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The Neglected Part of the Yard―The
Right Brain
by
Patricia F. Hare, M.A.T., M.A.
Several times a year I hear from people who tell me that they have
difficulty actually visualizing anything in their mind's eye. There are two
basic types of difficulty: 1) the writer has some ability but not much and wants to
strengthen it and 2) the writer just can't "see" a darn thing and has never
really been able to.
For those with Difficulty #1, I have made some recommendations on my
FAQ page. These recommendations will benefit most people who have some
ability and simply want to get better at it.
However, for those with Difficulty #2, I can only make suggestions to
try. This is a more difficult challenge which I will attempt to explain with
the following analogy:
Let's say you have a back yard. And let's say you divide the yard into
left and right halves. Now let's also say that you give very good
attention to the left half—you water it,
plant carefully selected seeds in it, make sure it gets proper sun, organize
it's areas for visual appeal and easy access to its various parts, and so
on.
The right side, however, you neglect. You
neglect it because the gardening experts seem to give little importance to
the right sides of yards, and sometimes those who do bother to tend the right side of their
yard are thought to be a little odd. And you value the opinion of the
experts and don't want others to think that you are odd. Besides, you are
busy and have enough to do as it is.
This behavior will naturally lead to an unbalanced state of your whole
yard. The left side will be lush with admirable growth while the right
will likely be comparatively barren with perhaps some weeds and, if you
are fortunate, a few good plants that are carried there by the wind or
birds or tossed there during pruning activities. No, the right side of the
yard, under these circumstances, will not have much to offer.
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The mind isn't so different from this backyard analogy. The mental skills
that one has largely does depend upon the mental skills that one has
developed. And if you simply cannot see anything in your mind's eye, it may
well be
because not much "planting and watering" has taken place there.
I don't have scientific evidence to prove this, but I do have my reasons
for believing it.
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Every person who has approached me with the
concern that they cannot "see" anything in their mind's eye has been
involved in a very left-brain field of study or career, such as
engineering, computer programming, science, or finance.
-
Every person who has approached me with
said concern has also been male. The right side of the brain, which is the
side that deals most with imagery, is also the side that is involved with
emotions, appreciation of beauty, relationships, creativity, etc. These
are areas which women have been encouraged to develop, while men have been
culturally discouraged from developing. (However, some men have found it very
difficult to pay attention to this discouragement.)
- Those who are most readily able to conjure complex and clear mental images (like myself)
have had significant exposure to or some training in one or more of the fine arts
(dance, music, art, etc.).
I really don't think that it is any simpler or more complicated than
that! What is nurtured is developed. What is neglected awaits in potentia.
Just like the backyard in my analogy.
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The Left-Brain Hemisphere
Bias (& What happened to real art?)
Now, it is true that most of us are born with a propensity toward being
right- or left-brain dominant, though from my reading as well as
conversations with others it appears that there are people who are
born "balanced-brain." This doesn't mean that we should be confined to
developing only our dominant hemisphere! In fact, it probably means that we
would benefit from a bit of specialized training to encourage development of the
non-dominant hemisphere.
And it is no secret that traditional schools place the greatest emphasis
on developing left-brain thinking skills. The traditional curriculum is
clearly biased toward aural-sequential (left-hemisphere dominant) learners. We value facts learned in
an organized manner and not much more. Science is what is real. The rest
(music, art, theater) is nice for those who have the time for it.
My experiences to date have made it clear to me that while technological advancements have sometimes been
quite impressive (medical & space technology are two good examples), artistic
advancements have been embarrassingly low-grade. How many composers today
are revered and responded to like Beethoven? [Andrew Lloyd Webber is the
only one that comes to my mind.] Are there any painters to lift
us as did Leonardo Da Vinci? Can you name any of today's great poets,
sculptors, playwrights, novelists, dancers, and pianists? No? Me neither.
Do they exist? I really don't know. |
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If they do exist, it is clear that we don't value these people. We value
celebrities who dance (the sexier the better); singers with powerful voices
who aspire to be idols but offer little that is original; computer "geeks"
who make millions selling products well-known for their glitches; athletes
who often must resort to drugs to produce numbers that garner them big bucks
and fame. And isn't is sad that so many think that a revered form of art,
worthy of great national attention, is offered by the commercials during
the Superbowl game? |
Call me a snob, if
you will, but it is my opinion that our neglect―as a culture―of real
creativity and artistic talent is supported by our ignorance of what
these things are.
