BrainMoves in Action: Facilitating a Children's Cooking Class
By: Elizabeth Hummel Published on: 06/10/2025Hi friends, you all know me, but you don’t really know me. My name is Elizabeth, and I help Diane Malik and BrainMoves with their marketing and support their website. I am also a trained and certified personal trainer, movement therapist, and yoga instructor. My job is to train and facilitate in a variety of settings, from performance to life skills like cooking, to movement therapy using BrainMoves, somatic therapies, and yoga. I love helping people with diverse brains and different abilities live their fullest and happiest lives, whether they’re pursuing the basic act of moving from place to place or a new hobby like cooking or performance driving. People say that this makes me seem all over the place, but the common thread is that if a human being is well-regulated and enjoying their school, work, and playtime, they’re living their best life and helping their friends and families live better lives through co-regulation. Hi friends, you all know me, but you don’t really know me. My name is Elizabeth, and I help Diane Malik and BrainMoves with their marketing and support their website. I am also a trained and certified personal trainer, movement therapist, and yoga instructor. Over the next few months, I will be writing a periodic column to share how I use BrainMoves in my work with different populations. Hopefully, this will help you see how you could apply the ideas of somatic supports and scaffolding with the simple actions of BrainMoves.
BrainMoves, Movement, and Learning for the New School Year
By: Diane Malik Published on: 30/08/2025The new school year is starting. Shoelaces half-tied, their backpacks jostling, everywhere across the United States, parents will send their children to the bus or drop them off for class in various states of energy, movement, and enthusiasm. School days create lasting memories for families. For parents, it means preparing children for a new year, while children make their own memories by exploring and learning through movement. Activities such as picking up toys, building with blocks, and solving puzzles demonstrate that hands-on movement is crucial for memory. Movement helps children remember and learn more effectively.
Ask Diane, My Boisterous Child
By: Diane Malik Published on: 23/07/2025I am reaching out because I am concerned about my preschooler, Luke, who is displaying some challenging behaviors that are becoming increasingly difficult for us to manage. Luke is often restless and hyperactive, frequently running around and bumping into other children and even walls. It seems like he doesn’t fully understand how to play nicely with others, which often leads to tears or even accidentally injuring other children during playtime. He isn’t even unkind; he seems to just be loud, boisterous, and rough and tumble all day until he falls asleep like a log, exhausted at night.
Positive Parenting and the Power of "No"
By: Diane Malik Published on: 10/06/2025You are in the grocery store. There is a four-year child standing in the cart in front of you. "Erin, sit down," says her mother, but Erin refuses. You smile sympathetically; Mom asks again and again until the child starts to throw a temper tantrum. Mom shuffles, visibly uncomfortable and instead of pushing the issue, shifts the groceries to allow the child to continue to stand in the cart. Mom smiles back at you weakly, shrugs and says, “Kids! What can you do?”...
