Thursday 31 December 2009

A New Year’s Eve message of the heart…

It seems that it has been a truly challenging year for many, locally and globally. I most certainly went through a lot of pain, self-searching, self-healing and a process, which came from a true desire to clarify many aspects of my life and my work.
It was not just this last year but also many years in the past when I looked for the traces of the mysteries in hidden books in vanished cities, forgotten monasteries and available libraries. I collected, copied and studied banned, often damaged books.
I discovered that there is a reverse side to a face, and that an entire life cannot be found in books, as you already know.

I sacrificed my life, strongly believing that my salvation will come through my cognition of the world.
I lost everything…it is true… and I remained alone. But the little I know, I‘d like to share it with you.

There is no ‘secret book of answers’. There is a secret book in each man’s heart. We all carry a part of the ‘secret book’ at the bottom of our hearts, but rare are those who can read it and therefore it should be preserved at any price…
The ‘secret book’ is inscribed in the heart of every man. One need only be awake to read the divine signs.

Cognition as you know it is always of a dual nature. There is morning and evening, day and night, shadow and light…average and perfection. The path you take only depends on you. Cognition is joy, but the path leads you to it here on Earth … is a long lasting pain.

True search brings answers you might not like to hear, but when you step on this path with devotion you will find what you need to know at that particular time of your life.
On this path the tapestry of your true life will unfold slowly and gradually. Patience is one of the keys and also keen observation without any judgement and by discarding of everything what you were previously taught. Our institutionalised mind from early childhood will want you to obey… don’t give in to it! Your ego will want to ‘protect’ you from true knowledge and from finding your authentic self. Don’t give in to it!

Never be afraid to be your own 'prophet' your own master!
May the natural forces of health and well-being which Petö taught us about and which he utilised in his work guide you and protect you in this New Decade’s of humanity.

Judit

Ps. please also read http://juditszathmary.blogspot.com/2009/12/peace-i-leave-with-you-my-peace-i-give.html one of my previous postings to understand that posting better and for more clarification. The two postings are related and Pushkin summed it up all, much better than I could.

Once in a Blue Moon…

‘I wonder if you are interested in the moon?
If you are, you may already know that something unusual is happening tonight.
Scientists say a blue moon is exactly what we will see in the skies this New Year's Eve.
This doesn't mean we will see a 'bluey' glow over the moon, the term "blue moon" simply means something very rare and refers to the second full moon in any one calendar month.
Something that hasn't happened on a New Year's Eve for nearly 20 years and won't happen again until 2028.
On this New Year’s Eve there will be a full moon, a lunar eclipse and also a blue moon.

Some believes that "This is a vitally important time for all of us to empower what we want to co create in our individual lives and on this planet. Not only will our hopes, dreams, visions and Divine Intentions be expanded a thousand times, they will be exponentially expanded by the tremendous influx of Light we will experience on this sacred day".
This is a time for letting go of the old and bringing in the new. This may mean an emotional end to the year, but allow it to happen and flow; it's all part of the healing process.'S Stone

Claro de Luna - Beethoven


Notes:
Photo from IStockphoto rotalty free images
Music Beethoven Moonlight Sonata (one of my favourite composers)

Wednesday 30 December 2009

"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you... Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." -- John 14:27










The Prophet (Prorok)

Burdened by my soul's thirst

I dragged myself through a dreadful waste to

a crossroad where, six-winged, a seraph touched

my open eyes with dream-light fingers -

and they opened to prophecy like a startled eagle.

Again it touched, my ears, and they were filled

with ringings and roars: I heard heaven's shuddering,

the flight of angels in the rocky heights;

heard monsters pressing through the sea-deep,

heard the vine quickening in the valley.

Over my mouth it bent,

tore out my tongue so false, so prone to gossip

and deceit, and with its bloody right

implanted in my lifeless mouth

the serpent's knowing tongue.

At last with a sword it clove my chest,

plucked the faint heart out and thrust

a flaming coal into my open breast.

Like carrion flesh I lay in that waste

until God's own voice called out:

"Rise up now, prophet!

See this all, and understand!

Be filled with My Will, and so

Bear across the land and sea

Words to light again the fire

In every human heart!"

