Now you probably wonder what I am talking about. I have been on fire since reading Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor's book, My Stroke of Insight. I must have recommended it to a dozen people already. Dr Taylor is a brain scientist who had a stroke. Because she was a brain scientist she was able to observe the impact of the stroke on her brain and her well being. Then she deliberately choose what areas of her brain to reconnect (rehabilitate) through therapy and personal perseverance. More to the point, she decide what not to reconnect.
While the entire book is well worth your time, for my purposes the decision to rewire her brain so that it was more balanced between the left brain and the right brain. She was probably left brain dominate: storytelling, worrying, achieving, living in the future, judging herself and others, analytical and driven. In her recovery, she decided to strengthen the wiring to her right brain where living in the moment, joy, compassion and an absence of boundaries between self and others resides.
When I read the book I realized how much of my own brain time is taken up with left brain activities and how little I give to right brain. I mean, how much time do I need to spend worrying, internally criticizing myself and others and telling myself elaborate stories about why whatever is happening and why is it happening to me. And reading her story, I recommitted myself to personal practices that build the highways to the right brain and slow down the pathways to the left.
Dr Taylor writes about tending the garden of our minds. Your mind is not a wild animal trapped in your skull for which you have not a smidgen of control. It is a garden where you can nurture and plant beauty and peace and understanding of others. True leadership skills.
For your own rewiring purposes, here are 5 practices offered by Dr. Taylor:
1. Be aware of what you are feeling and thinking in any given moment. Take control of what you are thinking and feeling. This is within your mind's ability to do. Choose peace (right mind).
2. Notice when you left mind is in a reverberating loop of negative storytelling. How does your body feel in the moment? If you are in an anxious, fearful or other negative mode, chose to get out of that loop. Wait 90 seconds for the emotions to dissipate then speak to your brain as if to a loving child:" I appreciate your ability to think thoughts and feel emotions, but I am really not interested in thinking these thoughts or feelings these emotions amymore. Please stop bringing this stuff up."
3. Practice noticing your breathing, walking, eating and all activities that you are engaging in at any given moment. This disengages your left mind and kicks in your right mind.
4. When you are really stuck in a negative loop, keep handy a list of 3 things to think about: (1) something you would like to ponder deeply, (2) something that brings you terrific job and (3) something you would like to do.
5. Choose to do activities that engage your senses - music, massage, dancing, walking in nature, listening to birds.
For my own part, I assume rewiring is a long term project. It took Dr Taylor 8 years to get her left brain up and running again. And as the wise people say, no time like the present.
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