No.1 Brain Scientist: Your Brain Is Lying To You! Here's How I Discovered The Truth!

You've bought a present for me in this. box and I feel nervous and excited. >> So, this is a human [music] brain with a. spinal cord. Such a masterpiece. But. what people don't know is that we have. four different structured parts of our. brain that automatically shape how we. think, feel, and behave. But what if. it's not unconscious? What if we could. pick and choose how we want to be in any. moment on purpose? Like we can manifest. our own mental health. And by the end of. this conversation today, you're going to. teach me how to do that. >> Absolutely. You're going to so get it.

>> Harvard neuroscientist [music] Dr. Jill. Bolty Taylor. >> has transformed how we understand the. brain through her research and own. traumatic experience. She's teaching the. world how to unlock every part of their. brain to regain control of [music] their. thoughts, emotions, and behavior. >> We have a problem. We are skewed as a. society to the two parts of the left. brain which focuses on me, the. individual. How do I fit myself into a. society? And trauma is living in there. as is cravings and addiction. And we. need this. It [music] protects us. We.

get in trouble when this is the only. portion of our brain that we value. because look at the world we currently. live in. >> So is there a strategy for making sure. that you don't act upon it? >> Well, so many people are trying to get. rid of their emotional reactivity. But. the way to heal it is not to get rid of. it. I mean, we're wired for this. Why do. I want to just put myself in a little. box and say, "I don't want to have pain. I don't want to be mad. I want to be a. robot. I don't want to be a robot. I. want to be a whole human with a whole. brain. Like this is life and it lasts. this long and then it's gone. And it.

took me losing the left side of my brain. for 8 years to realize just how how. precious this thing is. >> So how do I control and protect my brain. at all costs? >> Well, there's a lot. So you ready? Want some hot stuff? >> I see messages all the time in the. comment section that some of you didn't. realize you didn't subscribe. So, if you. could do me a favor and double check if. you're a subscriber to this channel, that would be tremendously appreciated. It's the simple, it's the free thing. that anybody that watches this show.

frequently can do to help us here to. keep everything going in this show in. the trajectory it's on. So, please do. double check if you've subscribed and uh. thank you so much because in a strange. way, you are you're part of our history. and you're on this journey with us and I. appreciate you for that. So, yeah, thank. you. Dr. Jill Balty Taylor, what have you. spent your professional career. endeavoring to understand and why does. it matter? >> I am fascinated with how does our brain.

create our perception of reality and. based on that information what a wonder. it is any two of us can communicate at. all. I think I am fascinated by what we. are as biological creatures. And most of. us are so consumed with everything. outside of ourselves that we have missed. the wonder of what we are as this. biological conglomeration of cells. I. think we're absolutely beautiful. You. know, none of us came into this world. with a road map about how to get it all.

right. And the road map is the brain. cells. And when we understand the brain. cells and what they do and how to work. with them and how to keep them well, then we can manifest our own mental. health. >> And do you think the average person. understands the brain? Did you understand the brain before you. started studying it? >> Well, I understood it because I had a. brother who was diagnosed would be. diagnosed with a brain disorder. schizophrenia. So I became fascinated by.

five or six about what are we and why is. he the way he is? We are so different. from one another. Our interpretation of. our experiences are so different from. one another. What's what are we? I just. I just became a philosopher very young. and fascinated with the biology and the. anatomy of what we are. What do you. think an understanding of the brain, the. understanding that you're going to. communicate to myself and my audience. today, >> how do you think that can help me.

improve my life? >> Oh my goodness. If I understand what. part of me interacts with the external. world and is smart and is good with. details and is well organized, then I. know how to use that part. And that's. this. We are skewed as a society to that. leftinking portion of our brain. In. fact, as far as traditional medicine is. concerned, that thinking portion of our. brain is the only portion that is. actually conscious. So then we live our.

lives literally with our left emotional. tissue, our left our right emotional. tissue and our right thinking tissue all. as part of our unconscious brain. But. what if it's not unconscious? What if we. actually know what those groups of cells. also do? So that when I'm experiencing. my pain from the past, I can actually. call on the portion of my brain that. knows how to self soothe me so that I. can lift myself out of my pain, learn.

from those experiences, and then live a. more fulfilled life. It's the power to. choose who and how we want to be in the. world when we understand what our. choices are. >> So is it possible to choose which part. of your brain to use in a certain. moment? Once. >> you do it all the time, you're just. probably not aware of it. Let's say. you're going to have a business call and. uh you got your stats and you got your. data and you pick up the phone and you. say, "Yes, this is Steve and blah blah. blah." And you work into your details. and then let's say uh someone peaks in.

to to let's say a little dog comes. running in. Okay. Well, you're going to. have a couple of responses potentially. responses. One, you're going to smile, right? You just smiled. You just moved. into, "Oh, I love my little fuzzy." And. yeah, okay. Now you know now you're a. little gentler because now you shifted. into a different portion of your brain. that is open to the present moment and. now you just got uplifted. So we have. these four different anatomically. neuroanatomically structured parts of. our brain and we can pick and choose who.

and how we want to be in any moment when. we know what our choices are. But we. don't know what our choices are as our. society because we are functioning. skewed to that left thinking portion of. our brain and everything else is running. on automatic. >> And the left thinking portion of the. brain is the what more logical. >> logical rational analytical likes to. control people's places. There's a me uh. definition ego center of I exist. I am. Joe Bolty Taylor. This is my phone. number. This is where I live. I know.

that this is where I begin and end, where my skin meets air because a group. of cells tells me where I begin and end. But you've probably had flow moments. where you were doing your sports or you. were making love or you were whatever. you were doing and and you didn't begin. and end here. You were vast and open and. you were this big energy ball that you. are. But the left hemisphere focuses on. that little group of cells and those. skill sets and the right and the wrong.

