Dr. Melodie de Jager on aha moments, siestas, the force of gravity and solitude
Meet the warm-hearted woman who is captivated by human development from the cradle to the grave. Dr. Melodie de Jager, founder of the Mind Moves Institute and developer of a series of neuroscience-based programmes, describes herself as “a fortunate mother, a playful grandmother, a passionate teacher, an accidental author and speaker, and a curious, lifelong student of human nature.”
1 What does a human development specialist do, and how did you move into this role?
People fascinate me. I am intrigued by what makes people tick. My dad had a huge hand in this when he asked me (age 9) if I’d ever want to drive a car. Oh, the joy of the right question(s) at the right time! In order to drive you first need to know how it works, he said, and promptly bought me an overall and taught me the basic mechanics and electronics of a car.
When we were not peering into an engine, I was reading or playing with my 53 dolls. Yes, 53 dolls … a classroom full of learning children. The idea that the most impactful time to influence a child’s development is before 6 years of age inspired me to become a nursery school teacher. Like the car, I needed to know how people “work”.
Seeing so many children battle to learn and become school ready despite good teachers, curricula, school facilities and involved parents, prompted the question: why? This led me to study factors that enable children to learn and develop, searching for the common denominator that applies to everyone: boys and girls, rich and poor, rural and urban.
Psychology answered many of my questions, but the ultimate answer was still eluding me. I stopped looking outside and started considering what happens inside the child to enable learning. Despite learning about the structure of a neuron in my studies in education and psychology, a course in Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP) illuminated the body's role in our thought processes. That was a huge aha moment… the body plays a role in learning?! Rebecca Welles says it beautifully in her novel Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood: “All life and history happens in the body”. Of course, silly!
Up popped the theme: how does it work? As a working mom and part-time student I dabbled into the mechanics and electronics of the child by informally studying neurology. When I bumped into the innate reflex system, the pieces of the developmental puzzle finally started falling into place. When conception and development progress naturally, learning mostly follows spontaneously. I was ecstatic! So: as in all things natural, there is a rhythm and a protocol, but what is the driver of this process? Our three children became both sounding boards and guinea pigs in the quest to find the driver - or was it the key?
Image: Pexels
Once I realised the role physical movement plays in developing the mechanics and electronics of the brain and its ability to learn, it led to the design of developmental programmes for babies and children that use movement as natural medicine. My title had to be streamlined, and morphed into Development Specialist.
2 How did you expand your passion for human development to other age groups?
The love of math helped me understand that there is a common denominator in people of all ages that starts at conception and continues throughout life: nature employs movement to wire and structure the brain and body to thrive. I realised when the natural rhythm and sequences of this glorious unfolding process are interrupted, thriving often turns into surviving and is, unfortunately, often accompanied by a sense of shrinking/less than, failure and pain. This was in strong contrast to what we see in nature where things and people thrive - expanding/growing, energy, love, JOY!
Being more, not less.
So many children experience learning difficulties, and every child starts the journey as a baby. For this reason my focus shifted from pre-school learning (www.elearning@mindmoves.co.za) to babies. Why grow up with a barrier to learning and thriving if we can impact on brain development when the brain is at its most malleable (www.babygym.co.za)?
If movement structures the brain, mimicking infant movements must be able to “repair” a brain and help children learn more easily (mindmoves.co.za), not so?
In my work with children a father once commented that what I said about his son’s challenges rang true regarding his own childhood and still applied to him as an adult. Dad continued to ask if this work could be done with adults. The magic of the right question at the right time shattered my limited vision and led to the adult arm of my work (www.mindynamix.com) and, as my parents aged, extended to older people (www.seniormindmoves.co.za).
After a radio talk, I received a letter (it was in the days of letter writing) from a publisher that said one of their marketers had heard the talk on the radio and thought there was a book in there. Would I write? And so the books got written (https://www.mindmoves.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Overview-of-books.pdf)
and instructors and profilers got trained.
As we talked and shared, people from all over the world resonated with the simplicity of our approach and the consistency of the results and asked for translations or, even better, asked if they could translate! And so our approach got a voice in Spanish, Italian, German and other languages, more recently in Simple Chinese and Russian.