A. S. Pushkin, 1826

Пророк

Духовной жаждою томим,
В пустыне мрачной я влачился, -
И шестикрылый серафим
На перепутье мне явился.
Перстами легкими как сон
Моих зениц коснулся он.
Отверзлись вещие зеницы,
Как у испуганной орлицы.
Моих ушей коснулся он, -
И их наполнил шум и звон:
И внял я неба содроганье,
И горний ангелов полет,
И гад морских подводный ход,
И дольней лозы прозябанье.
И он к устам моим приник,
И вырвал грешный мой язык,
И празднословный и лукавый,
И жало мудрыя змеи
В уста замершие мои
Вложил десницею кровавой.
И он мне грудь рассек мечом,
И сердце трепетное вынул,
И угль, пылающий огнем,
Во грудь отверстую водвинул.
Как труп в пустыне я лежал,
И бога глас ко мне воззвал:
"Восстань, пророк, и виждь, и внемли,
Исполнись волею моей,
И, обходя моря и земли,
Глаголом жги сердца людей".


Photo: Восход двойного солнца (Sunrise dual sun) by Salomeya
http://www.photosight.ru/users/38365/

Thursday 24 December 2009

And the dream that you dare to, why, oh why can't I?


Somewhere, over the rainbow, skies are blue. And the dreams that you dare to dream Really do come true...









It's OK to sing while watching the slideshow :)

Friday 18 December 2009

'CONDUCTIVE WORLD JOBS' ON FACEBOOK



A New Job Centre for everyone in the world of Conductive Education has been set up on Facebook, by Andrew Sutton.

'CONDUCTIVE WORLD JOBS' has been created in response to the growing demand for a Conductive Education jobs service.

On Facebook search for 'CONDUCTIVE WORLD JOBS'

Direct Link:
http://bit.ly/cwjobs

Related websites:






Sunday 13 December 2009

Winter Dreams...May all your dreams come ture...

"Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home." Edith Sitwell

A daughter is a gift of love. ~Author Unknown



Thursday 10 December 2009

Have you ever stopped to think about this world we live in?

'Isn't it a beautiful place?
Don't you think that we often forget about that?
We take it for granted that it is there.
But will it always be?

Take care of it...


Have a paceful day...' By Edd




Tuesday 8 December 2009

People with disabilities deserve respect...and every opportunity

"It is a lonely existence to be a child with a disability which no-one can see or understand, you exasperate your teachers, you disappoint your parents, and worst of all you know that you are not just stupid."
-- Susan Hampshire

But let’s go further... if one is a child or an adult with a visible disability one is still precious, unique, and lovable and has much to live for and to contribute to the world.

"Disability is a matter of perception. If you can do just one thing well, you're needed by someone."
-- Martina Navratilova




References:

Special Olympics Virginia: http://www.specialolympicsva.com/
http://www.specialolympicsva.com/View/Page/Success-Stories


About Susan Hampshire:

Susan Hampshire chronicled her own battle with dyslexia in her book titled 'Susan's Story'. She has five honorary degrees at the City University London, St Andrews Scotland, Exeter University, Kingston University Surrey and in Boston USA. She was awarded an OBE in 1995. Susan Hampshire was President of the Dyslexia Institute, Staines.

Susan's Story: tp://www.antiqbook.co.uk/boox/lbw/016753.shtml

Martina Navratilova : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martina_Navratilova

Note: Photo of Susan Hampshire's from Google Images

Sunday 6 December 2009

If you are looking for some adventures and fun in the snow during the winter holidays








For everyone both with and without disabilities MAD MAX SKIBIKE TANDEMM.
When I received an e-mail from Stalmach in May they promised that for the winter season 2009/2010 they will develop a special therapy skibike for people whose lives are affected by cerebral palsy! I couldn't find any further information about this promise, but one of our boys enjoyed at first a rather scary, but soon a very enjoyable and an exhilaratingly fabulous experience using one of the already existing Mad Max Skibike Tandemm.
So I guess it is worth to give it a try.




Reference: http://www.stalmach.com/htm/news-seiten/news-madmax-en.htm

Note: Photo from the Stalmach website

Conductive Education Petö Furniture

I stumbled upon a website, which was published on 22nd October 2009 offering original Petö furniture. I thought that my readers might be interested to know about it.

Quote from the site:

“ This furniture was originally from Hungary and still bears the motto of the world famous Petö Institute it was used for rehabilitation of children with cerebral palsy.

There are many items, approximately 200, which include plinths of varying heights, ladder backed chairs, small chairs, stool boxes, special chairs, mobiles, foot boxes, wooden wedges etc.

These items would be more than sufficient for a small school or new group setting out, the original value of this equipment new was £10-£25000.