and the good and bad and that that. portion of the brain defines the social. norm. And we all have to fit ourselves. in the social norm. But it's only a. quarter of our brain. >> Is it making us unhappy the way that we. use our brain currently? >> Well, we're out of balance. We're. completely out of balance because we're. at the balance of the value of that left. brain. What's going on in the right. brain? The right brain is right here. right now. We spend so much of our time. So fundamental differences between the. right hemisphere and the left.

hemisphere. And I know this only because. I lost my left hemisphere and that's all. I had for eight years. I had to use what. I had currently going on in my right. hemisphere after I lost those cells of. the left hemisphere in order to rebuild. the skill sets of the left brain so that. I could become completely functional. again. Are we unhappy? Well, that's not. a happy part of the brain. When you're. being analytical and organized and. structured, you probably got that that. burr that frown right there. You know,

you're and and it's a different. expression. Then as soon as, as I said, a little puppy comes in and then all of. a sudden your face happens. Well, what. happens is you're shifting into a. different part of your brain. And that's. what we do. We're running it on. automatic. So, if we are running our. brain on automatic, imagine how much. better we might do if we were actually. picking and choosing who and how we. wanted to be on purpose. >> And you're telling me that's possible. >> Absolutely. >> And by the end of this conversation. today, you're going to teach me how to. do that. >> Absolutely. You're going to so get it.

And it will. And once you see you, you. will no longer ever not see you. And. then you're going to see these four. characters inside of yourself. And now. you're going to be looking at your. partner who you speak about often. And. you're going to be going, "Oh yeah, I. recognize all four parts of her, too.". But what that means is that any. relationship that we have, there's eight. of us. There's eight of us. Eight very. specific personalities. in every relationship. So I have four.

very predictable character profiles, as. do you. It's the way the anatomy of the. brain is built. >> You've bought a present for me in this. box. >> I did. >> What is in that box? This is a very. special brain with a spinal cord. >> This is a real brain with. >> This is a real brain with a spinal cord. >> A real spinal cord. A. >> And do you own this brain? >> This I did this dissection and uh yes, this brain was specifically donated to. me for educational purposes.

>> How old was the person? What was. >> in their 40s? >> Do you know how they passed away? >> Brain cancer. >> And can you see the brain cancer? >> You cannot. Not until I cut this open. And I've had this brain for over a. decade and I haven't cut it open. It is. very rare to have an dissection which is. actually brain and spinal cord. Usually. you dissect the brain and we learn about. the brain but I wanted to have the brain. and spinal cord because that's the.

central nervous system and it's a. spectacular dissection. >> Um I feel nervous and excited. >> Excited is good. I'm excited. >> cuz you're right here right now going, "Oh my gosh, something new.". >> Yeah, >> it's exciting. Right here, right now is. an exciting time. Are you ready? >> I am ready. >> Okay. >> Should I put my gloves on? >> I encourage you to do so. Okay. So, this is a real human brain. And. right now, it is um hydrated in rubbing.

alcohol. So, that's what this is. So, you don't have to be afraid of that. So, this is a real human brain. and spinal cord. And I think what I'll do is I'll just. move this over here. >> Yeah. >> Out of the way. Okay. So, this is a. human brain. >> What's that skin on the top of it. >> with a spinal cord? >> This thing here. >> We'll get there.

>> Oh. >> So, you've heard about menitis. >> Yeah. It's layers that support between. the bone and the brain tissue and it. protects it. So this is called these. there are three layers called the. meninges. So when you've heard of. menitis. So this is the dura mater. It's. very tough and you'll feel that. It's. like a really tough lettuce. And this is. is essentially strapping the brain into. the cranial vault and holding it into.

position because you don't want this. thing flopping around and having. wounding and uh injury. >> So it it straps it into here. >> It well it straps it in certain spots. Yes. And generally often when you do a. dissection, you actually have to uh put. a like screwdriver in there to peel the. dura off the bone. So it straps it into. position. It's kind of like a bra for. the brain. >> Okay. >> Okay. So this is the dura and then what.

I'm touching now is called the arachnoid. and that's the second layer of the. meningis. And what you're looking at in. there is blood is blood inside of the. blood vessels. So one of the things. about why the brain is so fragile is the. blood vessels are transparently thin. >> So the pressurized system of what's. going on inside of the cranial vault has. to be highly regulated. And it's. actually the pressure of the cranial. vault versus the pressure in the thorax.

of the chest and the pressure of the. abdomen. It's a system and they all work. together in order to to keep everything. well regulated homeostasis a state where. the cells are happy and so the third. layer is like right here and it's you. can see this layer is peeled away the. arachnoid and under here I'm now. touching pia and pia is the external. layer of the brains brain cells. themselves the brain tissue so so this. is a beautiful brain and it would be.

positioned in my head like this. So front of the brain, back of the brain. coming down, hanging down as the spinal. cord. And then as you look at the spinal. cord, this is called the cottoina or. cotquina. And these are the nerves that. are actually going to go down into your. lower extremity. So all the information. that's going to go down into your lower. extremity to control your body is. controlled and the sensory information.

is coming in through those nerve fibers. >> Looks like a bunch of wise. >> It does. Well, you know, we are quite a. welldesigned machine in its own way. It. a difference is we are organic. We are. biological. And I think one of the. biggest mistakes that we make as a. society is we think ourselves and we. think ourselves as a machine. Push it, push it, push it, push it, push it, push. it, push it. Well, you can do that with. a computer. You plug it in and it stays. on until you turn it off or it blows up.

