Left-Right or Top-Bottom?
In one of the most popular and inspiring TED talks ever, Dr Jill Bolte Taylor, a neuroanatomist, eloquently illustrates how our two brain hemispheres are very different: left vs right hemisphere. And how it is our right hemisphere that helps us to experience heaven on earth. She knows because she suffered a brain stroke which literally turned off her left hemisphere.
What happened?
She got to live the stroke from the inside out. Brain chatter disappeared. She experienced bliss and euphoria instead. She felt elated: like a genie liberated from her bottle. Enormous and expansive. Connected to all energy around her. She found Peace. She found Nirvana. Because our right hemisphere would only let us live in the present moment. In the NOW — which we all know from the work of Eckhard Tolle has this incredible power that most of us are still missing. In a way her brain stroke forced her into a state we are all striving for.
Why am I bringing up this thing about left vs right on this site about brain vs belly, which is more about top vs bottom? There is the important question of how to get to that state of profound peace/bliss for us mortals who did not suffer a brain stroke. How should we turn “on” our right hemisphere, or how should we turn “off” the left hemisphere?
“Where is that on/off switch?!”
There may be multiple answers to that question. But the point of this blog is that one major button is right in our belly: the Belly as a Button. Or the Belly Button if you want.
This means that we have to do more than just look at the left-brain dimension (in the brain). There is also the top-bottom dimension. And that one certainly deserves way more attention than it has been receiving thus far. Research and wisdom from totally different angles indeed talks about the importance of our belly, our hara, and our psoas. And its link with our brain.
One take-away from those insights is that we experience bliss and nirvana like energies the more we can work with our belly/psoas. The more we can gently relax that area, and let go of control (tension), the more we live in the now, and the less brain chatter we experience. That is exactly what we need in times of uncertainty like we are experiencing today in times of Corona crisis.
Conversely, without directing our attention to the belly area we are likely to remain stuck in our left brain hemisphere, and thus in fear and with constant brain chatter. Because the left brain hemisphere is certainly the dominant one in our current day and age.
So, there’s very tangible and physical things we can do to get into that right brain hemisphere and to that place of bliss — without suffering a brain stroke. And those things pertain to our belly rather than to our brain.
Your gut feeling will be telling you if you want to get out and explore that opportunity any further.
