Month: December 2013

Neuroplasticity, brain games, and imaginary friends….

About two months ago I started using the brain building games from Lumosity. You may have heard of it. You know, “build a better brain based on the scientific principle of neuroplasticity, but it just feels like you’re playing games.” Well, as a Feldenkrais Practitioner, I’m all over this neuroplasticity, and I certainly do love to play, so I thought I’d give it a try. At first I was surprised at how easy it seemed and how much fun it was. I was especially surprised to discover how well I scored at mathematical equations. After all, I have a reputation for not being good at math. Another surprise was a game called “Familiar Faces”, where you have to recall the names of customers that visit your diner. You then have to match up the right food orders...

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Sugar Bowl

A few days ago I was cleaning my kitchen, when I mindlessly knocked a sugar bowl off of the window sill and into the sink. I watched in horror as if it were falling in slow motion, with me unable to stop it or catch it before it hit the sink and shattered. It was my mother’s sugar bowl, and it had sat on the exact same spot for the past three years. I felt the threat of tears coming on as I picked up the broken pieces and tried to fit them back together like pieces of a puzzle. I wondered if I could possibly repair it, and if the glue would hold.  At least the bowl was empty, so I didn’t have sugar all over my kitchen to clean up. Then I started to berate myself. How could I have been so careless? How could I have been so clumsy? Why had I been in such a hurry? But then, something...

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