We have to go to sleep. Yeah. Have a. good time with that. >> Yes. It's okay. We won't hurt it. >> Wow. >> We hope. Gosh. >> Uhhuh. Beautiful. Our design such a masterpiece. We are. this massive conglomeration of 50. trillion molecular geniuses making up. our form. Beautiful.

>> It's so crazy that every single person. listening right now has one of these. processing my voice as you're hearing my. voice. That's right. And it is this, for. anyone that has never felt a brain. before, which I imagine is most of you, it is like this very, very soft but. dense sort of tofuy. How would you describe the feeling? >> Pork roast. >> Pork roast. >> It's very soft though. Do you know what? It makes me It makes me realize. >> Yes. >> how easy this would be to damage. Now,

this has been in alcohol or from. aldahhide for since at least 2008, probably earlier. And when you first. pull a brain out, it's even softer. It's. like a it's like a tough jelly. So that. when you first bring out a fresh brain, if you take your finger and you just. poke it into the tissue, it'll squeeze. right in and then you pull your finger. out and then it goes it'll scrunch right. back together again. >> Oh, okay. >> Yeah. So, so this is a prepared specimen.

and and we have to do that and and lock. together the proteins or the lipids in. order for us to be able to handle it for. educational purposes. >> So, this is the computer and then this. is the wires that control the rest of. the body. Well, it's part of the system. because um this this what you're holding. is the central nervous system and then. the central all of it and then the. central nervous system sends u between. each of the vertebrae. Here you have.

different vertebrae between different. vertebrae. You will have different. nerves coming out and then going around. the body. And then you're also going to. have vagus nerves coming off of the. brain stem area and going down into the. abdomen taking care of the visca. >> The first time you saw a brain like. this, >> how did it change your perspective of. life? >> I love it. I love it. I was I was very. blessed to have an aunt who was a.

debutant back in the years where. debutants did not get jobs and she. wanted to be an emergency room uh doctor. but there was no way that she was going. to do that. So she would actually. encourage me to pick up roadkill and we. would take it home and dissect it. It's. beautiful. See that look? We have two. responses. The left brain says, "Oh my. gosh, this is disgusting. This is the. worst thing I ever had." And that's a. part of your brain that's designed to. kind of critically judge and say, "No,

it's not safe. It's not cool. Push it. away." But the right hemisphere comes. online with curiosity. So people see. these things and they go, "Oh, no, not. my thing." Or they go, "Oh my gosh, that. is like so cool.". >> I feel both at the same time. I feel I. feel um. >> I have like almost a respect for the. person. >> Yes. who grew the brain, whose brain. that [clears throat] belongs to. >> and then the other part of me is just. like totally fascinated and it almost.

you know when you look at it you go you. you still don't realize that you have. one of those in your head. >> I still don't. >> Now so you you're still looking at that. as that's a one thing. I don't look at. it like that at all. This is a brain. But what's important about this brain is. our brain health, our brain abilities is. 100 dependent on the cells that make up. that brain. So most people, many. neuroscientists talk about the brain and. how the brain does in the external world. and the behavior and the.

neurotransmitter systems and all of. that. I go down to the raw data of the. cells. So, I am a cellular. neuroanatomist and so I care about the. cells making up the nervous system and. how do we how do we interact with them? How do we relate to them? How do we care. for them? How do we feed them? How do we. provide for them so that they can be. healthy so that I can live a whole brain. life in a healthy way? >> For context, where did you do your PhD?

You did your PhD in neur neuron anatomy. at Indiana State University. >> Indiana State. And my research was at. the IU School of Medicine, Indiana. University School of Medicine. So that's. where I focused on neuro. >> Yeah. >> And uh then from there I went to Harvard. Medical School. >> Yeah. >> And uh did two postocs, one in. neurobiology and then one in psychiatry. >> And when I say the 10th of December, >> yes, >> 1996. >> Yes. >> Which was [snorts and sighs]. 4 years after I was born roughly.

>> Mhm. >> You're 37 years old. >> Yes. What happened on that day? Can you give. me a playbyplay? >> Yes. Well, the day before that I was. teaching and performing research at. Harvard Medical School and I am a gross. anatomist which means cadaver entire. body as well as hisytologology which is. tissue as well as neuro. So I am all. about anatomy. So I teaching and. performing research at Harvard Medical. School. And uh I woke up the next day.

and I was experiencing a major. hemorrhage in the left half of my brain. So I woke up, I sat up and I immediately. had a pulsing pound behind my left eye. and uh generally I didn't have that and. it was pretty severe and it got all of. my attention and I have my before and. after is before and after that morning. >> What happens next? So, you've got a. pulsing pain be behind your left eye. What did you do then? >> Well, I thought, "Wow, that's weird.".

And it was the costic pain that you get. when you bite into ice cream. It's like. that freeze brain. >> Uh, and I thought, uh, okay. And I felt, uh, I felt suddenly weak. And, um, and I. thought, okay. So, I got up and light. was, um, kind of burning on my eyes. It. was I didn't want light in the morning. that day. So, I closed the curtains and. I thought, well, let's get my blood. flowing. Maybe I'll feel a little. better. So, I jumped onto my cardio. glider, which was a whole body full.

exercise machine. But I'm looking at my. hands and realizing that my hands look. like primitive claws, grasping onto the. bar, and I look at my body and I'm. thinking, "Whoa, I'm a weird looking. thing." and my perception of reality. shifted away from my perception of being. the one on the machine having my normal. morning experience to wow I was. witnessing myself having this experience.

and I'd never had that happen before and. I thought okay so this isn't helping so. I get off the machine and I uh head. across my living room table and I'm. realizing Every movement is very rigid. and very precise and I'm actually kind. of directing. I felt very robotic. getting into the bathroom. So I remember. pulling on the water and when the water. came out, it smashed into the tub and.