It can be collected or delivery can be arranged at extra cost anywhere in Europe.

This furniture is intended to be used with the method of Conductive Education and can be used in the rehabilitation of cerebral palsy children.”

There is no information about where the furniture is at the moment, but at the bottom of each page there is a lovely quotation from William A. Foster:


‘Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skilful execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives.’

If you know anything about this new venture please let us know.

Reference:Petö Furniture
http://paypel.info/Peto_Furniture/

Note: Photo from the photo album of the Petö furniture site.

Thursday 3 December 2009

Every Disabled Child Matters








"Disabled Children’s Manifesto for Change

Every Disabled Child Matters Policy Recommendations
Summary
Disabled children and young people have made their priorities for the next election clear
in the Disabled Children’s Manifesto for Change.
The Every Disabled Child Matters campaign has put together this paper to recommend policies that your party might create to address these priorities.
Disabled children have set the following challenge to the next Government:
• Make people understand and respect disabled young people and children.
• Support us to take part in our communities, doing the things that all other children and young people do.
• Make a commitment that you will make sure the services we use can support us to live ordinary lives.
• Help us to get the education, jobs and training we want.

Every Disabled Child Matters priority recommendations Party Election Manifesto Commitment:
Every political party should include a commitment in their party manifesto to ‘ensure that services meet the additional needs of disabled children and their families’.
This should include specific commitments to:

• Sustain investment in improving services that meet the additional needs of disabled
children and their families
• Improve social mobility for disabled children and their families
• Embed the rights of disabled children in policy and legislation
Respect: The next government must ensure that health, education, leisure and social
care professionals receive training on working with disabled children and young people.
We also want the forthcoming Equality Bill to put pressure on public bodies to address
discrimination against disabled children and young people.

Community: The next government has to invest in accessible and inclusive participation structures, so that disabled children and young people can enjoy the same opportunities as their peers. We want forums for disabled children and young people to influence issues around disability.
Education and training: The next government needs to push schools, colleges and apprenticeship schemes to promote opportunities for disabled children and young people.
By doing this the disproportionate number of disabled young people who are NEET will be addressed.
Recommendations in detail
Respect
Attitudes
Disabled children asked you:

• We want the next Government to make sure all disabled people are full members of society and can take part alongside everyone else.
• We want the next Government to ensure services promote equality for disabled children and young people.
• We want policies and laws to include disabled children and young people, so they can do the same things as other people.
Every Disabled Child Matters recommendations
All parties should commit to embedding the rights of disabled children and their families throughout all relevant Government policy and legislation.
The next Government should proactively promote inclusion and equality for disabled
children and young people, with a specific focus on ensuring that mainstream services
meet their needs.
In order to do this, they should commit to ensuring that the forthcoming Public Sector Equality Duty requires public bodies to provide specific information on how they are proactively addressing discrimination against disabled children and young people.
The next government must require sector skills agencies to ensure that early years and
childcare, education, health, welfare and social care professionals receive training, and
are continually assessed, on the way they work with disabled children and young people
and the way they proactively promote an inclusive approach to the services they deliver.
We would welcome commitments to ensure that sector skills agencies develop common
core competency frameworks and that every statutory Children’s Trust Board will be
required to use when creating a joint training strategy..."

References:


http://www.edcm.org.uk/Page.asp?originx_3869pu_6923476562580e68j_20095181136d

Notes: Photo and logo from Google Images and from the Every disabled child matters website.

The Legacy Rainbow House Newsletter






Yesterday morning I received The Legacy Rainbow House' first ever newsletter with a message from the Founder and CEO Joe Mawdsley.

The work of Joe and her team is undeniably inspirational to us all who have been and still are working on establishing Conductive Education on a stronger footage in our contemporary Britain… to help more children and adults towards a better future in life.


Joe and her sons
A message from the Founder & CEO

Welcome to our first ever e-Newsletter.
Firstly I would like to thank you all for your support. We started this financial year in deficit and launched an appeal for support, which is what you have given us. We are very grateful to all our supporters, companies and partners.
Thanks also go to friends, volunteers and staff and not forgetting the parents and children who use our services.
Thank you to you all. Joe Mawdsley”


To read the complete newsletter, please follow this link:

http://rainbowhouse.msgfocus.com/q/1p5zYHShwq1HV/wv


For further information about The Legacy Rainbow House, please follow these links:

http://www.thelegacy-rainbowhouse.com/
Note:
Logo and photo are from The Legacy Rainbowhouse' website and newsletter.

