AN "AHA" MOMENT
two brains are better than one
Our brain architecture creates our experience of the world. Like all brains on the planet, ours are divided— and the more we understand how this matters the more we can get from our minds.
The science is remarkable...if you can find it. A Google search for brain hemispheres will show hundreds of illustrations describing their different functions. These illustrations are so compelling and easy to grasp! And unfortunately, for the most part, they're false.
Why stick around for the truth? Because it could transform your whole world.
TWO MINDS: A HOW CONVERSATION
Pop culture illustrations—the left brain does X and the right brain does Y—are well-intentioned. They arose from certain extraordinary insights that do show up in studies. The problem they created is this: most of them put a what conversation where a how conversation belongs.
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The research is clear: the left and right brains don't handle different things—they handle things differently. And one has a special way of seeing and integrating pathways to safely move us forward.
A THRIVING MIND
What DOES research show about how the hemispheres differ?
It has to do with how they work with information that is new.
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At any given time, your left brain prefers to know what you know. It's the primary home of your brain's default mode network. It's got smaller, more closely networked neurons. Its strength is to search and retrieve from its own maps. This approach is handy if progress can be made using maps you already have. But if progress depends on a new frame of reference, the left brain can network endlessly in search of pathways it cannot find. The experience can be so circular and frustrating that progress seems impossible. (Sound familiar?)
Your right brain is different. At any given time, its preference is to know what you don't yet know. It has a larger workspace for networking. It's longer and wider in most places than the left; its neurons are larger, and its networks are broader. Every second of the day, the right brain is seeing, sensing—and trying to help the left brain integrate—freshly available insights. It's always at the ready for heavy lifting on a new idea or solution, because it's undaunted by complexity and vastly more equipped for pathfinding.
Wait, you say: If our right brains are so equipped to see pathways, why do we experience so much stuckness and frustration?
Because our left brain stays just as talkative when it can't find solutions as when it can. Language is heavily networked left (80-95% of the time). With savvy tools, we can bypass unhelpful narratives to see the insights we need. The result? The "aha" experience we're seeking—from emerging safety cues to surprisingly intuitive pathways.
Intrigued? Well, you should be! One hundred percent of clients leave with new insights and report a better experience of progress. To learn more, schedule a conversation or explore the resources below.
FEELING PHILOSOPHICAL?
HUNGRY FOR DATA?