~ Crossing the Mid-line ~ aka Cross Crawls.
You probably have heard of right and left brain hemispheres and how they control opposite sides of the body: right hemisphere controls left side of body and left hemisphere controls right side of body. The two hemispheres though very distinct, “remain united by the corpus callosum, a large bundle of nerve fibers in the middle of the brain whose primary function is to integrate and transfer sensory and motor signals from both hemispheres.” ( From Wikipedia: Cerebral Hemisphere).
So even though some people consider themselves to be more oriented to one side of the brain or the other, we are almost all a combination of both hemispheres working together. Science now tells us that most brain functions are actually distributed evenly across both hemispheres except for certain functions.
Here are some that tend to be more lateralized or located in one hemisphere or another):
Crossing the midline exercises are said to promote cognitive functions, overall physical fitness, increase balance, and help people accomplish daily skills in order to remain independent. There are unlimited resources on the internet for you to discover. Many are directed towards teachers, therapists and caregivers of children but they are all aimed at gaining the same benefits, for the young and the old and everyone in between.
Imagine a line that starts at the top of the center of your head and goes right down the center of your body to the ground. Anything on one side (arm, leg, organs, eye, ear, etc) are hooked up to the opposite hemisphere of the brain. All the counterparts on the opposite side of the center line belong to the other hemisphere. When you reach across the mid-line you stimulate the connection between the hemispheres.
You may be sitting down right now, so take your right hand right and reach across your midline and touch your left knee, and then bring your hand back to the right side. Now take your left hand and reach across your midline and touch your right knee. Do this slowly, back and forth about 10 times. This is often referred to as a Cross Crawl. Beneficial! When you are standing you can do Cross Crawls by taking one hand, lifting the opposite knee and touching that knee. The knee lifting and arm crossing can actually be a bit of a workout. It should only be done standing with people whose balance is good enough to accomplish it safely. If balance is iffy, do it sitting.
When my mom was in the ICU, I would crank up her bed to have her sit up as much as she was able. I had to lower the bed rail to actually reach her without breaking my back. The nurses didn’t like that and I could see why. I was careful to sit close to the bed and remember to put the railing back up when I was done.
I would take her hand and slowly move it across her midline and put it on the other side of the covers. It was awkward for her. Then I would reverse hands and repeat it about 10 times.
Later I would do many versions of this with objects and other items like racket balls or safe sewing tools to get her attention stimulated through her tactile and visual senses. The Apple and The Orange, as oyu will soon see, were very useful on Cross Crawls.
Eventually when she was sitting in her wheel chair she could follow me when I sat across from her and modeled cross crawls with hand to knee movements. Many times her right hand would come down on her right knee and her left onto her left. It was recommended to me not to correct her. Just to keep doing it and eventually it would kick in. I have to admit, I may have corrected a few times by holding her hand gently and moving it to the opposite knee, just so she could feel the difference. I am not sure what is the best way to go.
You probably have heard of right and left brain hemispheres and how they control opposite sides of the body: right hemisphere controls left side of body and left hemisphere controls right side of body. The two hemispheres though very distinct, “remain united by the corpus callosum, a large bundle of nerve fibers in the middle of the brain whose primary function is to integrate and transfer sensory and motor signals from both hemispheres.” ( From Wikipedia: Cerebral Hemisphere).
So even though some people consider themselves to be more oriented to one side of the brain or the other, we are almost all a combination of both hemispheres working together. Science now tells us that most brain functions are actually distributed evenly across both hemispheres except for certain functions.
Here are some that tend to be more lateralized or located in one hemisphere or another):
- Left Hemisphere:
- Linear reasoning functions of language (grammar and word production)
- Right hemisphere:
- Holistic reading functions of language (intonation and emphasis)
- Both hemispheres:
- integrative functions such as intuitive or pragmatic arithmetic, binaural (two ears) sound localization, etc.
Crossing the midline exercises are said to promote cognitive functions, overall physical fitness, increase balance, and help people accomplish daily skills in order to remain independent. There are unlimited resources on the internet for you to discover. Many are directed towards teachers, therapists and caregivers of children but they are all aimed at gaining the same benefits, for the young and the old and everyone in between.
Imagine a line that starts at the top of the center of your head and goes right down the center of your body to the ground. Anything on one side (arm, leg, organs, eye, ear, etc) are hooked up to the opposite hemisphere of the brain. All the counterparts on the opposite side of the center line belong to the other hemisphere. When you reach across the mid-line you stimulate the connection between the hemispheres.
You may be sitting down right now, so take your right hand right and reach across your midline and touch your left knee, and then bring your hand back to the right side. Now take your left hand and reach across your midline and touch your right knee. Do this slowly, back and forth about 10 times. This is often referred to as a Cross Crawl. Beneficial! When you are standing you can do Cross Crawls by taking one hand, lifting the opposite knee and touching that knee. The knee lifting and arm crossing can actually be a bit of a workout. It should only be done standing with people whose balance is good enough to accomplish it safely. If balance is iffy, do it sitting.
When my mom was in the ICU, I would crank up her bed to have her sit up as much as she was able. I had to lower the bed rail to actually reach her without breaking my back. The nurses didn’t like that and I could see why. I was careful to sit close to the bed and remember to put the railing back up when I was done.
I would take her hand and slowly move it across her midline and put it on the other side of the covers. It was awkward for her. Then I would reverse hands and repeat it about 10 times.
Later I would do many versions of this with objects and other items like racket balls or safe sewing tools to get her attention stimulated through her tactile and visual senses. The Apple and The Orange, as oyu will soon see, were very useful on Cross Crawls.
Eventually when she was sitting in her wheel chair she could follow me when I sat across from her and modeled cross crawls with hand to knee movements. Many times her right hand would come down on her right knee and her left onto her left. It was recommended to me not to correct her. Just to keep doing it and eventually it would kick in. I have to admit, I may have corrected a few times by holding her hand gently and moving it to the opposite knee, just so she could feel the difference. I am not sure what is the best way to go.