the volume just reverberated in my. brain. It was so loud the sound was. amplified and it pushed me against the. wall. But when the volume hit, I'm a. neuroanatomist. So what that means is. that I'm teaching students about all of. the anatomy here and which fibers are. coming in and going where and what is. the tracks of everything. And so sound. comes into the ears and it goes right. down to the pawns region of our brain.

down here. And this is where life and. death is. This is where those cells, if. you're going to inspire, you need your. pounds and and your your medulla in. order to have those [clears throat]. cells functioning. So, when mine went. were being disturbed, that was the. moment I realized I've got a problem. This is a grave problem. Uh, this could. kill me. So, I got out of the shower. I. dressed mechanically, just dressed. I'm. still going to work. And then my right.

arm went totally paralyzed by my side. And and it's really strange when a limb. goes paralyzed. It doesn't just like. drop down. It goes bomb. I mean, it's a. heavy entity. And I thought, "Oh my. gosh, paralysis. Oh my gosh, I'm having. a stroke." And then I'm thinking, "Okay, you know, oh my gosh, how many brain. scientists have the opportunity to study. their own brain from the inside out?". And I literally thought, "Okay, I'll do. this stroke thing for a week or two and. then I'll get back to my job." Right? So.

then it was a matter of I have to get. help. I have to communicate with the. external world. And a problem was that. the hemorrhage was happening inside of. the left thinking portion of my brain. which is where language is. So I was. drifting for 4 hours. I was drifting in. and out of the consciousness of the. present moment. And the present moment. the pres in in the present moment I. don't know who I am. I don't know what I. am. All I can know is what's in the.

present moment. >> So explain that for me. So yeah, >> the left side of your brain. >> was where the stroke was happening. >> Yes, it was. >> So you were in the right side of your. brain. >> I was waffling back and forth because it. was growing. It started small. So I had. what we call an arteriovenus malf for an. artery which is a high pressure system. It's bringing blood into the system. And. then I have a vein and the vein is a no. pressure, low pressure system. And then. we have these little capillary networks.

in between. Yeah, this is an es schemic stroke. I. had the the uh the hemorrhagic stroke. So when you think about stroke, most. people think, oh, blood clot. >> and the blood clot blocks a So the thing. about um arteries is they taper taper. taper taper taper until they get down to. the capillary level, which is where the. blood uh the red blood cells kind of. line up in single file and pass through. that. And it's a very low pressure. system, and then it absorbs back up into.

the vein. Well, what I had was the. hemorrhagic stroke and a blood vessel. exploded. And when it exploded, then the. blood goes out into the extracellular. matrix, which is extracellular between. the cells and the cells cannot function. Blood is essentially poison to cellular. communication. So, it's no good. And. whatever blood wherever it goes, those. cells start going offline. And then as.

that uh hemorrhage grows inside of the. brain across time, more and more cells. are becoming incapacitated. >> So you were in that moment unable to. remember how to speak properly, unable. to. >> nothing. I had nothing. I didn't even. have me. I had no Jill Bolty Taylor. because she was over in the left. hemisphere. And eventually that whole. hemisphere ended up swimming in a pool. of blood and was nonfunctional. But it. took four hours to get there. So, I was. waffling into the present moment,

blissful euphoria. I didn't exist. I h I. know who I am and that I exist at all. because I have a tiny little group of. cells inside of my left hemisphere that. tells me who I am. Have you ever. awakened in a hotel somewhere because. you've traveled so much and you're. going, "Where am I?". >> Yeah. >> There's this blank, right? And it's. like, "I don't know, but the bed's. comfy." You know, what a nice room. you. know, and all of a sudden you're just. right here, right now, and you're not. about the past, and you're not about the. future, and you're just in the present. moment. And joy lives in the present.

moment. Love lives in the present. moment. Laughter lives in the present. moment. The present moment is a. fantastic place. And we are wired to. that by literally half our brain. So why wouldn't we spend more time over. here. or at least balance it out? That's all I. ever ask for. I am not here to uh uh you. know uh as a waving the flag of the re. of the right hemisphere. I want whole.

brain living. I want people to. understand the different parts of their. brain what they do so that it says okay. so let's say do you meditate. >> sometimes. >> Okay sometimes. What's it like for you? >> Difficult. >> Okay. Why? >> Because the you start thinking about. stuff. >> Okay. Because this part of your brain. won't be quiet. >> The left is that that's. >> left thinking brain. We're languages. it. won't be quiet. Or uh you just had a. little argument with your with your. sweetheart and so down here now you're. in your emotional system and you're not. really feeling peaceful and you got on.

that airplane and things weren't like. perfectly smooth. So now you're kind of, you know, ruminating about, you know, oh. my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, you. know, and whatever. And that takes you. away from the present moment. But the. present moment. is it's not about me, the individual. I. think about this the the so I look at. the brain it's divided into four. categories very specific anatomically. each one of those result in a. constellation of skill sets and then.

that constellation of skill sets. actually manifests in our lives as. personalities and we all have all four. now do we all practice all four. of us do we usually have a dominant you. seem to like your left thinking brain a. lot. When do you have fun? What does. Steve do for fun? >> This. >> This? >> No. Also, I watch I watch Manchester. United play and I. >> You lift weights.

