Your brain has two sides. And each has a distinctly different way of looking at
the world.
Do you realize that in order for you to read this article, the two sides
of your brain must do completely different things? The more we integrate those
two sides, the more integrated we become as people. Integration not only
increases our ability to solve problems more creatively, but to control physical
maladies such as epilepsy and migranes, replace certain damaged brain functions
and even learn to "thin" into the future. Even more startling is evidence
coming to light that we have become a left-brain culture.

Your brain's right and left side have distinctly different ways of
looking at the world. Your two hemispheres are as different from each other as,
oh, Micheal Wilson and Shirley Maclean. The left brain controls the right side
of the body (this is reversed in about half of the 15 percent of the population
that is left-handed) and, in essence, is logical analytical, judgemental and
verbal. It's interested in the bottom line, in being efficent. The right brain
controls the left side of the body and leans more to the creative, the intuitive.
It is concerned more with the visual and emotional side of life.

Most people, if they thought about it, would identify more with their
left brain. In fact, many of us think we are our left brains. All of that non-
stop verbalization that goes on in our heads is the dominant left brain talking
to itself. Our culture- particularly our school system with its emphasis on the
three Rs (decidedly left-brain territory) - effectively represses the intuitive
and artistic right brain. If you don't believe it, see how far you get at the
office with the right brain activity of daydreaming.

As you read, your left-side is sensibly making connections and analysing
the meaning of the words, the syntax and other complex relation-ships while
putting it into a "language" you can understand. Meanwhile, the right side is
providing emotional and even humerous cues, decoding visual information and
maintaining an integrated story structure.

While all of this is going on, the two sides are constantly
communicating with each other across a connecting fibre tract called the corpus
callosum. There is a certain amount of overlap but essentially the two
hemispheres of the brain are like two different personalities that working alone
would be somewhat lacking and overspecialized, but when functioning together
bring different strengths and areas of expertise to make an integrated whole.

"The primitive cave person probably lived solely in the right brain,"
says Eli Bay, president of Relaxation Response Inc., a Toronto organization that
teaches people how to relax. "As we gained more control over our environment we
became more left-brain oriented until it became dominant." To prove this, Bay
suggests: "Try going to your boss and saying "I've got a great hunch." Chances
are your boss will say, "Fine, get me the logic to back it up."

The most creative decision making and problem solving come about when
both sides bring their various skills to the table: the left brain analysing
issues, problems and barriers; the right brain generating fresh approaches; and
the left brain translating the into plans of action.
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