Wednesday 2 December 2009

'Rising Star... A Brighter Approach to Teaching Children with Motor Disabilities'

A clip just arrived in my e-mail box from a colleague this morning. I would like to share their joy and determination with you. I went to work with a smiling heart…what a lovely bunch of Stars! Enjoy.





Thank you Gabika!


For further details please contact:
Erin DeCarlo,
Rising Star Learning Center Inc. 8090 Broadmoor Road. Mentor. Ohio. 44094. United States.
Phone: (440)454-2898

http://www.risingstarlc.org/

Friday 27 November 2009

It's time to take a look at your own reflection in the pond, and make a move to break out of whatever you have been conditioned by others...

"In all ages, in all lands, there have been those who seek truth. This seeking is an individual's search for something more than self, and much more than the confines of this worldly system. It is the seeker, who understands there is more than what meets the eye, who is not afraid and makes the choice to go into the unknown. The process of awaking has begun, the discovery is underway." A Watt






Friday 20 November 2009

Think about it!

"When a well-packaged web of lies has been sold gradually to the masses over generations, the truth will seem utterly preposterous and its speaker a raving lunatic." D James












Monday 16 November 2009

"Ordinary life is pretty complex stuff." Harvey Pekar

"When something can be read without effort, great effort has gone into its writing.”
Enrique Jardiel Poncela

"If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it."
Toni Morrison

"The purpose of a writer is to keep civilization from destroying itself." Albert Camus

Sunday 15 November 2009

I remembered when I was invited to the home of Professor Alexander Russell in London.

After I put up my previous posting about green roofs I went to our local farm shop to gather some locally grown vegetables for my Sunday lunch and to take a nice walk in the forest.
These walks help me to relax, to ground me, help me to contemplate on my projects and they also give me inspirations. The sky was clear; the forest was glowing with all the beautiful colours of the autumn.
During the walk a gentle thought form entered my heart from the past. I remembered when I was invited to the home of Professor Alexander Russell in London. I was introduced to him at the Hornsey Centre for Conductive Education where he worked closely with Ester Cotton. He took me to his study because he wanted to show me a model of the idea of a building he had planned with others for a children centre to be built in Jerusalem. In the middle of the room there was a huge table with the model of the building. The building looked like a beehive. If I wanted to show you the design it looked similar to Buckminster Fuller’s Geodesic dome…these dome shapes were somehow connected to one another. He was so excited about it and he spent a long time explaining to me where each services will be located.
I don’t know whether this project ever came to fruition or not, but he writes about the concept in the book titled The Petö System and its Evolution in Britain.
He wrote the following: “Our holistic priority goes beyond excellence in overcoming or alleviating weakness or defects towards a progressive fostering of strengths or talent of the “ whole” child, whilst optimally integrating him with his normal peers as soon as is practicable. Ultimate realisation of his full potential must remain the ongoing target from the outset. The extensive floor is designed for integrative classes of handicapped with non handicapped infants and toddlers, starting from one and a half years of age, and extending within its opposite wing for ages three and a half to seven….”
Page 353. 6.A comprehensive Integration Floor
If you are contemplating on designing your new centre you might find some inspiration from this posting.


Geodesic Dome











Professor Alexander Russell

"Paediatrician who published the first descriptions of many metabolic and neurodegenerative diseases
Alexander Russell, emeritus professor of paediatrics and childcare Hebrew University of Jerusalem (b Newcastle upon Tyne 1914; q Durham 1936), died from heart failure resulting from ischaemic heart disease on 4 March 2003.

Professor Alex Russell had three outstanding strands to his career and a single one of them could have marked him as a distinguished contributor to the science and practice of medicine. He was house physician to Professor Sir James Spence, from whom he acquired the hallmarks of rigour in scientific research and care of the sick child by supporting the family. During his war service in the Royal Air Force he defined the syndrome of carbon monoxide poisoning in the gun cockpits at the rear of Whitley bombers, where space was confined. He showed that the poisoning accounted for air sickness that had previously been ascribed to "weakness of moral fibre" in veteran gunners. For this discovery and his field research in malaria and hepatitis he was mentioned twice in dispatches and was awarded the OBE.

