Are You a "RIghty" or a "Lefty"?

In a long-held overgeneralization of the split brain theory of psychophysiology, our “handedness” somewhat indicates our “brained-ness.”  That is, a right-handed person is left-brain dominant, with a proclivity toward spatial abilities, facial recognition, visual imagery and music; while a left-handed person would be right-brain dominant -- tapping more easily into the parts of the brain most responsible for language, math and logic.   

While over time that split-brain notion (first put forth in the late 1800s) has not been wholly supported, there is some evidence that handedness may in fact contribute to some lateral dominance in brain function (as do eye dominance, foot dominance and hearing dominance).  And what any dominance suggests is a movement away from center – and away from balance. 

Alice Flaherty, author of the Midnight Disease: The Drive to Write, Writer’s Block and the Creative Brain, argues that creativity is due to a balance of frontal and temporal lobe activity.  In other words the trick is not, in fact, to get out of your "left brain" and into your right, but to increase activity in the right hemisphere (or reduce activity in the left) so that it matches the activity on the other side – i.e., balance!

So, in a salute to the righties and lefties of the world (and in deep admiration of all of you ambidextrous souls) today’s well note offers two simple tips to help balance your beautiful, brilliant, bodacious brains!

• Since you’re already thinking about it, let’s start with handedness.  If you are right-handed – and an estimated 80% of humans are – change!  Yep, right now (don’t panic, it’s temporary).  For the next hour (and it will undoubtedly feel like longer) do with your left hand what you normally would do with your right (write, eat, brush your teeth, etc.).  And if you are left-handed, well, you’ll be letting that southpaw rest while you give the right hand a workout.  

By doing something as simple as switching hands, you may just feel your brain “light up” with neural activity that can fuel creative thought and the development of new ideas and novel solutions to challenging problems.  Now there’s a tool you can access next time you’re feeling “stuck”!

Want another easy practice you can try right now?  

• This next idea for balancing the brain is taken from the world of yoga: alternate nostril breathing.  I had the occasion to give this practice a try last week as part of a mind-body practice in a post-graduate program on positive psychology; and was struck by how it opened creativity, awareness and calm. 
• First, close the right nostril with your right thumb and inhale through the left nostril.  Do this to the count of four seconds.
• Then, close the left nostril with your right ring finger and little finger.  At the same time, remove your thumb from the right nostril, and exhale through this nostril.  Do this to the count of eight seconds.  This completes a half round.
• Now inhale through the right nostril to the count of four seconds.  Then close the right nostril with your right thumb and exhale through the left nostril to the count of eight seconds. This completes one full round.
• Continue for 8 more rounds.
• The idea behind the alternate nostril breathing practice is that your nose is directly linked to your brain and nervous system.  Breathing in through your left nostril will access the right “feeling” hemisphere of your brain, and breathing in through your right nostril, will access the left “thinking” hemisphere of your brain.  Consciously alternating your breath between either nostril will allow you to activate and access your whole brain.

Simply put, the balance of the brain, like the pleasing aesthetic of balanced design in architecture or the sweet harmony of a balanced tune, enhances the balance in our lives. 

Brain balance, it does a mind and body good.