Are our left and brain brains designed to collaborate?
Yes indeed. Their different functions can be very complementary. The left can formulate questions while the right brain comes up with answers. The left brain can review all the facts and the right brain can deliver a new way to see everything.
Why is right-brained functionality such a rarity in most people?
We live in a highly technological, progress-oriented time in history. Our complex and hurried situations demand tremendous amounts of analytical reasoning. We are under constant pressure to explain, figure out, think ahead and justify our actions. We live in danger of forgetting, falling behind, overlooking essentials and missing cues. We remain on high alert to react to external evidence. That's a job our left brains do best.
What cultural shift could nurture more right brain functionality?
A transition from valuing "timeouts" to relying on "time-ins" would bring out more right brain processing. Living in serene acceptance until inspired to take action would limit the left brain to handling the logistics when we felt motivated to do something in the moment. Rather than maintain high levels of frenzy with occasional timeouts, we could enjoy occasional moments of frenzy amidst long stretches of immersive innocence. This is a natural condition of people who grow their own food with pedestrian lifestyles within village communities.
What personal practices could induce collaborations between our left and right brains?
Expecting to be taught by a inner teacher yields that outcome. The left brain is humbled into being given what it needs to know, rather than being too smart for its own good. Problems with it jumping to conclusions or compartmentalizing complexity would all vanish. Reflective practice also induces this collaboration. The left brain wonders about the significance of incidents, the lessons in recent setbacks or the value in troubling changes. The right brain brings insights, added perspectives and creative alternatives to the convergent, literal and fear-based thinking done by the left brain.
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