My name is Amy, and I am part of the pilot program for Project Mindful Movement. I am School Psychologist, a Yoga Teacher, a Homeschool Mom to two kids on the Autism spectrum, and on the Autism spectrum myself. All of these different experiences have helped shape my educational philosophy. There are plenty of books, articles, and other resources out there about “evidence-based treatments” for addressing speech delays, sensory processing issues, fine and gross motor delays, academic delays, and behavioral issues. But, how often do you get the opportunity to hear someone on the Autism spectrum talk about how they feel inside? Probably not very often. It took me many years to reach a point where I could not only recognize that my experience of the world was dramatically different from those around me but also to be able to express that experience in words.

When you are on the Autism spectrum, your sensory experience is very different from everyone else around you. There can be some very beautiful ideas to grow out of these sensory experiences. For example, I did not see gender or race as a small child. It took me years to remember if I was a boy or a girl. I wasn’t confused. It just seemed irrelevant. To me, people were just people. I also once mistook a very dark man for my very pale father. They were both tall and thin. Their coloring seemed irrelevant.

However, there are also some very real challenges when your sensory experience is so very different from everyone else around you. It can be difficult to understand the “rules” that seem so obvious to everyone else, especially social rules because those involve others with their own mind and wills….or uncontrolled variables if you will. Many people on the Autism spectrum suffer from fear, anxiety, or even both because of these differences.

Fear and Anxiety are not the same thing. Michael Treanor said, “Fear is the illusion that I have some control over the bad (known) things that might happen to me.” Anxiety is the anticipation of a future (usually less defined) threat. Anxiety is common with Autism because the world around you feels less understood. “Ack! What is that butterfly doing in my face? Get out! Get out! Get out!” It is similar to the feeling of walking through a haunted house just waiting for the next thing to jump out at you.

Fear can also be common with Autism because as the person experiences more and more of the world, he or she tries to make sense of the sensory input coming in and learns that it sometimes seems that how they behave can prevent negative experiences. For example, if you are constantly made fun of for jumping up and down and flapping your arms when you get excited, then you might think “If I don’t jump up and down flapping my arms, I won’t get made fun of.” In reality, this is an illusion…one that many people buy into. There will always be people out there that will find ways to make fun of you for something you do that is different. Changing your behavior will not stop that. What it will do is cause you to live your life in response to your fears.

Fear and Anxiety have been my constant companions since I was a small child. As children our brains are not fully developed so when our brains go into Fight or Flight mode, sometimes it can get stuck in the “on” mode. This can become a real problem for any child and can explain some of the co-morbid physiological conditions we often see in people on the Autism spectrum such as immune deficiencies, digestive issues, allergies, etc. When our Fight or Flight response gets activated, it triggers our body to release vitamins, minerals, neurotransmitters, hormones, etc into our bloodstream, and whatever isn’t used will later get peed out. When this happens over and over again, it can eventually lead to all sorts of imbalances in the body.

 

This brings me to my educational philosophy I mentioned earlier. If we think of education as being a constant part of our lives as we learn and grow throughout our lifespan, we realize that our philosophy of education cannot be related to high stakes testing, common core, math, reading, writing, etc. It must be more basic and fundamental to the human experience, and therefore, I have penned my educational philosophy as being “A balanced person is a happy person.” This applies in all aspects of life: physical, intellectual, and emotional. If we only exercise our upper body because we have more strength there, then we will end up limiting or even injuring ourselves because our body will be out of balance. If we only focus on music because we are “not good” at academics, then we are going to miss out on so much beauty and inspiration…the mathematical beauty of music, the history of the composer that led to the creation of a certain piece, the literature that inspired the music for the opera, etc. And finally, if we try to escape those unpleasant feelings in life through the use of electronics, work, food, chaotic schedules, etc, then it makes it more difficult for us to fully appreciate the pleasant feelings in life.

This is where Mindful Movement comes in. Learning to sit and move mindfully is what allows us to look inside without judgment and listen to what our own body is telling us we need in order to find balance in that moment. Taking time to see ourselves for who we are at our core, and then going out and honoring that person with our actions, keeps us from living in reaction to fear. And finally, regularly taking time to focus our attention inward to our own breath and our own pulse and away from the chaos of life, helps us let go of our anxieties and retain our vitamins, minerals, and hormones for another day.

THIS is why Project Mindful Movement has the capacity to ROCK your school year. A balanced person will not only be a happy person. A balanced person will also be more focused, less distracted, more successful, less anxious, and more confident. When we remember to put the “big rocks” (mindfully caring for ourselves) in first, the “pebbles and the sand” (academics, work, to do lists, etc) will fill in the cracks, it will all fit in the jar, and we will soar. But, when we try to cram in the “pebbles and sand” first, we don’t have any room left for the “big rocks” and instead become a slave to lists and expectations. Make a promise to yourself that THIS school year, you will mindfully care for yourself FIRST, and then keep that promise because YOU are worth it!!

Author

Amy Bodkin

School Psychologist, Yoga Instructor
Homeschool Mom of 2 & 2018 Project Mindful Movement Pilot Program Participant

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