In 1950 he became assistant to Professor Sir Alan Moncrieff, working at both the Hospital for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street, and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Hackney Road, where he founded the UK’s first paediatric endocrine, growth, and metabolic unit in 1951. He was appointed consultant paediatrician at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for Children in 1954 and during the next 12 years published first descriptions of many metabolic and neurodegenerative diseases. Several of these syndromes are known throughout the world as the Russell syndromes. Alex was the first to describe an inborn enzymatic defect of the urea cycle (hyperammonaemia), which led to descriptions of patients with defects in every step of the cycle. His scientific research did not prevent him from listening to the parents of children with many disabilities and his welcoming smile, gentle voice, and polite manner helped them in their darkest hours.

His appointment to the chair of paediatrics and childcare at the Hadassah-Hebrew University of Jerusalem gave Professor Russell opportunities to continue his previous work as well as influence the provision of heath care to whole populations. He founded and became director of the Jerusalem Community Centre for Child and Family Development and the Children’s Hospital in Ramallah. His extensive clinical experience is reflected in his monumental books The Cerebral Palsy Entities and The Peto System. He continued to write original articles—the last in 2001 on the 4q-syndrome—and to advise colleagues throughout the world long after his official retirement."

http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/326/7399/1149/DC1

Early 1980’s
"Dr. Alexander Russell, a pediatrician working in London and Jerusalem brought Spastic Society publications by Ester Cotton to the USA and presented them to the International College of Pediatrics."

http://www.google.com/search?q=www.conductiveedconsulting.com%2F...%2Fconductive_history.doc&rls=com.microsoft:en-gb:IE-SearchBox&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7




Reference:

The Petö System and its Evolution in Britain Book II.
Philosophy, Principles & Practice
Edited by Alexander Russell & Ester Cotton.
1994 Acorn Fundation Publication
ISBN 1-899091 009

Note: Geodesic dome picture from Google images

A bit of inspiration…Green Roofs.




School of Art and Design, Singapore
Photo: Sidonie Carpenter http://greenrooffellowship.blogspot.com/
See more at http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/green-living/8-incredible-green-roofs/10914





•Hunderwasser’s village model, on display at Kunsthaus in Vienna via ecogeek.



http://www.ecogeek.org/content/view/902/








Building in Milano, from Sally in Italia website.






Garden shed roof, from North Carolina Green Technology Building.
http://www.ncgreenbuilding.org/site/ncg/public/show_project.cfm?project_id=238

"He who knows what sweets and virtues are in the ground, the waters, the plants, the heavens, and how to come at these enchantments, is the rich and royal man." - Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), Essays, Second Series, 1844


"Until man duplicates a blade of grass, nature can laugh at his so-called scientific knowledge." - Thomas Edison


"The Wilderness and the idea of wilderness is one of the permanent homes of the human spirit." - Joseph Wood Krutch (1893-1970), Today and All Its Yesterdays, 1958.

Friday 13 November 2009

Wake up call!

It was November 2005 when I gave a presentation at the Rehabilitation International Conference about Conductive Education in Bahrain.
After the conference, I was sitting in my room on my own. All of the delegates left who I travelled with as there were no seats available for me on the plane, they were all over booked after the conference.
I was quietly contemplating about my experience of the conference when the phone rang… I answered and the person on the other end of the line amongst other things kept telling me ‘Wake Up! Wake Up!’ Wake Up!

Maybe this clip will help to wake something up inside you as well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W61Q-EZ8R7M

Notes:
Picture of Gulf Hotel entrance in Bahrain where I stayed and where the conference took place.


Wake Up! ♥

Saturday 7 November 2009

Thursday 5 November 2009

“Change is the only constant” proverb


"Fairness, justice and freedom are more than words they are perspectives." V for Vendetta







Photo from Worth 1000 http://www.worth1000.com/

“In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life:

it goes on.”♥



Robert Frost

Tuesday 3 November 2009

'Leadership has it’s own responsibility…use your common sense'

I wanted to share this clip with you. I know that you will understand the message, which is addressed to you each personally, both through your consciences and subconscious mind… and through your heart…
Since I started running training courses in Conductive Education I always talked about the responsibility about ‘creating’ for the seventh generation to come.

Well, he has got a message to deliver… all I am doing is to give it a platform on my blog for the Conductive Community or for any one who reads my postings.

Are we doing things in a way that could benefit the seventh generation to come?

We have been given this great gift of understanding and working with Petö’s philosophy and practice. Are we doing enough to preserve and further his concepts, which provide endless opportunities, hope and possibilities for people with neurological problems?



Thursday 29 October 2009

Why do you know so much and live it so little?

