Whole brain living – Jill Bolte Taylor

Jill Bolte Taylor is a neuroscientist who suffered a massive stroke that took out almost the entirety of the functioning of her left brain. She wrote an amazing account of this time and what she learned about brain function in her first book, My Stroke of Insight, which I highly recommend.

Her second book, Whole Brain Living details the ways different parts of our brains function and how knowing this can greatly empower us to manage and eventually begin to pick and choose which centres we want to operate from primarily.

I’ve started giving out this sheet: The four Characters outlining the four parts of our brain and what they do, to all of my clients, as I feel it frames the therapeutic process really helpfully.

Briefly though, the left part of the brain relates to past and future. The top left (character 1) is where we process our ‘To do’ lists, assess our place in the world, it allows us to function and take effect in the world. It could be termed our ‘false self’ as it is how we have learned to navigate the world based on the lessons learnt from our parenting and society.

The bottom left part of our brain is our traumatised child (character 2)– our past that is on the lookout for similar events in order to protect us from having them happen again. This is often the part that gets ‘triggered’ and provokes BIG reactions, as it makes us feel as afraid or angry as when we were super small and vulnerable. It can cause us to act in ways that we regret but is really there to try and protect us.

The right part of the brain is more to do with the here and now. Bottom right (character 3) is our ability to enjoy our senses, smell, sight and touch and to be in play mode. Think of a kitten or a puppy and how they revel in the fact that they are simply alive, open hearted and present. This allows us to enjoy the simple pleasures and of connecting with others.

The top right could be termed our ‘true self’ (character 4) – it is how we are born – knowing we are connected, loved, whole, valued innately. It sees the big picture and can give great comfort when tapped into. This is the part of the brain that is allowed to be experienced when we meditate for example or do yoga.

All of these parts of our brain have functions that are needed. But as you can see, in our society the left side of the brain is often the one that ends up dominating and can cause us to live lives that are stressed, traumatised and potentially devoid of true fulfilment. The right side of the brain is where our innate joy is located, and it can serve us to cultivate and encourage their use more than we may currently do.

In terms of therapy, I explain to clients who are caught up in triggers and traumas that are still severely impacting their lives, that this is not the whole of them, it is just the part of the brain that is being activated most often at the moment, and there are things we can do to help change that.

Inner child regression work can allow past traumas to be felt, healed and deactivated so that the character 2 voice is not having to make its presence known so aggressively. Once this is done we can begin to live more in the present (using our right brain) rather than being pulled back to the past (left brain). We can also begin to foster an image of ourselves that is bigger than our external achievements, roles or responsibilities in the world (top left) so that our true child-like joy of being alive can have a chance to come back into our lives (bottom right). And that loving presence that is always inside us, if we can access it, is incredibly soothing in times of trouble and adds an element of meaning and satisfaction to our lives that is missing without it.

The author advises a Brain Huddle at difficult times, where all parts of the brain (which she encourages you to name so that you become familiar with each), have a chance to voice their experience in that moment and then come together to decide what the best course of action is, if any. Most often this looks like allowing our inner wounded child to express her distress, then in the brain huddle checking in with top left to see if anything practical is needed to keep her safe, before soothing with top right’s love and getting eventually to a place of play and pleasure again, as characterised by bottom right.

Equally it may be that our top left brain is dominating and making it feel like there is an endless to-do list of things that is impossible to get done and that we are worthless if we don’t. That stress can be helped again by the brain huddle in a similar way, engaging our whole brain instead of just one part, to create a balanced and nuanced life, instead of being trapped in one quarter, which is really onl capable of acting in a particular way on its own.

As we navigate between these brain centres more often, we can actively begin to choose which parts of our brain we want to keep activated the most, and in all honesty, if we can preferentially choose our right brain more often, we will find joy and meaning that may have been missing for a long time.

It’s exciting stuff! I encourage you to read her book and practice brain huddles at difficult times. It can be a very effective way to navigate and resolve distressing internal states.