Yoga boost: Awaken your inner power

According to Jill Bolte Taylor, the neuroscientist, and author of My Stroke of Insight and Whole Brain Living, there are four specific clusters of cells in the brain that process the same incoming information but react to it in very different ways. That reaction depends on where they are located in the brain: the thinking or the emotional part, in the right or the left brain hemisphere. In her book Whole Brain Living: the Anatomy of Choice and the Four Characters that Drive Our Life, Jill Bolte Taylor calls those four clusters of cells the four characters. Each of those characters has a distinctive personality based on where it is located in your brain.

Character 1 is the thinking part of your left brain. It thrives on order, organization, and to-do lists. It’s analytical, concise, and busy.

Character 2 is the emotional part of your left brain. It is very dependent on the past, suspicious, selfish, and fear-based. 

Character 3 is the emotional part of your right brain. It likes to dive into things without reservation; it is kind, creative, and reckless.

Character 4 is the thinking part of your right brain. It lives in the present moment and likes to be in the flow. It thinks in pictures, is community-oriented, and perceives things holistically.

All four characters are part of your brain and want what’s best for you, but their understanding of what that looks like varies widely, leading to conflict and an occasional blowout. Understanding those characters helps us make sense of our thinking process and emotional reactions. (Read more about four brain characters >) We seem to be the happiest when all characters come together and support each other in tasks big and small. This can be accomplished with a technique called “the brain huddle” that acknowledges each character and brings them all together.

In this short practice, we use large whole-body movements to increase the sense of vitality, try simple breath retention to create space within the body and mind, and do “the brain huddle technique” to focus the mind and help you move through your day more effortlessly.

Please give this practice and try and let me know how it feels!