Harmonious thinking. Dare to think with your whole brain!
Cristina Zoica Dumitru
Consultant, Creativity Coach, Educator, Digital Artist
Forward Note: this article can also be found on my personal website here
“Dare to think with your whole brain, you are the Creator of your own reality.” This is definitely my favorite motto with which I challenge my students to integrate harmonious thinking.
As a teacher I often see thinking patterns such as “I’m logical not creative”, “I’m creative not technical” but I never heard “I’m both, artistic and technical” or “I’m harmonious”.
I’ve been teaching since 2012 and over the years I developed my own system in how to engage students into meaningful learning and how to participate in the class atmosphere. How do I bring harmonious thinking in class? By integrating an analytical – intuitive – creative approach.
But this article is not about any teaching methods, or practical exercises, it’s about the general context behind the statement “Dare to think with your whole brain.”
When we have a broad understanding of our brain, which is our CEO, we simply realize that we have much more control over our thinking process. We can understand the Why – What – How we do the things we do.
There’s all kinds of concepts and theories about the left – right brain integration as part of our human evolution. We are taught in school that we can be either analytical or artistic, but not centered or balanced. Not harmonious thinking.
Having a centered and harmonious thinking it’s like tapping into a never ending supply of knowledge and motivation. When we do things with a full open mind, we develop wisdom because we create from multiple perspectives at the same time. And this way things become fun and meaningful.
Our brain is too infinite and vast to give it a high level of context on this blog. However, it’s all about understanding that a harmonious thinking allows us to create our desires. Desire is everything, and without it nothing can happen. It shapes our journey, our decisions and actions, behavior and perceptions.
So let me give you a peak about what I’ve learned about the brain.
The split brain, the left and the right side
In the 1800s the brain had a concept of? the “split brain”. A concept which was outlining that our brain is divided into two main anatomical sections, commonly known as the Left Hemisphere (LH) and the Right Hemisphere (RH). Back then it was believed that each side of the brain has its own separated and specific abilities.
The split brain theory speculated the we have specific brain tasks such as:
In the early 1960s, the concept of split brain was labeled as one of the great myths about the human brain. The neurologist Roger Sperry won a Nobel prize by demystifying it with breakthrough discoveries on functional specialization of the hemispheres. The two brain parts are connected together by a part called Corpus Callosum.
There’s no physical separation in our brains, the two hemispheres are connected by a thick bundle of nerve fibers called the Corpus Callosum. Dr Joe Dispenza calls it the “fiber optic bridge”.
The Corpus Callosum is the largest pathway of neurons in the entire body, approximately 300 million nerve fibers. Its purpose is to ensure that both sides of the brain are communicating and sending signals among each other in order to exchange information.
Through this bridge, nerve impulses are constantly traveling back and forth from one side to another, giving us the ability to learn and to observe the world. Meaning that both hemispheres are working together for a variety of tasks, including creative and logical thinking.
The triune brain, three brains in one
Still in the 1960s the “triune brain” model was described by the neuroscientist Paul Maclean. This brain model says that the human brain is like 3 brains in one arranged in stacks. The layers are arranged from inside out, from the primitive to most developed area, from the old to the new brain.
According to MacLean, the most primitive brain is the “reptilian brain” which sits at the back or bottom of the stack. Next up or frontward is the limbic system or the “emotional brain”. And at the top is the neocortex, the most recently developed “thinking brain”.
Some say that MacLean’s model is Freud’s triune mind theory in psychoanalysis. According to Freud, the human personality is made up of three key elements: the id, the ego, and the superego; and the interaction between these parts influences how people think and behave.
The triune brain structure says:
The first brain area – the reptilian brain or the cerebellum supports and maintains the basic life functions like the heart rate and breathing. These functions are common to all animals so the little brain’s job is to regulate our life system.
Functional brain scans show that the cerebellum is the brain’s most active area since it is responsible for balance, coordination and the overall perception of the position and movement of the body. And, after a skill is being learned and wired to the cerebellum our body can perform that action automatically with very little conscious thought because it is memorized.
The second brain area – is the middle of the brain and the name of this area is the limbic system; limbus means a border or a ring as the intersection between multiple structures. Another term is the mammalian brain because this region is also highly developed in mammals.
But the most used term for the limbic area is known as the emotional brain. And I think we all know about our emotions which fluctuate like a roller coaster. So the midbrain acts as the chemical brain, to maintain chemical balance of emotions. It organizes signals between the external world and our internal world.
The third brain area – is the neocortex also known as the awareness of our creativity. It represents our thinking, our reasoning that allows us to learn and remember what we experience from our external world.
But there’s a specific part of our neocortex called the frontal lobe which is designed to control our emotional system.
The Frontal Lobe is the most evolved area of the new brain, is the place where the self can express itself. It represents the balance in our decision making, the seat of our desire, the wants in life. So this part of the brain acts like the guardian for our reasoning.
“The frontal lobe allows us to choose our every thought and action and, in so doing, control our own destiny. When this lobe is active, we focus on our desires, create ideas, make conscious decisions, assemble plans, carry out an intentional course of action, and regulate our behavior. “ – Joe Dispenza
The dual brain, processing the new information
So initial brain models were saying something like:
But then, an injury caused to a child’s right side of the brain was considered crucial to the development whereas not so for an adult.