3 Apart from writing books, you develop programmes in applied neuroscience. Please give us a little more detail.
The various programmes are not thought-out. I followed the principles of biomimicry, meaning studying and mimicking nature’s innate way. In this way, we mimic the reflexive movements that babies make to shape the architecture of the nervous system to develop a unique and innate skill set.
Movement is not the only architect of the organ of behaviour, the brain - so are DNA, environmental influences, nutrition, upbringing and later choices we make or fail to make, perceptions, thoughts and feelings. Neuroscientists tell us the brain we develop reflects the life we lead. Enter neuroplasticity. “The brain devotes more cortical real estate to functions that the owner uses more frequently and shrinks the space devoted to activities rarely performed,” writes Sharon Begley in Train your mind, change your brain.
If a person’s skill set meets the challenges in school or in the workplace, they thrive. When a person’s wired skill set enables them to thrive only outside the classroom or outside the scope of their current workplace, it often brings that sense of shrinking and pain, but only if one buys into the fixedness of who you are! If discomfort is perceived as a wake-up call, it leads to intense electrical en chemical activity in the brain that underpins creativity and growth and a sure movement towards thriving.
What a gift neuroplasticity is! You are not a victim of your past. You are free to change. Like with the car (thanks, Dad!) you simply need to understand your brain and its default programmes and then do some rewiring using thoughts and movement to bring it back to thrive mode.
I was bolstered by Elmer Green and Sharon Promislow who said:
“Every change in the physical state is accompanied by a change in the mental and emotional state – conscious or unconscious.” - Elmer Green;
“Human emotions and behaviour are deeply rooted in biology. Changes to any one of these three fused factors – emotions, behaviour or biology – irrevocably have a ripple effect on the other two.” - Sharon Promislow.
The Mind Dynamix Profile saw the light not to label, but to gain insight into the brain’s default programmes and designed movements to breach the performance gap. What is really stimulating is determining a persons’ default wiring (young or old) to identify
their innate expertise and thrive mode
what in their wiring tends to repeatedly trip them up, and which movements they can do to expand the neurological basis of their skill set to match challenges.
Thousands of clients, old and young, have confirmed that biomimicry puts the past into perspective, brings hope, energy and strategy to the present and liberation, growth and JOY to the future.
What a fun journey when you live your passion!
If you’re intrigued by the idea of the Mind Dynamix “operating manual” for your one-of-a-kind brain, you’ll find Melodie’s explanation here.
4 Your recent projects include a programme aimed at removing barriers to learning, a reading readiness programme, a book regarding the influence of gravity on child development, and a blog on preconceptual care and pregnancy. Please tell us more.
Neuro Dynamix of Reading and Writing
Many children are not ready to transition from the “real” world with “real” things to the abstract world of symbols. To be school-ready, children need to acquire language to be able to learn codes like the ABC, 123, punctuation, etc.
When learners cannot read, write or do math, we give them more of what they can’t do: we make them practise reading, writing and math. Instead, we should go back and build a bridge by using concrete things to teach them abstract concepts.
The Neuro Dynamix programme is a self-help resource for home-schooling parents and schools that lack therapeutic support. It creates the bridge learners need by means of wooden toys designed for all ages, engaging their bodies and offering ample opportunity for conversation. It includes everything teachers or parents will need, including training and access to an assessment platform generating individualised intervention plans, again and again. This allows learners to learn at their own pace.
The program is available as from the 26th of July 2021:
https://elearning.mindmoves.co.za/neuro-dynamix-practitioner/
The Mind Moves® Institute Reading Readiness programme
The international PIRLS study was an unsettling wake-up call, showing us that South African children lag far behind when tested for reading with comprehension. This inspired me to create the Mind Moves® Institute Reading Readiness programme, once again based on neuroscience. The programme was designed to tick all the boxes regarding pre-reading building blocks. The illustration above not only shows us these stepping stones, but lets on that the programme was developed to engage each child through fun and movement.
Listen to Melodie putting this programme in perspective.
Gravity: a missing link in child development by Melodie de Jager, Oleg Efimov and Victoria Efimova
Serendipitous circumstances led to an invitation to co-author a book with Dr. Oleg Efimov, a Russian neurologist and founder of an innovative private pediatric, neurological clinic in St. Petersburg, and Victoria Efimova, a speech therapist involved in the clinic.
