Body/Mind Education

The Body/Mind Classroom

My undergraduate degree is in Elementary Education and American Studies.  I spent some time in the classroom doing student teachings and practicums but as soon as I got my diploma,  I skidaddled out of New Jersey and never actually brought myself back into a traditional academic setting as teacher.  However,  my life's work is ALL about teaching.  My classroom is portable, personal and universal.  Guess what it is?  It's our very own body.   Let me explain...

This past Saturday I had a brand new rower in my four man shell for the rowing program with the Huntsman Cancer Institute.  She had never rowed before.  I could sense her anxiety about being the only person without rowing experience.  As soon as she sat in the boat,  her little mind took over. Criticism, judgment, negative self-talk filled her mind.  My job, as the coach, even more so than actually teaching the mechanics of the stroke, was to get her out of her head, help her relax and feel confident, able, and excited about rowing.  The latter (excitement towards rowing) is what keeps people coming back all these years.  It's easy to get excited about floating and skimming across the water like a bird with a 20 foot wing span!  However, the process of getting to that point is a lifelong commitment of discipline, focus, compassion and light hearted fun!  These are all wonderful lessons that you just don't find in the traditional scholastic setting anymore. 

One of the joys of teaching adults something new is being present to the opening of the body/mind connection.  The difference between a stroke that is totally connected to kinestetic wisdom and a stroke that is not is painfully obvious in rowing.  Either the rower is connecting to this kinestetic wisdom/inner truth or they are a bull in a China shop.  My favorite moment in a rowing lesson is when the brand new rower takes a stroke that feels good and they figured out how to make it feel good.  It's an addiction.  This is one of the reasons why when people learn how to row, they continue to the sport for their entire lives.  The body/mind connection in rowing heightens the awareness of the brilliant partnership between the mind and the body.  It's powerful stuff!

I'll wrap this up with a quick story that one of my college coaches told at the end of the season banquet my freshmen year.  I tell this story at every new parents' meeting!

A very wealthy engineer was socializing at the philanthropist function at Columbia University.  He was one of many major donors that Columbia was grooming for a capital campaign solicitation for a new engineering library.  Seeing as how this man made his millions as an engineer, the development folks thought that this man would be happy to redirect his gift from rowing to this library fund.  When approached by the solicitation team about giving to the library fund, he answered their request by explaining why he designated all of his fiscal generosity to the crew fund.