Reading Now: My Stroke of Insight

I just finished reading an amazing book recommended to me by my yoga teacher, My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey by Jill Bolte Taylor, Ph.D. Dr. Taylor is a neuroanatomist who suffered a massive AVM stroke in her late thirties, and this book records her detailed memories of her actual stroke experience, as well as the significant changes in perception that occurred as a result of the stroke.

Because of the stroke, much of Dr. Taylor's left brain was damaged which caused her to rely on her right brain much more heavily. The book discusses the divergent ways in which the right and left hemispheres of the brain allow us to perceive the world, and the different functions that are managed by each side.

Dr. Taylor's mind opened her up to a whole new way of looking at the world. Here were some of the interesting points that stood out to me from her experience:

• "Most important, I had to be willing to try. The try is everything. The try is me saying to my brain, hey, I value this connection and I want it to happen. I may have to try, try and try again with no results for a thousand times before I get even an inkling of a result, but if I don't try, it may never happen." (italics in original, p 94) "For a successful recovery, it was important that we focus on my ability, not my disability." (p. 118) Dr. Taylor found that reaching for small goals and celebrating small achievements and living in the present moment ultimately allowed her to accomplish more difficult tasks and allowed her to see the enormity of her progress, made in tiny increments, over time.

• " ... the experience of Nirvana exists in the consciousness of our right hemisphere, and that at any moment, we can choose to hook into that part of our brain. ... peace is only a thought away, and all we have to do to access it is silence the voice of our dominating left mind." (italics in original, p 111) "To experience peace does not mean that your life is always blissful. It means that you are capable of tapping into a blissful state of mind admidst the normal chaos of a hectic life." (p 159) We can all achieve peace of mind.
  

• We can decide the person who we want to be. We don't have to be angry or irritated or short-tempered or mean. We can release judgment and competition and criticism. We can open ourselves to our more intuitive, expressive, and accepting right mind and embrace compassion instead of negativity. In reconstructing her self and re-learning who she was, Dr. Taylor decided to forgo the competitive side to her personality in favor of a more open demeanor.

• We are constantly making choices about how to respond in any given situation. If a certain episode triggers a knee-jerk response, our system has 90 seconds to let that emotion wash over us. After 90 seconds, we have the ability to release that initial reaction and engage in a more open, empathetic approach. We can learn to observe our body's triggers, responses, emotions and thoughts and choose the way that we want to express ourselves.
  

• When we act positively, we send out positive energy which then attracts positive energy to us. In this way, we can help shape our own world to be more pleasant.

Taylor's book is truly a "yogic" way of looking at life - through her experience, she found herself literally feeling one with the world around her. Viewing her life through her right brain helped her to see everything in a completely new way, and realize that we all have access to seeing the world through those eyes, if we just - in her words - "step to the right".