>> Yeah. >> What's that like for you? Is it work or. is it refreshing to be in your body? >> Oh, when I'm at the gym, it's Yeah, it's. I'm just in my body, which is Yeah. >> Okay. But no, not just But when you're. at the gym, you're in your body. Now, can you go back in your own mind and. have that feeling? >> Can I? >> Yes. >> How? >> Well, go there in your mind. >> I actually imagined myself on the. treadmill at my favorite gym and how.

that felt. And I had a brief moment of. that feeling emerge in my mind. >> And what did it feel like? >> Present. >> Present. >> Yes. >> Okay. And any other emotions that you. can attach to it? >> Just like calm, peaceful, without. without concern. Very present. >> Yeah. >> Very present. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. So the present is a nice place for. you. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Okay. What else do you do to get. there?

>> Massages. >> Massages. You receive massages. Okay. >> Okay. And what happens to your brain? Do. you analyze what's coming and just work. your butt off? Or do you allow yourself. to actually drift and shift into the. present moment of, "Oh my gosh, I'm so. glad I'm here.". >> I allow myself to drift. >> Good. Where do you go? >> I don't know. It's like a fuzzy. >> Yes. >> Middle ground place. >> Yes. No boundaries.

>> Some kind of limbo. >> This portion of the brain up here is. going to be the part that says who you. are as an individual. It's your ego. center. This hemisphere, the left. hemisphere, has the picture of nature. with you in the middle because you exist. in your left hemisphere. >> That's where the the world revolves. around you. >> The world revolves around you. In the. right hemisphere, you don't even exist. You exist as a part of it all. So what. you hear gets integrated with what you.

smell, with what you feel, gets. integrated in the excitement of. possibility. So, I'm not working from a. plan. I'm not in the past. I'm not in. the future. I'm not all about me. I'm. just here. So, when you're on a table, massage table, and you're allowing. yourself to go fuzzy, that's essentially the skill set of. what's going on in the right hemisphere. When you dive into water, you swim. >> Uh, not not not well. >> Okay. But do you dive into water? I do.

Yeah. >> Okay. Or even just in the shower. When. you feel when you dive into water and. you feel the water, the pressure against. your body, the temperature of the wa of. the water, you feel the phenomenon of. wetness. This is a present moment. experiential opportunity diving into the. water. Now, a lot of people might dive. in the water because I'm racing and the. whole goal is to get to the end because. I got that left brain thing going on and. it's that's the goal. But if I'm just. being, this is, you know, are you being.

or are you doing, right? When we're. being, we're simply being here. We're. being alive. We're being aware. We're. being in experience. So, as I take in. this room, I take in this whole room. My. left brain says, "I'm going to focus on. you, and I got these books, and I've got. these things, and I got the brains, and. everything, and everything's a thing.". But to the right brain, everything is. one thing. And when I live my life. knowing that I can shift out of the. stress circuitry of that left brain that.

says more cortisol, more cortisol, do do. then when I it's the it's the that's the. push. The right brain is the pause. And. that's why I was saying before, we're. not a robot. We're not a computer. We. are a biological organism. And so we. don't plug ourselves in and turn it on. and it stays on and forever until it. dies and then we buy a new one. We have. rhythms. We have natural patterns and we. have to push and we have to pause and we.

have to pause because we are 50 trillion. molecular geniuses that are eating and. creating waste and we need to clean up. the mess and that's what happens during. sleep. >> And so when you were stood there you'd. put your clothes on the left side of. your brain was offline. So you were very. much in this sort of blissful, euphoric, present moment state. What did you do. next? >> I I go through all the details of trying. to get myself help. And that meant to me.

the one plan I could get between. shifting black back out into the. euphoria of my right hemisphere where. I'm just in bliss. I'm just happy. I'm. just there and I don't have a plan. >> Why didn't you call 911? >> Because it was just floating in a pool. of blood. It wasn't there for me. >> What do you mean? Well, when you look at. where my hemorrhage happened, it. happened. So, so language, the creation. of sound and language, dog, dog is a. sound. It's going to come out of uh. Broca's area. And then Waricki's area.

back here is going to place meaning on. that sound. And my hemorrhage was. impacting this whole area. And in there. with language is numbers. 911 didn't. exist for me. Was not an option. you can. remember 911. >> didn't exist for me. It'd be kind of. like I say to you, um uh what's 8,322*. 4 million? It doesn't exist for you until you. figure it out. >> 164,374.

I'm checking [laughter]. >> exactly. So 911 didn't exist for me. So. I had to when I would come back into the. left hemisphere consciousness, then I. would I got to my phone and I put have a. phone pad here and I spent 45 minutes. waffling in and out right hemisphere, left hemisphere and finally I found my. business card that had my phone number. of work and I had to set the pad of the. phone pad up against right next to the.

business card and match the shapes, the. squiggles in order to figure out how to. call my office because I had no idea. what numbers were. >> And what did you say when the person. answered on the other end? >> I said, "This is Jill. I need help." And. what came out of my mouth was. And then I thought, "Oh my god, I sound. like a golden retriever." And then he. spoke to me and I thought, "Oh my god, he sounds like a golden retriever." I. had had a golden retriever and they're. very verbal.

So I knew at that point I did not know. because I could still hear myself my. language inside of my brain language is. very complex in this because different. cells do different things and in this. this left thinking portion we can read. we can write those are completely. different circuitries we can speak we. can comprehend when others speak I mean. it's complex so this is a busy busy busy. place but as long as this is the only.

portion of our brain bra that we value. Then we live based on the values of that. portion of the brain. And what that. brain values is me and mine and I want. more. And that's the world we're living. in. >> It's selfish. Well, it certainly is. >> because people talk about there being a. spiritual crisis in society at the. moment with many of the things you're. describing, the individualism, the. narcissism, sociopathism, the leaders of. the world being very.

