“We have a brain for one reason and one reason only — that’s to produce adaptable and complex movements. Movement is the only way we affect the world around us… I believe that to understand movement is to understand the whole brain. And therefore it’s important to remember when you are studying memory, cognition, sensory processing, they’re there for a reason, and that reason is action.” From neuroscientist Daniel Wolpert
Watch this interview on YouTube here https://youtu.be/wiSPswItU70
On this episode you will learn:
✔ How Trent McEntire discovered a way to “unlock” his brain through movement, and change his life forever.
✔ How his discovery impacted his ability to go from a struggling reader, to someone who enjoys reading books.
✔ How he took his discovery and created a brain-training program for students, athletes and anyone struggling with a neurological disorder.
Welcome back to The Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast, where we cover the science-based evidence behind social and emotional learning (for schools) and emotional intelligence training (in the workplace) with tools, ideas and strategies that we can all use for immediate results, with our brain in mind.
I’m Andrea Samadi, an author, and educator with a passion for learning specifically on the topics of health, wellbeing and productivity, and launched this podcast to share how important an understanding of our brain is to our everyday life and results–whether we are a teacher in the classroom, a student, or in the modern workplace.
On today’s episode #240, we will be speaking with Trent McEntire, from Fire Up Your Brain™[i] where you can see the Brain-Based Training Programs that he developed by chance (for kids, seniors and athletes) when he stumbled across the answer to something that unblocked his brain, through moving the body, leading him to develop The Fire Up your Brain Program™, unleashing his mission to help others around the globe with this discovery.
We just heard from Joshua Gillis on EPISODE #238[ii] about how important movement is for “unblocking” the brain, especially with athletes, so when I read Trent’s story, I was blown away with how our last episode, helped me to make sense of how Trent’s invention could possibly “Fire Up Your Brain” since we just learned about how some simple movements that Joshua created, had a profound impact on world-class athletes, who had almost given up hope of getting better.
Then I read his story, and it caught me off-guard a bit. From looking at Trent’s videos, and even the pictures of him on his website, I would guess he was a retired pro athlete of some sort, who had invented something that made a difference for his team, and extended this tool for kids and seniors, but there was much more to his story than meets the eye.
Trent was born with a mild form of Cerebral Palsy, and experienced pain and stiffness every day from the time he was a child. Now my mind is going back to our recent episode with Ashok Gupta[iii], where he created an advanced brain retraining program to help people relieved chronic pain by breaking the vicious inflammation loop, and I wonder how Trent was able to move past his pain, using his love for sports and repair his own body. I’ll put Trent’s BIO in the show notes, but think he will tell his story in a way that we will all feel the heart behind the Fire Up Your Brain Program™, and participate with Trent’s mission to spread the word of his work.
Let’s meet Trent McEntire, and learn how we can Fire Up Our Brain, unlocking us to new heights in school, sports and the workplace.
Welcome Trent, thank you for meeting up with me today to take us behind the story of this incredible invention you’ve created to Fire Up Our Brains. I’m going to guess that you are still in Michigan?
INTRO Q: Trent, if you were able to look at the back story I wrote, you will have seen that I wouldn’t have guessed that you had overcome so much in your past, including the pain and stiffness you were experiencing as a young child, through movement in sports. Can you share what those early years were like, and when things started to take a turn for the better for you?
Q1: Trent, we have spent many episodes talking about reading and the brain, and have dove deep into why some children struggle with reading with David A Sousa whose life’s work has been centered around “How the Brain Learns.”[iv] While it’s a complex topic, asking a kid to sit down and read longer isn’t the solution to this problem, I’m sure you’ll agree? How did you “unlock” the secret for reading, that marked the end of your reading challenges, through brain-training?
Q1B: How does the BrainSpeedBall work?
Q2: Now I’ve got to move on to something that’s really important to me and that’s health. Our podcast took a turn towards health and well-being around September 2020, when we started looking at the Top 5 Health Staples[v] that I thought could really move the needle for all of us, and improve our physical and mental health. Daily exercise was STAPLE #1 and we’ve centered many episodes around the importance of exercise on our brain health. For someone like yourself, who has overcome health challenges, using exercise, what can you say about The Movement Gap, and why people might begin to lose hope with the medical community these days?
Q2B: How are you using the BrainSpeed Ball with higher-level athletes?
Q2C: Do you know how it works? What does the research say?
Q3: What exactly is the BrainSpeed Ball that you’ve invented? How does it work? And how does it help people with Neurological conditions to improve the quality of their life (Parkinson’s, MS, ADHD, Alzheimer’s, Sensory Integration, Traumatic Brain Injuries, etc?
Q3B: How was the production creation process, and trademarking BrainSpeed Ball?
Q3C: How do you plan to market BrainSpeed Ball?
Q4: How would an athlete, student or senior integrate the BrainSpeed Ball into their day? Where would someone begin, and then what Best Practices should we know about?
Q5: What are the ways that people can work with you?
Q6: What is your vision for Fire Up Your Brain™?
Q7: Trent, Is there anything important that I’ve missed?
I want to thank you for coming on the podcast today and sharing your story of how you came to discover BrainSpeed Ball with others who might know of someone (a child struggling to read), an athlete or a senior. If someone wants to try this program, where should they go?
Thank you Trent.
Final Thoughts:
When someone who has spent their lifetime thinking of ways to help others, like Trent MeEntire, I think it’s really important to support their work. If you are a teacher in the classroom, looking for new ways to have your students take “brain breaks” be sure to visit the website FireUpYourBrain.com and read through some of the K-12 educator testimonials.
If you work with athletes, we have spent many episodes on this podcast talking about the importance of movement and the brain, but now we can add how eye-tracking is sharpening an athlete’s focus and agility.
If you know someone who is struggling with everything that goes along with a neurological disorder, we are going to dive deeper into this topic with Dr. Philippe Douyon this week, (a board certified neurologist who focuses on how to take charge of our health when we are faced with illness in our life, but in the mean time, I trust the work that Trent has put behind BrainSpeed Ball, and hope you will take a serious look at what he has created, to get us all moving, with our brain in mind.
See you in a few days.
CONNECT WITH TRENT
EMAIL: trent@fireupyourbrain.com
PHONE: 586-615-0223
FACEBOOK @FireUpYourBrain
INSTAGRAM @BrainSpeedClub
Ask Trent https://www.fireupyourbrain.com/pages/ask-trent
REFERENCES:
[i] https://www.fireupyourbrain.com/
[ii]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #238 with Joshua Gillis on “Neuro-Func-Tional Training Centering the Mind/Body Connection”
[iii]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #234 with Ashok Gupta on “Health and Happiness: Getting to the Root of Chronic Pain and Illness” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/ashok-gupta-on-heath-and-happiness-getting-to-the-root-of-chronic-pain-and-illness-long-covid-fibromyalgia-chronic-fatigue-and-others/
[iv]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #197 with David A Sousa on “What’s NEW with the 6th Edition of How the Brain Learns” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/returning-guest-dr-david-a-sousa-on-what-s-new-with-the-6th-edition-of-how-the-brain-learns/
[v]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #87 “Top 5 Brain Health and Alzheimer’s Prevention Strategies” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/do-you-know-the-top-5-brain-health-and-alzheimers-prevention-strategies-with-andrea-samadi/
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