I just finished reading the book -
"My Stroke of Insight" - A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey by
Jill Bolte Taylor, Ph.D.
I started reading around 8pm today and was so engrossed in it that I had to finish it before I went to bed.
After reading it, I am so touched and moved by it, that I have to pen down my thoughts RIGHT NOW :)
The book is about a Harvard-trained brained scientist, who experienced a massive brain stroke, and how she completely recovered with the help of her amazing mom.
As I read the book - Its fascinating to learn how our brain works - how different our right and left brains are and how we can control them.
I am a person who has bad temper. It is generally like a flash - comes and goes - but when it flashes, its bad :(
The most important thing this book teaches me is how to deal with this.
She says that it takes less than 90 seconds for any of the emotional programs (example: Anger) to be triggered, surge through our body, and then be completely flushed out of our blood stream. If you remain angry after those 90 seconds have passed, then it is because you have CHOSEN to let that circuit (or program) continue to run (in your left brain).
We are unconsciously making choices about how we respond all the time. By choosing to move back into the present moment (right brain), we can allow that reaction (anger) to melt away as fleeting physiology.
The book has more detail about this so I encourage you to read it if you are not clear about what I mentioned above.
Many sentences and/or quotes from this book are worth mentioning here:
"We must be the change we want to see in the world." - Gandhi
"I must be willing to give up what I am in order to become what I will be." - Einstein
FEAR - False Expectations Appearing Real.
Something to ponder - what does it mean to you to be compassionate?
The more attention we pay to the details of how things look, sound, taste, smell, feel against our skin and feel physiologically inside our body, the easier it is for our brain to recreate any moment.
"Enlightenment is not a process of learning, it is a process of unlearning."
Just like children, emotions heal when they are heard and validated.
Responsibility = Response-Ability.
"Peacefulness should be the place we begin rather than the place we try to achieve."
Feeling deep inner peace and sharing kindness is always a choice. Forgiving others and forgiving yourself is always a choice. Seeing this moment as a PERFECT moment is always a choice.
Honor the healing power of sleep.
Peace is only a thought away, and all we have to do to access it is silence the voice of our dominating left brain.
I like the description below when Jill's mom G.G came to first visit her after she got the stroke:
"I clearly remember the moment G.G came around the corner into my room. She looked me straight in the eye and came right to my bedside. She was gracious and calm, said her hellos to those in the room, and then lifted my sheet and proceeded to crawl into bed with me. She immediately wrapped me up in her arms and I melted into the familiarity of her snuggle. It was an amazing moment in my life. Somehow she understood that I was no longer her Harvard doctor daughter, but instead I was now her infant again. She says she did what any mother would have done. But I'm not so sure. Having been born to my mother was truly my first and greatest blessing. Being born to her a second time has been my greatest fortune. I felt perfectly content all wrapped up in my mother's love."
Scientific Facts:
Majority of the neurons in your brain today are as old as you are because they do not multiply (for the most part) after we are born.
The human nervous system is a wonderfully dynamic entity composed of an estimated one trillion cells.
The typical adult human body is composed of approximately fifty trillion cells.
We humans share 99.4% of our total DNA sequences with the chimpanzee.
As members of the same human species, you and I share all but 0.01% of identical genetic sequences. It is obvious that 0.01% accounts for a significant difference in how we look, think and behave.
| Left Brain | Right Brain |
| Head telling us to do one thing | Heart telling us to do the exact opposite |
| What we think | What we feel |
| Mind consciousness | Body’s instinctive consciousness |
| Small ego mind | Capital ego mind |
| Small self | Inner or authentic self |
| Work mind | Vacation mind |
| Researcher mind | Diplomatic mind |
| Masculine mind | Feminine mind |
| Yang consciousness | Ying consciousness |
| Sensing mind | Intuitive mind |
| Judging mind | Perceiving mind |
WARNING SIGNS OF STROKE (which is a medical emergency):
S = SPEECH, or any problems with language
T = TINGLING, or any numbness in the body
R = REMEMBER, or any problems with memory
O = OFF BALANCE, problems with coordination
K = KILLER HEADACHE
E = EYES, or any problems with vision.
My suggestion - Read this book!!!!
~S~
PS: This book is the #1 Science book of 2008 as per the Amazon.com's Best of 2008: Science list.
