My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist’s Personal Journey

by Jill Bolte Taylor, Ph.D.

This month we will be reading My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist’s Personal Journey by Jill Bolte Taylor. This is a story of a woman, a thirty-seven-year-old Harvard-trained brain scientist, who experienced a massive stroke in the left side of her brain. She describes in much detail her experience of the stroke itself and her long journey back to recover her basic functions like walking, talking, reading, writing and recollecting.

I chose this book because in addition to a compelling personal story, it also contains fascinating insights about the inner workings of the brain and specifically the difference between the right and left brain hemispheres. Since the damage from the stroke was contained in the left hemisphere of Jill’s brain, which is the logical, analytical, but also judgmental part of the brain, Jill lost her ability not just to understand language or comprehend linear thought, but she also lost the incessant brain chatter that constantly judges, evaluates and predicts. What she gained instead was a feeling of deep inner peace and loving compassion toward the world, which is the domain of the right brain hemisphere. She felt connected and at one with the Universe. And since ultimately yoga is about letting go of mental chatter, this book helps us understand that we have that ability literally wired into our brains, if we can only briefly silence the left, judgmental hemisphere. And, of course, yoga gives us great tools to do that. I hope this sounds interesting to you, please read the book and join our discussion!