OUR APPROACH
The brain
Improvements in scientific knowledge have helped neuroscientific progress. We now know that, just like a muscle or a bone, the brain can repair, regenerate, or change, in response to a stimulus.These stimuli can be sensory, motor, cognitive, or emotional.
The Brighter Minds Institute's programmes produce changes in the structures of the brain.This is achieved through 'neuroplastic' processes, such as the creation of new connections between neurons, the activation of dormant synaptic connections, the strengthening of connections between the hemispheres of the brain, and sensory enhancement.
We use these different techniques to stimulate neuroplasticity and brainwave shifts in a positive, creative, and caring learning environment.All activities in the Brighter Minds Institute programmes improve cognitive reserve by stimulating neural circuits between the right and left hemispheres of the brain. These exercises bring about changes in brain function, cortical thickness, and slow down brain ageing.
Teachers' testimonies
The heart
We use an approach that combines the brain and the heart in a perfect symphony, so that each child can access and manifest his or her capacities.
Not everyone is comfortable exploring the inner world of their feelings and emotions.
This is because we are not encouraged, nor used to doing so in our childhood, either at home or at school.
The heart is the barometer of how we feel in general about our surroundings, about ourselves, about our thoughts and emotions, about our own behaviour, and about the choices we make in life.
If we get angry, our heart rate variability becomes unstable, and our blood pressure increases, even if the origin of the emotion is unknown.
When we are not satisfied, the heart becomes agitated, and we are disturbed. It takes some time for our intellect and our capacity for reasoning to intervene and classify, evaluate, or discern the situation.
Giving a child the opportunity to read their feelings is to allow them to listen to themselves, to make choices, to identify their emotions, and to free themselves from these emotions if they are unnecessary and painful.
In this way, the heart becomes our compass.We then improve the heart’s emotional intelligence and the way it relates to its surroundings, to gain a better understanding of ourselves, our environment, and other people. This helps us live more harmoniously.
In the Alpha programme, the heart is the root of excellence. Through an effective process, the participant is relaxed enough to focus on his or her feelings, and to establish a connection to the heart. This is the first step towards achieving mental balance and a healthy relationship with our surroundings.
