The left brain lies — here's how to spot it
Understanding this one thing about your brain can make you calmer.
Heads up - I've added a little bonus at the end of this post – keep your eyes peeled…
In the 1960s, doctors came up with an idea to split the two hemispheres of the brain to help people suffering from severe epilepsy.
They cut the fibres connecting the left and right hemispheres — called the corpus callosum — and the results were so impressive that two of the doctors were awarded a Nobel Prize.
Each side of the brain specialises in certain tasks and is usually in continual communication. But in these ‘split-brain’ patients, doctors were able to study how each hemisphere worked in isolation.
Briefly:
The left hemisphere is the side of language, interpretation and categories.
The right hemisphere is the silent experiencer - present, big-picture and non-judgemental.
Before I share some of the bizarre and revealing findings from these experiments, it’s worth noting: the left hemisphere processes input from the right-hand side of the body, and vice versa - including vision.
Researchers showed cards to just the right hemisphere of patients - one said “walk”, another said “laugh” - and in both cases, the patients did exactly that.
But this is when things got weird. When asked why they were walking or laughing, the response should have been “I don’t know” - because the language-producing left hemisphere hadn’t actually seen the prompt.
But instead, it came out with entirely plausible reasons for why they had got up and walked (to get a drink) and laughed (because the researcher’s jobs were ridiculous) that bore absolutely no relationship to reality.
Why is this important? Because this is what the interpretive thinking mind does all the time. It comes up with narratives and stories to make sense of what’s happening that frequently have nothing to do with the truth.
Consider the implications. Someone gives you a funny look or cuts you up in traffic, and the voice in your head jumps in with:
“She doesn’t like me.”
“What a selfish idiot.”
These stories aren’t necessarily true but if you are unfamiliar with how the left hemisphere works then you are liable to think they are definitively ‘how things are’.
On the other hand, if you recognise that this is just what the interpretive thinking mind does, you can recognise that a) the voice in the head is not you and b) it’s full of nonsense.
The more you become familiar with the silent right-hemisphere, you open to an innate sense of calm and an ability to be comfortable with uncertainty.
It’s a fascinating area in my opinion, and one that really can improve the quality of your life. It’s also the subject of this week’s podcast with the brilliant Chris Niebauer, a neuropsychologist and author of No Self, No Problem.
You can listen here, and the full episode will be on my YouTube channel soon.
I'm offering 10 free one-hour sessions to the first people who get in touch and want to explore how to create freedom from the thinking mind and experience more flow.
These insights have been profound for me, and I love working with people to share them. So if this resonates and you want to find a deeper ease in work and life - get in touch.
There's no hard sell - it's literally just a chance to see if I can help you in a one hour session. Frankly it’s a no-brainer!
If you're interested, message me below or email me at info@simonmundie.com, and I will send my booking link to the first ten people to get in touch.