This presentation was part of the 2023 Holistic Health and Wellness Forum for MS held on May 17 in Southfield, Michigan.
Trent McEntire is the founder of McEntire Pilates and Creator of BrainSpeed Ball. He presented at the 2019 Holistic Health Forum. Read on to learn how the body’s sensory systems (vestibular, visual and proprioception) work together to help the body move and strategies to strengthen these systems.
Trent recommends that you build a team of your occupational therapist, physical therapist, doctor, and other healthcare providers and make sure they’re all taking to each other. One client, Bob asked Trent to join him at his PT appointment. Bob was a marathon runner and athlete with MS who over 20 years has developed dizziness, posture struggles, balance issues and movement problem. In talking to the PT there was a missing piece – the eyes. Many people lack of eye exercises in their routine. We’re told movement is important but we don’t often do eye exercises which can improve confidence on your feet, improve balance and reduce dizziness.
Do five minutes a day of eye exercises. Make it fun, make it a game. Fun matters. It keeps the brain curious. – Trent McEntire
Why the eyes?
The eyes are connected to how well you can move your body. When your eyes are weak your movement is weak. Your brain prioritizes visual information above all senses and values it as most important.
Example eye movement exercise
Move your eyes to the right and turn your head and keep looking right as far as your can then come back to center and repeat. Take your eyes to the left but turn your head to the right. It feels terrible. If you can move your eyes and they are strong, your body will be able to move more freely.
How to use the Brain Speed Ball
Turn your head to the left and right 4 to 5 times in a row. Then reach your arms up over head and back down by your sides. Take the deepest breath possible in through the nose and out through the mouth.
Catch the brain speedball and throw it back a few times. Then pick a number on the ball to call out and throw the ball back. Stop the ball where you catch it and freeze. Then read a number or letter.
Dropping the ball isn’t failure, it means you’re reaching an edge and approaching the correct level of difficulty.
Now catch the ball and say a word that starts with the letter you see.
Check the range of motion by turning the head, lifting the arms and taking a breath to check for easier range of motion and deeper breath after playing with the Brain Speed Ball.
For over 25 years, Trent McEntire has been helping people gain back their mobility – a story he knows well. Born with a mild form of Cerebral Palsy, Trent experienced pain and stiffness every day from the time he was a child. The methods Trent discovered to repair his own body also became the foundation for what became his life’s work.
Trent is a graduate of Western Michigan University where he completed in-depth studies in Movement Science including Feldenkrais, Laban Movement Analysis, Pilates, Bartenieff Fundamentals, Kinesiology, and Anatomy. Trent was named a Presidential Scholar while attending Western Michigan University and in 2015 he was given the Distinguished Alumni Award for his innovations in neurological-based movement solutions.
Trent is an international presenter whose transformational methods and tools have changed thousands of lives — children who struggle with focus; seniors who have lost their balance and mobility; individuals experiencing neurological conditions; and athletes who have suffered concussions and injuries.
Today, Trent’s mission is to deliver his methods and tools to everyone who needs help with moving past physical and brain-related limitations. He invented the BrainSpeed Ball® and created the Fire Up Your Brain® program as a fun, engaging, and affordable way to support this mission. In addition to his professional teaching, Trent spends his time problem-solving and educating the world through his AskTrent Live programming, building a network of BrainSpeed Coaches, and facilitating speaking engagements to further educate the public on enhancing brain performance in fun and powerful ways.