Many people know things philosophically, theoretically, but they don’t live them.
They somehow separate themselves from their knowingness. They live in a kind of reserve.
In an area of their mind they know but they never live their knowingness, because living is somehow separate from this knowingness. And you will hear people say, “Inside of me I know better. I know what the truth is but I don’t live it.”
Why?
Is there some element to you that says… that truth already is truth if it is realized… and does not it beg us to live by our own realization?
What an interesting concept.
Why do you know so much and live it so little?

Is then the action part of your life what is meaningful?

You have got this great knowingness that you kind of worship… but will it ever become?

Wednesday 28 October 2009

It is Just a Ride...Do not be afraid to do anything you believe is right...

I have made available both of my two previous blogs, which were shut down for two different reasons. You can find them on the bottom of my blog list on the right hand side.

Enjoy!








Notes: Picture Peaceful Warrior

The clip of the Peaceful Warrior Bridge Slow Motion scene was first posted on my first sourcesense blog on 6th October 2008. The 6th October is the day when Dr Maria Hari my mentor and the successor of Dr. Andras Peto passed away in 2001.
http://sourcesense0.blogspot.com/2008/10/peaceful-warrior-bridge-slow-motion.html







The clip above I posted on 6th October 2009.



Does it make sense to you? ♥

Saturday 17 October 2009

"My heart is full of many things...there are moments when I feel that speech is nothing after all" Ludwig van Beethoven

After a long day at work, I drove home. It was a two and a half-hour long journey.

By the time I unloaded the car from all the equipments and by the time I was searching for the keys to my house in my courtyard it was dark.

The ice-cold breeze of the autumn night lingered over me without hesitation. I sniffed into the cold air and it was mixed with the smell of fire-smoke from the chimneys.

My grandmother’s home made jams and preserves came to my mind.
On the first coldest autumn days we were allowed to open the first ones while she was making us delicious potato pancakes.

I stepped through the door and sat down in the study. I looked around and I was pleased with the newly cleared shelves.
Recently I donated a huge amount of books to charities. I collected so many books throughout the years.
When I decided to clear out all the clutter around me it meant my precious books had to be gone too. I love books, but I felt they have served their purpose in my life, so I wanted to let someone else benefit from them from now.
It is quite liberating when you let go off things so you give life a chance to bring in something new.
I moved around the house and sat in all the newly decorated and cleared rooms. My appreciation grew bigger and bigger.

There were so many things which disturbed me during the day… things, which I know you might also have to deal with while working with Conductive Education in different settings serving all kinds of different purposes.
It has nothing to do with what you were taught and nothing to do with what you should be dealing with.
But for now let me tell you what I did. I sat down at my piano and after such a long time I started playing Beethoven Fur Elise.
This is the closest version I could find to the gentle way I beleive it should be played.



Thursday 15 October 2009

Educação Condutiva - com amor, Conductive Education - with love

I love reading Leticia Burigo’s postings. I always felt drawn to her and to her thoughts pouring from the heart.
I have been thinking about a new posting for a few days now. I was searching for words… how to explain what I always believed and never dared to say openly. She just said it. Thank you Leticia.
Here is her last posting translated by Google.

“Be better than I am

The children teach us to be better people.
teach us to love.
teach us patience.
teach us to set routines even more organized.
teach us to take more responsibility.
They teach us to predict before it happened.
must be more, go further.
must guess a movement, a response.
predict and is now ready. always have a second option.
To be better than I am,
respecting the diversity of each one.
Be better for me, for you, for all.
To able to read what they are telling us.”

Leticia said it in such a beautiful way…

I have been working and interacting with children and watching them nearly every day for a long a long time. It has been a longer time than my own growing up years.
I can still remember myself as a child growing up and I have seen my own daughter growing up. I have been witnessing these children’s power and their clarity. It taught me how to feel, hear and see what the children are trying to tell me.

Their power and clarity might not appear to be as we expect them to be, but my definite conclusion is, that they are bringing us up in so many ways. By reminding us of what is important and what really matters.

They all have a message, which they are so eager to share. Every time I meet them I always have an enquiring heart asking them internally… so what do you want to teach me, what do you want me to hear?

My job is to facilitate them in their journey in this life, but nether the less I need to hear them out first and learn from them, before I use my knowledge and experience to pave the path with them towards becoming what they wish to be and expected to be.
I adjust my gaze to see them with unconditional love, which accepts them as they are. I don’t want them to be different. They don’t need to be different to make me feel better, nor they have to be different to feel my acceptance. This is not the case and never will be.

I know this concept might be a little bit hard to understand.

