Our Amphibian reflex emerges once several earlier reflexes establish and we gain an understanding of the independence of our upper and lower body. Importantly, this reflex supports the ability for the lower body to move independently from the head, spine and upper extremities.
I heard from a client’s mother over summer break and the conversation warmed my heart. This past school year, we were working with her teenage son on social anxiety, school refusal and separation challenges. When summer began, I asked him if he’d like to continue on or take a break from our work. While I knew he was prepared for his decision to take pause, the break was his choice.
When she reached out, it was with such enthusiasm and pride. Her son was venturing to the pool independently, taking bike rides for ice cream and tackling the high dive with new friends every week. He was acting boldly, on his own, and was proud to share it. When his mom thanked me for the work that led to this point, I reminded her that HE guided ME. I simply nudged him in a few directions.
“When you think about your frontal lobe, you’re telling a part of your brain to think about itself. Your frontal lobe is one of the most important sections of your brain.” – The Cleveland Clinic
STNR draws upon extension and flexion in tandem between the upper and lower body, with distinctive rocking movements. The back-and-forth motion helps an infant stabilize on all fours as they begin to understand all dimensions of the body.
The excitement of a new school year is fully upon us. As our children get to know their teachers, their classmates and their new routines, there is a tremendous opportunity to support their confidence in the classroom. A successful school year extends beyond school supplies and schedules, as learning patterns are established in these first few months.
“She came out of that first session very calm, focused and wanting to try things. Her work at Thrive has given her a better baseline for things that previously triggered her. It’s helped prime her nervous system.”
According to the National Institute on Aging, one-third of adults 85 years and older suffer from a form of this cognitive deterioration. Dementia is actually a state of mental functioning that’s attributed to a number of diseases, with Alzheimer’s being the most prevalent. Deeply personal and often painful for both the patient and their caregivers, the illness is a window into how our memory is closely associated with our complex neural networks.
Never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today- Benjamin Franklin
For those struggling with productivity, those words may be easier said than done. Nearly a quarter of adults, not to mention the majority of college students, procrastinate at some point. The act of putting off or delaying tasks until the last minute, or even past deadline, is an irrational yet tempting choice.
In fact, procrastination is a classic battle of tug of war battle in our brain, between immediate gratification and potential negative consequences. In the end, procrastination persists when our brain’s center for executive functioning, the prefrontal cortex, loses out.
Collectively, this reflex serves to underpin postural and navigational movement, as well as binocular vision and hearing. As an arousing reflex, where blood flows to the prefrontal cortex when the head tilts, several emotional developments occur with Landau’s integration. Just as the body physically extends to reach out into the word, the reflex underpins self-initiation. With a feeling of safety and confidence, this reinforces the ability to make decisions, initiate activity and retain memory and focus.
Early learning marks an exciting time filled with new concepts and new worlds to explore. Reading and writing, the cornerstones of academic education and self-expression, are fundamental classroom milestones but we know well that learning styles are as unique as the individual. Dyslexia, a neurological disorder that impacts how children read and identify sequencing and speech sounds, impacts up to 20% or one in five students. We’re examining how active primitive reflexes may contribute to the visual processing challenges found in disorders like dyslexia.