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Call me a snob, if you will, but it is my opinion that our neglect, as a
culture, of real creativity and artistic talent is supported by our
ignorance of what these things are. And this, of course, brings us back to
the idea of our neglect of the skills and abilities of the right hemisphere
of our brain. We will not thrive and grow as is our potential to do so,
until we give proper attention to the needs of the whole brain. In my
daughter's former school, which has a relatively well-developed fine arts program,
about three hours a week were devoted to the arts, while well over 20 hours
a week were spent on math, language arts, science, and social studies.
What can we do about this?
So what advice do I have to offer those who are simply unable to visualize anything?
Is it too late for mature adults to get something to grow in the "right
sides of their yards?" And if not, what can they do to get their yards
(brains) more balanced?
The good news is that many left-brain dominant adults can take
steps to help "catch up" the development of their right brains. But like
muscle development, it doesn't happen overnight, and it doesn't happen
without a little effort. Here are some suggestions:
Practice sensing.
You may not yet be able to see something in
your mind's eye, but you can probably get a sense of what it feels like.
This is a good way to help develop the focus that visualizers want to
achieve.
For example, close your eyes and think of someone who is very familiar to
you. If you can't see their image in your mind, you can probably feel what
it feels like to have them around. Maybe you can hear their voice, or
become aware of an endearing mannerism, or even feel their energy (calm,
excited, etc.). Maybe you can just feel the way you feel when they are
around (tense, relaxed, etc.). |
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You can work with sensing places, too. Perhaps a favorite camping spot, or
your office, or your childhood home. Close your eyes and sense what comes
to you when you think about a particular place.
Over time, you may get so good at sensing that you find you really don't
need to use mental imagery to visualize a goal. Strongly sensing that you
have achieved your goal is very powerful, and for some people, will "bend
the energy" in your direction even better than mental imagery might do. |
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Beta
Alpha
Theta
Delta |
Hang out more regularly in Alpha. Beta is the brainwave
frequency most associated with your conscious, waking mind and left-brain
functioning. It attends to physical stimuli (sights, sounds, tastes,
etc.) coming in from and going out (speaking, walking, acting, etc.) to
the physical world. Alpha is the brain-wave frequency that's a bit slower
than Beta. It allows for more interchange with inner stimuli;
for example, thoughts, feelings, imagery/imagination, relaxation, and
sensing. Slow the brain-wave frequencies even more and you move into
Theta. This is the frequency range that is associated with deep relaxation
and light sleep. Go even deeper into sleep and you are in the Delta
range. The Alpha brainwave frequency is where you want to be for greater access
and development of imagery, intuition, emotions, and artistic expression.
Teachers like myself take our students through progressive relaxation
exercises prior to visualizing a goal because the mind is better able to
focus on an inner experience (the goal) and retain the new
learning/imagery when the body is relaxed. |
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Practicing progressive relaxation is one good way to "hang out" in Alpha.
Other good ways are the practices of yoga and mediation. Listening to
inspirational and relaxing music helps shift the brain into Alpha. And
sitting on the shore of a beach, looking out to the ocean while watching
the waves come in and go out, will also do the trick. As will time spent
in any natural environment with nature's soothing sounds.As you spend more time in Alpha, you spend more time in your right brain
helping its magic and mystery open up to you. Take art
classes. Or piano, dance, voice, etc. These disciplines draw
heavily upon the right brain for their execution and expression. You will
become increasingly familiar with the "language" of symbols, the structure
of imagery, the relationships between space, shape, color, form, pitch,
etc. All this will enhance your inner experience and your ability to
create your own inner experiences through imagery.
Any of these areas will take time to learn and benefit from. But the
effort will be well worth it. As you know, all things are interconnected,
and the work you do sprucing up the "right side of your yard" will pay off
not just by improving your imaging/sensing abilities. You may well
experience enhanced whole-brain thinking; increased personal satisfaction; a
greater sense of centeredness and inner balance; and the opening up of
new possibilities in many (if not all) areas of your life.
In fact, you will very likely benefit in ways that you can't even imagine right now!
☺
--by Patricia Hare,
Copyright © 2005 |
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