>> uh zero sum and how they approach. >> Yeah. >> economies and how they treat others. >> You're saying that's because we're so. >> right there over here. >> on the right side. >> On the right side, it's right here right. now. And in the right here, right now, what do I care about? I care about. connection because I'm not. individualized here. I'm a part of the. whole. I am. We are all standing around. this beautiful planet. And I, man, is. equal to all the other creatures and all.

the other life and to the life of the. planet. We are one construct here. And. we either figure out how to nurture and. support and be one thing. We are one. human family in our right hemisphere. You are my brother. I love you. I can. support you. I can nurture you. I can. encourage you because you're a part of. me. And then the left hemisphere comes. online and says, "Oh, Jill, that is so. inappropriate for you to say.". and he has his body space and I have my.

body space and we need to be formal and. we need to right and wrong and good and. bad and we need to establish how the. construct of the social norm is that we. are now going to take the mass of all. that we are and fit ourselves in that so. that we can communicate with one another. and run a world. >> you make that phone call. >> you you sound like a golden retriever um. what happens next does your colleague. get. >> he recognizes it is me it is I and he. comes to my home and back in those days.

we had a managed care so you have to go. to the right place or you don't get. coverage. So he took me there and then. they took a picture of my brain and then. they they put me in an ambulance and. sent me to Mass General Hospital and as. and I'm still curled up in a little. fetal ball going hold on hold on and I. was slowing down and I knew that I was. becoming weaker and weaker and I. wondered how detached from my own. ability my own body can a person become. before they can never get back inside. this tiny little body because I felt.

that I was literally energetically as. big as the universe. And what did that scan show? It showed a. a. >> major hemorrhage in the left half of the. brain. Yeah, about that size. Actually, it was a little bigger than that on that. on that day. Uh but by the two and a. half weeks later when they removed uh. that's why we have a golf ball a golf. ballized blood clot from the left half. of my brain. Two and a half weeks later, December 27. And then I woke up and I had this huge.

hemorrhage. I I mean I had this huge. scar, but my mother comes rushing in and. she says, "Speak to me. Speak to me. because this is my language. If my. language cells are gone, I will have no. language and I will struggle the rest of. my life for language." And I I whispered. to her, "I'm better. I'm better." And. what I meant by I'm better was that I. felt bright again. I felt bright. I felt.

like whatever life was going to give me. at that point in time, I had brightness. I was still alive. I did not die that. day. And when, you know, so many people. have said, "How what motivated you to. get better or or how can you could you. have been so happy?" And it was like I. did not die that day. And that meant no. matter how disabled I was, I could not. walk, talk, read, write, recall any of. my life. I became an infant in a woman's. body at the age of 37. I completely fell.

off the Harvard ladder and none of that. mattered. All that mattered was I was. alive. And what that meant was I had the. potential to grow and heal and become. whatever I would become. And it didn't. matter. And it still doesn't matter. What matters is I'm alive. It's the gift. of life. And that's for me the wonder of. what we are as living beings. And we, you know, we are at a time where we are. in a mental health crisis. And our.

mental health is 100% dependent on the. health and well-being of the brain and. the health and well-being of the brain. is 100% dependent on the health and the. well-being of the brain cells. So how do. we nurture those cells and love those. cells so that we can live the life we. want to live and we can live in joy. We. can live in present. We can live feeling. connected to something that is is. magnificent as a life force power of the. universe and have this magnificent left. brain that allows me to have language.

allows me to be a part of society in an. effective way and allows me to have pain. from my past so I can learn and grow. from experiences that have happened to. me that I would rather not repeat. >> What is the complex range of emotions. you're experiencing as you recount the. story? Oh, I feel such awe for life. Life. This. is life. This is life and there is. death. And we have life. And life is the.

miracle construction of the universe. Argue about it all you want. Have a. million conversations about it. Analyze. it to death. But the fact of the matter. is you are alive in this moment. You are. alive. You can say you have eyes that. can see and ears that can hear. And you. have a digestive tract that can bring in. nutrition and you have manual dexterity. and you have mobility. You have legs. that can run around the planet and you. have this magnificent mind so that you. can do what you want to do. You are a.

miracle and we have forgotten that. And. for me, it took me, this whole stroke. experience took me straight back to the. part of my brain, that right thinking. part that connects me in that. transformation or that trans. transcendence experience of being so. much more than just a little human being. running around the planet. Oh my gosh, life is this miracle.

And it makes me feel awe and wonder. It. excites me so much. If everybody had. that and recognize that and could grasp. that and hold that, imagine the. different world we'd be living in. >> Eight years. >> Eight years. >> of recovery. >> Yes. every day, every breath, every. everything I thought of nothing else. other than what can I do and what's in. the way of being able to do what I want.

to do next and rebuilding using what I. had in the right hemisphere to rebuild. the circuits. I knew I had language. I. knew I could speak. I knew I had. vocabulary. I knew I had ideas. I knew. somewhere in there I had numbers. It. took eight. It took four years for me to. uneven understand what's a one. I mean, wow. Wow. I did not die that day. I did not. die that day. And so, I have all the.

possibility of what will be. And it was. wide open. I wasn't going to be a. neuroscientist again because that left. hemisphere. I never held myself to. returning to whom I had been before the. stroke. That girl died that day as far. as I was concerned. But the phenomenon. was that as I'm a gross anatomist so I. taught K cadaavver lab and when you are. teaching you have a whole body there and. you're teaching medical students about. what's inside of there. You get your.

hands in there and you say, "I want you. to slip in behind the stomach and I want. you to slip this hand in here and I want. you to know the relationship between the. stomach and the deadum and the liver and. and the splenic nerve and the kidney. I. want you to feel it because I want you. to have a three-dimensional image of. that inside of your mind so that you can. use that information.". Very rightrained. So when we learn, we. learn facts and details with the left.

brain, but we learn context and big. picture with the right brain. So we have. these two very different ways of working. it out. I've had so many founders speak to me. and say, "Why didn't this particular ad. that I ran on this platform work for. me?" Maybe the copy wasn't good, the. creative wasn't strong, but usually the. problem is they're not having the right. conversation because that ad never. reached the right person. And if you're. in B2B marketing, that is much of the. game. And this is where LinkedIn ads. solves that problem for you. Their.

targeting is ridiculously specific. You. can target by job title, seniority, company size, industry, and even. someone's skill set. And their network. includes over a billion professionals. About 130 million of them are decision. makers. So when you use LinkedIn ads, you're putting your brand in front of. the right people. And LinkedIn ads also. drive the highest B2B return on ad spend. across all ad networks in my experience. If you want to give them a try, head. over to linkedin.com/diary.

