Callie's Story
The Wise View
Fourth-grader Callie has received treatment for ADHD since kindergarten but her treatment plan has not been working well; Callie’s physician takes her off her medications in order to re-evaluate. During a homework period at her afterschool program the next day, Callie melts down. “I hate math, I hate homework, I hate you!” she sobs. I interuppt her. “Callie, I have an idea! Help me fetch the balance beam.”
As they drag the beam over, I explain: “Callie, you know how you feel focused and enjoy learning when you are working in circus class? That’s how you can feel when you do your math. I want you to walk back and forth on the beam until you get in the focus zone. Then bring that focus back to your homework! If you begin to get frustrated again, get back up on the balance beam.”
Callie taps the middle of her forehead, she stares at a point and walks the balance beam back and forth -- several times. This engages what we often refer to with children as "the wise view," her center of focus in the middle of her forehead. Walking the beam makes her happy; her mood lightens and she gains focus. Callie returns to her homework.
Callie follows this routine daily for the next three weeks, alternating between walking on the balance beam to gain focus and calm and applying that same focus to her homework. No further interventions were necessary. In the fourth week, Callie was peacefully doing her homework but the beam was nowhere in sight. “Callie, do you want me to get the balance beam for you?” I asked. “Oh, no!” Callie replied. “I don’t need it anymore. Now, I just imagine I’m doing it!”
This simple intervention took her teacher only 5 minutes to establish with Callie, yet the results were profound. What precisely happened here? How did Callie make such gains in her ability to focus and see her homework through to completion -- on her own and without further struggle?
In her afterschool enrichment classes, Callie learned several Framework techniques to activate her third-eye chakra, the chakra of focus and concentration. Through daily practice, Callie was able to transfer focus techniques from an area where it was easier (circus arts) to an area of challenge for her (math homework). This sustained effort strengthened her base chakra, the center of discipline and hard work. Together, newfound focus skills and discipline empowered Callie to address root causes of her ADHD -- without medication.
An important note: I find that some students focus more easily while physically quieter, and others more easily while kinesthetically engaged---yet both groups can strengthen in the area where it is more challenging, as Callie proved to herself.