Together we discovered what children with learning difficulties and astronauts have in common and included these insights in the book. Gravity: a missing link in child development contains scientific findings on the role of the vestibular system regarding delayed milestones, poor sensory integration, ADHD, autism, anxiety disorders and other challenges. The second half of the book shows how physical, emotional, social and intellectual developmental issues can be addressed through “movement as medicine”.
Melodie reveals what astronauts and children with learning difficulties have in common.
The blog: The Art of Co-Creating
I longed to write something on being a woman – in particular to engage with younger women, who may not have someone with whom they can discuss these matters in a safe and private space.
One day, while I was writing a manual, a small voice popped into my head. It belonged to Zani, a fictional thirty-something who wanted to have a baby. This became a book: One + One = Three: the wondrous journey from conception to birth, including both Zani’s story and scientific information on preconceptual care, prenatal development and other subjects. Eventually the book was transformed into a free blog: https://theartofcocreating.co.za/about/
Melodie talks about this blog - now available as an eBook - speaking from her heart.
5 You’re energetic and always working on something. How do you manage all your different tasks and responsibilities?
I love what I do, and passion translates into energy. Part of the creative process involves responding to opportunities that come my way. If something comes up, I engage in some way or another. If it could assist someone somewhere – perhaps be a key that fits a specific lock – it brings me great joy.
I have my own rhythm: from 03h00 to 11h00 I can get a lot done. Then I catch a siesta, and “do” the rest of the day.
I seldom go on holiday because I enjoy what I do. I sleep well and relish the results we see at work. I am addicted to the way someone’s eyes light up when they have just learned something, expanded a little, or become more than they were. This kind of confirmation makes me look forward to tomorrow.
Melodie explains how you can find out if your (or your loved one’s) primary sense is visual, auditory, or kinaesthetic.
How do you share your heart - and history - with those you cherish? Melodie illuminates our deep need for human connection.
6 You travel quite a lot when the pandemic allows. What does “home” mean to you?
Home isn’t a place, it’s a state of being. My children will tell you that when I travel, I take flowers and candles along.
Your home is where you are.
Image: Pexels
Melodie discusses the current reality of teachers, specifically those in the foundation phase.
7 You have such a zest for life. What's your secret?
Happiness is a choice. I believe in a God who has our best interests at heart - a benevolent Force out to spoil me every day.
In the morning I get up anticipating being spoiled in unexpected ways, provided I am open to noticing these blessings. I won’t necessarily find a pot of gold waiting for me, but a car guard with a sincere smile, or a surprise in the form of a flower. There are hundreds of little miracles!
Do I experience disappointments? Certainly – but they are outweighed by the gifts.
8 How about your loved ones?
I have three wonderful children who are so diverse that they remind me of the United Nations. Then there are their partners, and seven grandchildren in seven years!
9 How do you feel about solitude?
Solitude is more than the absence of people, hustle and bustle. Solitude draws me to my roots. It is most appreciated in a place where, in the ratio man-made : nature, the scales are tipped towards nature. It is in nature that I re-calibrate … so that I can vibrate in harmony with all that is.
I find perspective, inspiration and energy in solitude. It is also the source where books and ideas are downloaded.
Maybe solitude used to be solotude, who knows? I often think of the play between the phonemes soul and sole.
Solitude is the well that I drink from to love, to give, to create.
Image: Pexels
10 What has the Covid-19 pandemic taught you?
I have realised the value of making your bed, cleaning your house, smelling fresh washing, planting herbs and watching them grow. Digging a hole for compost and seeing how rubble shrinks when one lives simply.
I feel this is a time for a great value shake-up. What I value the most I miss the most in its absence and appreciate the most in its presence.
Friedrich Nietzsche’s “He who has a why to live can bear almost any how” has made me think ...
Logo of the Mind Moves® Institute
About Melodie
Dr. Melodie de Jager, human development specialist, educator, author and keynote speaker from Johannesburg, is the founder of the BabyGym and Mind Moves® Institutes.
Many of her books are prescribed reading at tertiary level in South Africa and abroad.
Her ground-breaking research over the past 38 years has been acknowledged internationally with
• the Visions of the Future Award;
• her nomination by the American Biographical Institute as one of the Greatest Women of the 21st Century.
Tel. 011 888 5434
Images: Unsplash, unless indicated otherwise.
Personal photographs: supplied.