And when you spend $250 on your first. LinkedIn ads campaign, you'll get an. extra $250 credit from me for the next. one. That's linkedin.com/diary. Terms and conditions apply. >> So, you said there's four personalities. in everybody's brain. >> What are those four personalities? As. we're looking at the brain, just from an. anatomical perspective, the way evolution happens for the. mamalian brain is that there are.

creatures who have a spinal cord and. they have and then and there are. creatures like that like worms and then. a little brain, a little medulla will. form at the top of that tissue and then. now that brain controls and streamlines. information processing to the rest of. the system and Then we add a pawns. What's that? >> It's just a structure of cells. So this. is the medulla. >> Yeah, >> we would have spinal cord there. And. this is the pawns. Call that the pawns. It's a group of cells. Yeah. It's a. smaller brain. [snorts] And in.

relationship to that pawns is this. cerebellum. And the cerebellum has this. gorgeous cell in it called the perkenji. cell. And they're they're like a hand. They're like, you know, two-dimensional. And they all line up like this. And then. fibers run through those. And it's part of the mechanism of timing. so that you have fluidity of movement. because of the way those cells are. aligned. So not all cells are created. equal and not all cells look alike. Cells have the right shape for the right.

job. So as then we we grow and now we. have the mamalian brain. We're going to. have the hippocampus. You've heard of. that for learning and memory. The. amygdala, you've heard that for am I. safe? >> Am I safe? >> Are you safe? the amydala. Yeah, the. there's a group of cells right there. that is scanning constantly. Am I safe? Am I safe? Am I safe? And you're fine. until you're not safe. >> Okay. So, like threat detection. >> Yes, that's exactly what it is. You have. two emotional systems. >> One in your left hemisphere and one in.

your right hemisphere. And the right. hemisphere is going to be right here. right now. Am I safe in the right here. right now? So, let's say all of a sudden. a snake ro went by and we would jump. we. would startle because it's your right. amydala saying, "Oh my gosh, am I safe?". And then the left hemisphere is going, "Oh my gosh, it's a snake. No, I'm not. safe. Push it away.". >> And when we're calm, that's when the. hippocampi, because we have two amydala, one in each hemisphere, two hippocampi,

one in each hemisphere. And when the. amygdala are calm and you feel safe, now. you can learn and focus, focus with the. anter with the singular gyrus and learn. new things. So, so you know these groups. of cells. Now, if you wipe out an. amydala, you're not going to feel any. fear. You wipe out a language center, you're not going to have any language. You wipe out motor skills to your index. finger and you can't, you're paralyzed. So, every ability you have is because we. have these brain cells that perform that. function.

So, for the four parts of us, so we have. an emotional system in each hemisphere. The emotional system of the right. hemisphere. This is a right here, right. now machine. Right here, right now. That's all it has. Doesn't have the. past. Doesn't have the future. Doesn't. know who you are. >> Doesn't have anxiety, depression. >> Well, it has anxiety, but most of that is going to be based in. the left hemisphere because this. machine, the left hemisphere, has. linearity across time. So, this. emotional system is remembering every.

traumatic event that ever happened to. you that you don't want to have happen. again. Is that where trauma lives in the. brain? >> Trauma is living in there as is. addiction. Addiction, there's a group of. cells in here called the insular cortex. and that's where craving is and that's a. part of the lyic system of the left. hemisphere. And if you wipe out craving, do you still have an addiction? So this. is so so let me just keep going. So we. have these two emotional systems and. then we have these two thinking systems.

And the thinking system is what. distinguish us as humans from all other. mammals. Okay? So our mammals, our dogs. love us. There isn't any question about. that. Our dogs can punish us when we're. not very, you know, we don't show up and. we've sent them to doggy care if they're. not happy about that. So mammals have. other forms, but we have this higher. executive functioning. And in the right. hemisphere, it's right here right now. And in the left hemisphere, it's all. about me. Because in there in that. thinking is my ego center in that.

preffrontal region. I me I exist back. here orientation association area. I. begin and I end here. This is the. package of me the individual. I have a. language. I can create language. I can. understand language. I can read. I can. write. I have mathematics in there. And. this motor system controls the opposite. side of my body. So that's a. personality. So what are the to. summarize then what are the four types. on. >> okay so I when I look at a brain and.

this is totally randomly named um and I. did that because I had to communicate. about it somewhere so I call left. thinking character one and I actually. give that part of my brain a name I call. her Helen hell on wheels she gets it. done you're talking to Helen right now. she's giving you facts and details she. is all about what is right and wrong and. good and bad how do I fit myself into a. society how do I use my words in order. to communicate. So this is the part of us that goes to. work. It's our A type personality.

Character one left thinking. >> and that's that's on this side here. >> Yeah. Well, it's all it's it's this. outer this outer layer of cells is. called the cerebral cortex. And the. cerebral cortex is actually in human. made up of mostly six layers of cells. It's very complex. In some areas, especially where you have uh sensory. systems, it's just going to be four. layers. But this is a complex portion of. the organ that separates us from other. animals.

