we already can sense the feel of why our children are behaving and having emotional problems in the first place. They simply miss being in their body.
Are we not responsible for how the kids leave after we have met them? The next person meeting the kids will have to deal with whatever is inside them. So is the purpose of education really to put knowledge into the kids? Or is it reflecting to connect truly?
These statistics are pretty awful and have been increasing steadily for some years now and will continue to do so until we are a society taking responsibility for the effect of our loveless choices and what we are reflecting and modelling to our children. With teachers like you introducing children in your class room these simple exercises with instant results hopefully more teachers will follow how you are working with your children and the children will share their experience of connecting with their bodies with their families and this will have a snowball effect.
In my experience children are naturally more connected to themselves than most adults, however, they look to adults to show them how to deal with the pressures of life that lie ahead. They observe the way most adults ‘cope’ with life, barely able to get out of bed without the promise of coffee, sugar or another stimulant, disconnected in relationships, lacking self worth and miserable in their jobs. In fact, it is little wonder kids turn in on themselves. Gyl provides a reflection of vitality, joy and lived wisdom that allows the children in her class to see there is another way and she inspires them with amazing exercises too.
Alarming statistics, however what an amazing job you are doing by encouraging activities that help kids connect back to their essence
The statistics that you have quoted Gyl are absolutely staggering and a huge cause for concern. Thankfully there are teachers like you who see what is occurring for kids and know exactly what is needed to support them. I know how absolutely supportive connective tissue exercises have been for me so I am well aware of how incredible they would be for kids in the classroom. Thank you so much for supporting kids in this way.
Yes – we don’t avoid depression and self harm etc by “knowing stuff” at the expense of ourselves. We may be able to do brilliant mathematics and know incredible science, however if we are suffering in loneliness and feeling ignored and misunderstood – we are not looking after the whole being.
Teachers seem to be under immense pressure to “teach”, but as you say what is really needed is to build a relationship with children that is a foundation from which they can learn and grow.
These gentle exercises sound brilliant – I’m sure a lot of teachers would benefit from this experience. I’m not a teacher, but I support a local school one morning a week and am always appreciative of how the teacher and teaching assistants can calm down an agitated and ‘messy’ class, my feeling is that something like this would really help the process.
Great blog Gyl, thank you for sharing how it can be. The simplicity of the connective tissue excercises make them so easy to do for children.
This is very powerful and much needed stuff Gyl, what lucky kids having you as their teacher!
Yes so awesome indeed and very needed; the children have chosen to be in this class just to get this learning, love it.
I’d love my son to have Gyl as his teacher!!
This is front page news Gyl! Stop press!!! . . . teacher has found a way that brings children back into their bodies, settling them into a stillness that opens and enhances their ability to learn! So needed. So welcomed.
Gyl,
This is awesome and but the beginning of bringing true education to children. It was a pleasure to read how still, present and ready to learn the children were after doing the connective tissue exercises. This is a learning that they themselves will remember for their whole lives, because they have physically felt the difference between being fully with their body or racey and pressured from life.
It’s amazing that we can override what is truly important to assist children (or anyone) to learn and just get carried away with what needs to be done ignoring that how we do what we do is actually more important that the activity itself. The beauty about what you did Gyl, was not only assist the kids to connect to their body, but the result was a classroom that was much more respectful to all in the room. Sounds like a win win to me!
The article shows how easy it is to get caught in the mentality of “getting the job done” over and above a connection with ourselves and those close to us. It is so easy to get caught in the push and struggle against time, deadlines etc at the expense of our relationships and connection with each other. I see this in every aspect of life – and it is time for change – especially when we see how damaging that way of living is and truly recognise the negative impact of it on our health and well-being.
Yes, Marianna, bringing more focus in the classroom to the body and learning to trust its communications, is surely the only way forward from here.
So often we forget to stop connect to our body and bring our mind into union with it. What you describe Gyl is such a simple yet powerful way to bring children back to connecting to their bodies and allowing their natural felt sense to guide them.
Focusing on the mind and intellect at the expense of the body is such an important point you make, Gyl, and that applies not just to children but to everyone of all ages. It is in and through our bodies that we live first before we do anything. The state of health of our body and our connection with it affects everything we do.
after all – we are not just walking talking brains – we have a heart, a spleen, a stomach and a whole body and being that needs to be considered in everything that we do. – as the saying goes – mens sank incorpore san – a sound mind in a sound body 🙂
Gly- I am shocked at the mental health statistics for children
e.g.”Nearly 80,000 children and young people suffer from severe depression.”
Between 1 in every 12 and 1 in 15 children and young people deliberately self-harm.”
How bad does it need to get before we as a society are looking at why is this?
What can be done?
What support is needed?
Great to see the immediate positive response to connective tissue exercises in the classroom. Such a simple tool that can make a huge difference to the children’s mental health.
I know from my own experience when I have not been connected with my body, I do not treat it well. The statistics are shocking and it is awesome that this modality is being made available to some children. May more follow. I am coming back to a connection that is supporting me, I feel I can care more, when I honour what I feel. I know I went into my head at a young age, this sort of movement would have really supported me to maintain a connection that I am now redeveloping.
Gly, so inspiring and so needed what you are doing with the children in your classroom- introducing simple gentle movements/ exercises at the beginning of the class so they are more connected in the body with their breath.
It would be great for you to share with all the other teachers as well.