“For decades, the educational and scientific communities seemed to believe that thinking was thinking and movement was movement, and each was as separate as could be…Today we know better.” Teaching with the Brain in Mind, 2nd Edition – Eric Jensen
Whether virtual or in-person, we spend way too much time at conferences, meetings, work, etc. sitting in a chair, yet a great deal of research around how we learn suggests movement offers myriad benefits to the body and helps the brain process information more effectively. Here are a few tactics we can employ to help our attendees take advantage of the power of movement.
- Walk & Talk – Assign a partner to each attendee to take a walk (in/around the house/building/neighborhood, and using the mobile version of your virtual platform, discuss their ideas around a specific piece of content presented at the conference. This helps attendees process that content, get an alternate perspective, create a new relationship and get their blood flowing – the last perhaps being the most valuable!
- Walk & Think – Like the above, except alone…Ask the attendee to take a walk in/around the house/building/neighborhood and think about what a specific piece of content means to them, how they might act on it. This gets the attendee away from the screen and off their [lower brain], stimulating both their blood flow and their upper brain.
- Scavenger Hunt…With a Twist – Ask attendees to find an object in their house/building/neighborhood that reflects a concept discussed during the conference. The object could be anything…a utensil, toy, sculpture, hat, tool, vegetable…whatever. The attendee then brings the object back to the meeting and shares the object and its relationship to the concept with others (could be done en masse or in breakout rooms or one on one). As above, this gets the attendee moving and thinking…at the same time! It also challenges the brain to make connections that help it see and understand an idea from alternate perspectives…a benefit compounded when shared with other attendees.
Here’s another idea…take a walk (with a friend/peer) and see what other options you can think of. Better yet, join the Walk and Talk Club and make it a habit!
Image source: Walk and Talk Club www.walkandtalkclub.com