When someone has a stroke, parts of the brain are damaged and the ability to move or talk is often affected. You may feel like a different person because your brain has changed. Memories shift, self-image changes, even the parts that make up personality may change.
Science has shown us that the brain is capable producing new neurons as well as connections between existing neurons throughout our life in a process called “neuroplasticity”. Our understanding of the brain’s ability to change is pushing the boundaries of what we previously thought possible, especially in the fields of stroke recovery and brain injury, and there is great potential for healing.
NeuroMovement® takes advantage of this enormous potential for your brain to "re-organise" itself to help you recover after a stroke or brain injury. Through the use of subtle, gentle and innovative movement patterns, your brain is flooded with new information and is activated for new learning. With this technique, your brain will be able to reset its map of its “new” body, ultimately growing new connections among billions of neurons, and potentially recovering lost function.
With NeuroMovement®, I do NOT ask you to do what you cannot do. I understand that the loss of function is due to loss of connections in the brain. Instead, I find ways to minimize demands placed on your brain by so it can explore and learn, just like a newborn baby. One way I do this is by working with you lying down to remove the demands that gravity and the need for balance place on your body and brain.
Learn more about group classes or private, one on one sessions.
SCIENTISTS ENDORSING NEUROMOVEMENT®
NeuroMovement® is now endorsed by many leading scientists:
Michael Merzenich, PhD, professor emeritus neuroscientist at the University of California, San Francisco.
Martha Herbert, PhD, MD, a Harvard-based pediatric neurologist and the author of The Autism Revolution. Martha is also a Certified ABM Practitioner.
Jill Bolte-Taylor, PhD, a neuroanatomist and the author of My Stroke of Insight.
Norman Doidge, MD, author of The Brain That Changes Itself and The Brain's Way of Healing (this book has a chapter dedicated to Anat and her work with Elizabeth).
RESOURCES
NeuroMovement Revolution with Anat Baniel: Interview with Special Guest Martha Herbert (podcast, 1 hour 9 minutes)
Listen to the podcast now
Michael Merzenich talks about NeuroMovement®, brain plasticity and his new book (24 minutes)