Then the science asked the questions.
When and how the brain transfers the functions from childhood to adulthood? When does the left side become dominant in adults?
During the 1980’s a scientist Elkhonon Goldberg, a neuropsychologist known for his work in the “novelty routinization” theory, observed that a child is learning new information all the time. Whereas an adult is more on a repeat mode of tasking and doing.
Goldberg came up with the theory that the hemispheres’ role is for switching functions and information between them.
Right hemisphere’s main function is to process all the new information while the left hemisphere is processing the familiar information. So there’s always a transfer from the right to the left side cortex.
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So now dual brain model explains the process of learning new information:
So science is now calling the “dual brain” processing based on the learning process in general, all types of learning, not just artistic or logical. You can learn math or drawing but the brain’s process is still the same.
Brain frequencies, the optimal state
Functional brain scans and EEGs measure brain activity through electromagnetic frequencies. A frequency represents the measurement of the oscillations, or the cycles per second, or Hertz. This activity is associated with mental states.
Science says that about 95% of humans are living in repeat mode, doing repetitive actions over and over again. Going to the same job, living in the same house, having the same friends, having the same favorite food, music. And if there’s any change it due to circumstances outside of their conscious choice. Seldom do they take a conscious decision to learn or to change something into something completely new.
Charles F. Hannel, known as the father of personal development in his book The Master Key System from 1912 was saying exactly the same thing.
“At least ninety per cent of our mental life is subconscious, so those who fail to make use of this mental power live within very narrow limits. The subconscious can and will solve any problem for us if we know how to direct it. The subconscious processes are always at work; the only question is, are we to be simply passive recipients of this activity, or are we to consciously direct the work? Shall we have a vision of the destination to be reached, the dangers to be avoided, or shall we simply drift?”
So in short, the majority of people are using the left brain as the dominant brain. Then, an average person loses his/her attention between 6-10 times a minute, because their brain is not trained anymore in learning new information. So this automatically creates a disharmony in the brain’s function.
The brain’s disharmony simply means that the brain functions in Beta frequencies of stress and anxiety.
So let me explain this.
Brainwave frequencies are ranging from 0.1Hz to 100Hz, and every interval is also referred to as: Low – Medium – High.
Most people live in a low vibration state, in the high-Beta state of stress and anxiety. Seldom do they reach the frequencies of quieting the mind in the center of the alpha spectrum, around 10 cycles per second. Which is called the optimal state.
When you are in the optimal state or the alpha state, your thinking is becoming “centered thinking”. You’ll begin to sense that you are inspired and creative, or an extra ability to believe that you can achieve whatever you can imagine.
Also check out my article on The Power of Imagination. I talk there about the Alpha state.
The harmonious brain, become an observer and a participant
Now this is my favorite kind of brain concept.
Throughout the years you’ll find that science and spiritually are validating the same concepts. Both incorporate meditation practices for raising the brain’s vibration to reach the optimal mental state.
The optimal state for the brain is the harmonious thinking and not dual thinking of good vs bad which creates a sense of separation, conflict, stress and lack of peace.
So the harmonious brain is the centered brain. Spirituality calls it “harmonizing the mental and the emotional”.
From brain’s hemisphere point of view an explanation is something along this lines:
So the harmonious brain (harmonious thinking) works in a light alpha frequency called “becoming a living meditation”; you are at the same time an observer and a participant in your everyday tasks.
And this makes you less reactive, less stressed and therefore you enjoy your day more. In other words you let your Left-Outward-Ego thinking incorporate the Right-Inward-intuitive thinking. And when the hemispheres (RH + LH) working together are called the Emotional Intelligence or Mental Intuition.
When harmonizing the Mental and the Emotional, you are learning to understand yourself and your actions. You’ll have highs and lows but not extreme anymore because there’s a certain? confidence and trust within.
Signs of harmonious thinking
Harmonizing the thinking will bring a higher awareness in everyday life. So here are some signs that you are on the right path:
My definition of harmonious thinking
Science can explain that the two sides of the brain are not mirrored to each other, physically and chemically. The left and right sides have a different chemistry and function because they work together as a whole. Our brain has the plasticity and ability of transferring the information, storing it and processing it into the familiar and routine information.
Spirituality says that our brain is a gift from God! Is our communication device with the divine and is designed to create great things. We are designed to be Creators.
Think about it! We can do anything, develop any skill, do any discipline, learn any language, go anywhere. It starts as a low conscious level but it keeps on growing with practice.
But is not about What to Do in life or even How to do it. It’s all about the Why to do the things we do. And when the why, the reasoning is clear, our brain works for us. The How will get simple and simple.
“Dare to think with your whole brain, you are the Creator of your own? reality” means to me just a Harmonious Thinking, something like this …
Our brain is without a top or bottom or a left or a right, it’s just filled with nothing but Power to Create. Hold an idea in your mind, hold it long enough to register it in your brain cells, your mental workers. And you’ll create the harmony: the right emotion – then the right action and – the right results.
My inspiration
I got inspired by the mix of books that I’ve read through as a combination between brain science, neuroplasticity, meditation and spirituality.
And some articles that I also checked: