performance of the brain to make a decision to extend the approach to

the whole division.

With Purple Works, they are creating an environment where

people can experiment, learn, and decide for themselves why they want to

take part, rather than just investing in facilities or forcing people to

participate.The aim is to benefit both the individual and the company.

The program is multifaceted, using practical training sessions,

workshops, information on the company intranet, and links to external

sources of advice and support. Overall, the Sainsbury’s team wants to

raise energy levels to enable people to gain a better balance between

home and work life and so perform better.

Brain gym

Brain gym was created by Paul Dennison in the US to help young

people with learning difficulties, especially dyslexia. Recently, the

concept has been developed into a more generally helpful activity

for us all. While, of course, you exercise your brain all the time, the

idea of brain gym is that by exercising in a certain way you are con-

sciously creating patterns of activity in your brain that may be ben-

eficial to you.

Whenever you are feeling the effects of too much work on the computer, try doing this exer-

cise. Start by writing the infinity symbol (below) on a flipchart. Begin with your felt-tip pen in

the center, go anti-clockwise, then clockwise, and so on. Do this a few times and establish a

good rhythm. Now try doing it with your eyes only rather than with your pen. Let your eyes

trace the shape of the infinity sign for at least five circuits. You may find this quite hard work

to begin with.

∞

You can find out more about this in Carla Hannaford’s book, Smart

Moves: Why Learning Is Not All in Your Head, from which I have

adapted this idea.

50 Power Up Your Mind