You can also stimulate the hemispheres of your brain by simply paying attention to them. Psychologists Robert Masters and Jean Houston, at the Foundation for Mind Research in New York, have devised several exercises for doing this. These are described in their books, including Mind Games, Listening to the Body, The Possible Human, and Psychological Method Exercises.
Related Quotes
As base, MacLean shows that creative ability lives not only in the right hemisphere of the neocortex but also in the lower parts of the brain. Other evidence indicates that we are maximally creative when there is an integration between right and left brain, the neocortex, as well as the two lower centers. Imagine the inner creative resource housed in this ancient remnant of this prehistoric lower brain: the feeling, motivation, and ancestral lore of the species.
Clustering. This is a word and visual game that engages your inner mind in the discovery of yourself. The technique is used by writers to get unstuck about a topic and gain new insights. Play some relaxing music and get comfortable so that you can concentrate and become absorbed in concentration.
In the middle of a piece of paper write a key or nucleus word or phrase - such as âmoneyâ or âbeing ordinaryâ or âmyselfâ - and draw a heavy circle around it. Then free associate another word that comes off the first word. Write it down, circle it, and draw a line between the two circles. Let your mind go free on the topic and continue to write words, circling, and connecting, stimulated by either the nucleus word or any of the others.
Work quickly and easily, almost impulsively. Donât let your analytical mind get too involved. If you get stuck, try doodling; connect the circles with lines; draw in arrowheads; touch up or go over your circles. Then see if there is anything more coming out.
Be playful. Just let it flow at random. Be ordinary. Allow the words and connections to happen. Have faith that they are within you and you are merely allowing to come out.
Brain imaging studies show that when we picture ourselves doing something, the same parts of our brain are engaged as if we were actually doing that activity. Why does this matter? Because we can trick ourselves into getting some of the benefits of an activity simply by closing our eyes and imagining it in our heads.
Perhaps most surprisingly, mental simulation can also build skills. A review of thirty-five studies featuring 3,214 participants showed that mental practice aloneâsitting quietly, without moving, and picturing yourself performing a task successfully from start to finishâimproves performance significantly. The results were borne out over a large number of tasks: Mental simulation helped people weld better and throw darts better. Trombonists improved their playing, and competitive figure skaters improved their skating. Not surprisingly, mental practice is more effective when a task involves more mental activity (e.g., trombone playing) as opposed to physical activity (e.g., balancing), but the magnitude of gains from mental practice is large on average: Overall, mental practice alone produced about two thirds of the benefits of actual physical practice.
The takeaway is simple: Mental simulation is not as good as actually doing something, but itâs the next best thing. And, to circle back to the world of sticky ideas, what weâre suggesting is that the right kind of story is, effectively, a simulation. Stories are like flight simulators for the brain. Hearing the nurseâs heart-monitor story isnât like being there, but itâs the next best thing.
It does, though. Obviously, our brains are in our bodies, and thus depend on body chemistry in order to work. Too much sugar, sluggish brain. Too much wheat, compliant brain. Too much artificial stuff, fearful brain. Too much alcohol and drug stuff, collapsed brain. But the impact of our bodies on thinking goes beyond this chemistry question. When we try to think inside a body we disrespect, it can hear only, âYou donât matter.â And that assumption practically anaesthetizes the cortex.
The body, then, is the place where we think, not only because it contains our brains, but also because it tells us whether we matter.
What to do?
Consider these questions.
About the room:
What are three things you can do before your next meeting so that when people arrive they feel, just from the room, that they matter?
About the listener:
How can you communicate to your listener the importance of their keeping their eyes on your eyes so that their eyes and their face respond accurately to the micro signals of change in your thinking?
About your body:
What one thing do you know you need to do so that your body can say to you, âYou matterâ?