For an optimal balance on all levels both halves of the brain must be active!
Many people agree that we as human beings are most healthy and happy and express our best when both halves of our brain work in sync…then probably also our personal yin-yang is balanced too… Depending on what is required with one or (accounting) or the other (painting) emphasis or both halves together which optimizes both… Meanwhile there are quite a number of exercises available, here a small selection:
Brain gymnastics
The American writers and researchers of consciousness Jean Houston and her husband Robert Masters caused quite a stir in the 70ies with their studies to increase neural activity and accordingly the increase of intelligence. Among other things they developed an exercise where one is to sensually imagine different things on the left/right side and that for a whole hour. For example one is to imagine an atom on the left side, a galaxy on the right…left a sunrise…right a sunset…left the sound of a fire drill, left birds singing, left crickets chirping, right the sound of a car starting up…etc. with all stimuli for the primary senses (eyes, ears, nose, tongue and touch)
Among the most remarkable effects of this exercise are besides the obvious falling asleep… an increase of the abilities to imagine and concentrate. Sometimes sudden synesthesia as well as mystical experiences. The effect of the exercises varies at different times – also with the same people and gives a great insight into the actual capacities of our mostly “underused” brains. (More about this in Jean Houstons: “The possible human – A course in enhancing your physical, mental and creative abilities.”)
Physical stimuli
Dr John Veltheim the Australian inventor of the Body-Talk-System to stimulate and activate our physical health discovered in many studies that his techniques also work to increase psycho-emotional wellbeing and mental and creative performances. Many of his techniques one can apply to oneself. His technique “Balancing the cortices” is designed to synchronize both halves of the brain. According to Veltheim this has improved the performance of children at school and also took the stress out of a dance performance during a competition and thus improved the quality. The exercise takes less than a minute and much easier than to describe it here, is to simply watch the instruction on youtube or on the homepage of the Bodytalksystem. Simply search for: Veltheim balance of the cortices.
Music and light geometry
The American writer, psychotherapist, scientist and sound healer Tom Kenyon has composed music designed to synchronize both halves of the brain (i.e. the CD Infinite Pool) and increase their activity. Furthermore he recommends exercises with light geometry. For instance you can imagine the infinity sign – the horizontal 8 sitting on the “inner bridge” of your nose. Imagine how a dot of light travels along the curves of the eight first in one, then in the other direction. Often one direction seems easier than the other – the aim is to remain relaxed while doing both and not to “draw” the 8 with your physical eyes: it might cause dizziness.
Making the pineal gland grow
Michael Roads, author and spiritual teacher from Australia who masters the ability to travel metaphysically through time and space also thoroughly explored the model of the brain hemispheres. For he had to learn early that he was “wired” differently than most people. He likes to say himself that he is part of a minority of people who are dominated by the right half of their brain and that he always knows his way in the universe – but gets lost easily even in small towns and looking at a map makes him nervous…
Roads has expanded on this model through his own observations and he is most adamant about the healthy connection of the two halves of the brain because that supports and increases the function of the pineal and the pituary glands and those in turn are the bridge to our metaphysical abilities and the experience of what we truly are. In order to strengthen the connection between the hemispheres he recommends meditating on the pineal gland and how it slowly and steadily grows in size.
What perhaps is most important for our – inner and outer – balance
Each one of us is male and female/masculine and femine – even though our sexual organs might prioritize one expression over the other. But everybody will have already experienced that sometimes certain men seem more female than certain women and vice versa…
And even though that might seem banal to some I do find it important to clearly say that one is not better or worse than the other… It´s just a different expression – perhaps like one can make different chords sound with different musical notes.
This balance thing seems to be infinite. Partly because a healthy balance is always dynamic and the seesaw is the most simple model for it. But in truth it´s a multidimensional gestalt, a neural network, physically and metaphysically, that is like a magical system of consciousness (in the sense of an eco-system) always moving and developing. However it´s always worthwhile to seek optimal balance. For when we manage and even for only a brief magical moment then miracles are possible. Then we often take a quantum leap in consciousness, because the theoretical model of universal balance suddenly turns into a practical experience.