What I am trying to convey here is, that we can only facilitate the changes and the transformations of people’s life if we can accept them as they are.
When we see them who they really are and engage with them in true sharing, which is giving and receiving.

It is the same with adults. Isn’t it?

I still feel that we have more to learn from our children than they have to learn from us. LIFE is clever. It always makes sure that the seeds of growth are coming through plenty if we dare to see them and find them.
The children are the carriers of these seeds.

Reference: http://educacaocondutiva.blogspot.com/

Wednesday 14 October 2009

Amanda Elliott’s Challenge Me! Speech and Communication Cards has been short listed for a Nasen Award 2009

in the 'Inclusive Resource for Primary Classrooms' category.

Amanda Elliott is one of the first graduates of the National Institute of Conductive Education UK.
The Nasen awards 2009 ceremony is going to be held at Hotel Russell in London, at Russell Square tomorrow evening.
Winners will be announced on Friday 16th October 2009.

'Nasen provides up to date information on SEN and Disability issues. By working closely with government agencies, other organisations and providers of products and resources...' http://www.nasen.org.uk/general-information/

"Nasen's Mission statement

Principles
Nasen believes that:
  • Every human being has an entitlement to personal, social and intellectual development and must be given the opportunity to achieve his/her potential in learning.


  • Every human being is unique in terms of characteristics, interests, abilities, motivation and learning needs.


  • Those with exceptional learning needs and/or disabilities should have access to high quality and appropriate education.
Aims
Nasen will:
  • Promote the interests of those with exceptional learning needs and/or disabilities
  • Provide a forum for those actively working with or caring for children and young people with special and additional educational needs and/or disabilities.
  • Contribute to the formulation and development of policy and practice.

Objectives

The specific objectives of the Association are:

  • To develop the Association’s structure to run efficiently and effectively


  • To offer a comprehensive service and relevant products to all members


  • To collaborate with organisations and associations concerned with education


  • To promote the principles of effective inclusion


  • To develop the Association’s profile within the global market


  • To prepare for and respond to key government legislation and guidance


  • To provide significant input into Government policy on all aspects of special and additional educational needs and disability


  • To disseminate and commission research and policy development in areas of interest to members of the Association


  • To research and develop world class solutions to support those working with or caring for children and young people with special and additional educational needs and disabilities "
    http://www.nasen.org.uk/mission-statement/





Photos: Hotel Russell London

References: http://www.challengemecards.com/

http://www.nasen.org.uk/

http://www.jkp.com/catalogue/book/9781843109464

http://www.jkp.com/catalogue/book/9781843104971

Monday 12 October 2009

Are we at the edge of a new paradigm?

If we are, are we ready to see it, acknowledge it and work with it?

Do we need a Conductive Pedagogical Renaissance?

What is Renaissance?

“The Renaissance was a cultural movement that profoundly affected European intellectual life in the early modern period. Beginning in Italy, and spreading to the rest of Europe by the 16th century, its influence affected literature, philosophy, art, politics, science, religion, and other aspects of intellectual inquiry. Renaissance scholars employed the humanist method in study, and searched for realism and human emotion in art.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance

Are we ready for the rebirth of and the revival of Petö’s Conductive Pedagogy?
I first mentioned this in one of my advertised training courses on 16th May 2009 'Conductive Pedagogical Renaissance series’ on my sourcesense blog.

Petö was ahead of his time in many respects and he still is… He had a single focus and that was, to create a system, which shifted the already existing paradigm about disability, especially about motor impairment.

It happened at a time when everybody was in survival mode after the Second World War.
Petö had a great understanding about human beings and about the ‘system in general’, which was created for people in the new era after World War ll. They had to accept it as a norm.

He deeply understood and worked with the laws of creation and manifestation.
He was able to see the powers, that each human being possess, whether they are aware of it or not and whether they are labelled as disabled or not.

On my first lecture with Dr. Mária Hári, she told us that always ask permission from everyone, even from a baby when you want to facilitate them at the first ‘examination’, which we call initial consultation or observation in Conductive Education.
Conductors do not examine people. I only used the word to highlight the importance of the difference.
What does the first remark of her first lecture tell you? Think about it!

It told me, that when we start our work with anyone (not just at the initial consultation, but always), we must show and have the highest respect and regard for them.
How many people who are working with Petö’s Conductive Pedagogy in the world understood this deeply and apply it as a norm every day in their work?

How many of us realised that the removing of Gill Maguire from the National Library of Conductive Education put the heritage of the work outside of Hungary to a standstill?

How many of us are truly grateful (every time when we open her blog) of the fact that she is still providing us with essential information about Conductive Education and related issues?

How many of us would be prepared to be part of creating a more formal venture in our history for the preservation of Gill’s and Andrews’s knowledge and experience?

For sometime I have been thinking long and hard about these two people who invested their best in establishing something very unique and valuable.

If we don’t look after this still available pool of knowledge and experience what are we hoping to create for the future?

How can we, who are working with Petö’s Conductive Pedagogy expect that we will be looked after if we miss this opportunity?

In all sustainable, beautiful, native cultures where people understand about life and see it as a precious commodity, they respect and love their ‘elders’ the most experienced.


They don’t brush them aside and believe that they have no more use anymore.


I am proposing to set up a contribution project for our heritage and invite these two individuals, Gill and Andrew to help us as long as they can.
We can call it the Conductive Education Information Project.
The mission of the project is to be a focal point of reliable and accurate information about the system of Conductive Education.

The purpose of the project is to provide a vehicle and a source for researchers, the media, conductive education students, conductors, students of the rehabilitation and special needs professions, health care professionals, educationalists, parents, carers, projects, Parkinson’s, Multiple Sclerosis Societies etc., education authorities, health authorities and the government.

The Conductive Education Information Project endeavours to steer the worldwide conductive movement towards the highest quality and unified understanding of Petö’s Conducive Pedagogy.


Every project working with Conductive Education could budget for it within their means, (doesn’t matter how little it is), they can do individual fundraisings for donations towards it, and we all can approach and invite people to donate even if they are not part of Conductive Education. Just a little awareness and some good intention could create something remarkable for our future.
I believe that this is important for all of us.
If you beleive that it is important to you to take this further, please comment or contact me at judit.szathmary@virgin.net.
References:

Thursday 8 October 2009

"You have to find the inside of the Now"...

A friend of mine… a very special friend of mine sent me this book as a present, which arrived yesterday.
When I opened the package I didn’t understand it at first…I sat down and started reading it…and it all became clear.
Whether you are an adult or a child you might like to read it yourself.
The book is about Milton's adventures as he learns to stop projecting his past fears into the future - and live simply and happily in the moment.








You might like to read this too: http://www.conductive-world.info/2009/05/bullying-in-workplace.html

Wednesday 7 October 2009

Do your research, choose wisely...

For the last few months the mainstream media has been bombarding the world with fear provoking information about the swine flu virus and the importance of the swine flu jab.
Less well-known regional papers in European countries have been expressing concerns about the lack of research evidence on how the vaccination could affect people and also have been reporting about the Jane Burgermeister case.




'Information is not knowledge.' A Einstein

Tuesday 6 October 2009

'Pilgrim, how you journey on the road you chose, to find out why the winds die and where the stories go.'

All days come from one day
that much you must know,
you cannot change what's over
but only where you go.
One way leads to diamonds,
one way leads to gold,
another leads you only
to everything you're told.
In your heart you wonder
which of these is true;
the road that leads to nowhere,
the road that leads to you.
Will you find the answer
in all you say and do?
Will you find the answer
In you?
Each heart is a pilgrim,
each one wants to know
the reason why the winds die
and where the stories go.
Pilgrim, in your journey
you may travel far,
for pilgrim it's a long way
to find out who you are...
Pilgrim, it's a long way
to find out who you are...'
Enya Pilgrim




Thank you everyone for the kind Birthday wishes.

I had a wonderful time, which happens when, synchronicity brings people and events together.

Four new people entered my life on this day and they showered me with with presents and shared their kindness, their thoughts and their experiences with me over a delightful lunch.

I am used to magical events in my life, but in the past, I never found it easy to share a meal with people I met for the first time. Sitting around the table and enjoying culinary delights is a very personal experience for me and it is the most enjoyable when I am with people who I feel relaxed and at ease with. After a very short time I forgot my reservations and I was absorbed by the energy of the place and by the energy of the people around the table and by our conversations. It was almost as fabulous to see how we opened up one by one and shared our energies, as the actual synchronistic event itself.
I will always remember and be grateful for this birthday! ♥

The Mill at Gordleton where we had lunch.

http://www.themillatgordleton.co.uk/index.htm






Link to the article about Crispie the duck who was waddling around the restaurant to everyones delight!

http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/search/4445635.Diners_go_quackers_for_Crispie_the_duck/