>> What about character 2? >> So character 2 is going to be the left. emotion. Now the difference between the. the the things you can say predictably. about the left hemisphere is it has. linearity across time and it has me the. individual and my emotional system then. has my past pain and it wants and and. it's kind of always looking for a reason. to knee-jerk react and have emotional. reactivity. So so many people are trying. to fix or heal or get rid of their. emotional reactivity when re this is a.

portion of our brain which is running. constantly in the background to protect. us from in the present moment when new. information comes in. So we want to work. with that and we want to appreciate it. and we want to love on it and we want to. be kind to it because it's generally not. very happy because it is storing all of. our pain from the past. >> And would you call that. >> character two? I call mine Abby. We. could spend a whole. semester talking about character two. because character two is our pain from.

the past and in our society everything's. about our pain from the past and our. professional self. Character three is. going to be the emotional content of the. right hemisphere. Well, this is right. here right now. What am I experiencing. emotionally? Experiential. This is where. what's the temperature of the air? What. does it feel like to have clothing on? What does that feel like on your body. >> when when you meditate? They ask you to. be become aware of your environment, right? >> And focus on your breath. Exactly. Because because they want you to expand.

yourself one out of the thinking. consciousness and right and wrong and. good and bad structure, the box that we. think in of the left thinking and they. want you to stop, you know, thinking. about your girlfriend and boy, we didn't. really end it very well or boy, I had a. great morning this morning. Okay. So, so. this is playful. So, character three, it's young. We have two little people. inside of ourselves and that's the. emotional. They're immature. We are. feeling creatures as biological. creatures. We are feeling creatures who.

think. So a lot of character 3es. actually we have character 3 moments. that land us in jail because it's not. thinking about consequences of behavior. It's just thinking, "Oh yeah, the. neighbor's pool. It's 3:00 in the. morning. They won't notice. Let's go. jump in their pool." And then the next. thing we know, you know, we've been. arrested. So then character four is the. thinking portion of our brain. This is. our w this is our wisdom. We we go and. we have experiences and we learn because. neuroplasticity is real and every we.

have to have neuroplasticity these and. this is all about the cells neurons in. real time reaching out making new. connections constantly but their cell. bodies are in position but in order for. me to make an association between you. and something else then I actually grow. to you and I grow to the something else. and then I learn about that. So our. capacity to learn is what neur is the. underlying feature is neuroplasticity. I. would not be sitting here talking to you. today if neuroplasticity didn't turn on.

fire when I needed it for eight years. and it took eight years for me to use. what I had in this brain to rebuild the. skill sets of this brain. But the. thinking portion, the character 4. portion of our brain is the wisdom that. we gain from the knowledge that we have. had and we have associated it and we can. relate to it. And this part all it cares. about is that emotion that I felt that. morning which was all all that I'm.

allowed alive at all. And when we can. connect to that people, people people, you know, it's billiondoll industry of. meditation to quiet what's going on in. the left hemisphere so that we can open. up the possibility to what's going on in. the right hemisphere. And and it's it's. our peace. We are wired at the core of. our being of our right thinking tissue. to feel peace. And we do not exist in a. world that is peaceful. So if we are.

functioning on an extreme left brain. left thinking and we are emotionally. volatile when people insult us and we're. all about the me me and we have. forgotten about the we look at the world. we currently live in. And right now we. are so skewed to me the individual and I. want more and I'm against you because. you're not a part of my tribe. And we balance that by knowing that I'm. alive. It is this incredibly precious.

gift. The odds that I had to beat just. to be here. Have you ever stopped to. think about the odds you had to beat. just to be here? Think about this now. First of all, think about this. The. little egg cell that would evolve into. you eventually, it took form. It's about. the size of of uh you know, it's an egg. cell. It's tiny, but it took form during. your mother's fifth week of gestation. So, your mother your your grandmother's. pregnant, right? And that little egg. cell that would be your mother has now.

made it into the womb. And during the. fifth week of being there, the little. egg cell that would grow into you took. form. It differentiated into the OAM. And so you, the little egg cell, witness. the next eight months of your mother's. gestation, your mother's birth, your. mother's screaming, your mother's. toddler years, your mother's learning to. sing and laugh and play and learn. geography and mathematics all the way. through her puberty. And then so she's.

born with some 400,000 egg cells in her. of two ovaries. And out of those 400,000. egg cells, approximately 500 of those. egg cells are going to be the next. follicular eruption month by month by. month with her period. And your little. egg cell, imagine you're hanging out in. your little ovarian follicle and it's. your turn and you're getting all prepped. by the hormones of the body and you're. going, "Oh my god, it's my ride." Right?

and you're this little egg cell and then. the hormones swoop by your little egg. cell and it beams you out and the. fimbria the fallopian tubes gather you. up and you begin your prominade your. fallopian prominade on the way road to. your mother's sacred womb and in that. moment. your father was there for you and you. were one of the lucky ones and you beat. the odds of all those egg cells you beat. the odds and How can that not be.

something that we celebrate the wonder. of the odds you had to beat just to be. here? And then for the next nine months, that little egg cell is going to. multiply its DNA, repackage that DNA. One cell becomes two, becomes four, becomes eight, becomes 16, becomes 50. trillion cells over the course of nine. months. And you're multiplying egg cells. as a at a rate of 250,000. new cells per second.

per second, not per minute, per second. You're this explosion and literally the. energy of the universe is what is. fueling all of this from happening. You. are nothing other than mass and energy. working together. And then there's you. And it's like, how on earth can I have. mental health problems and not. acknowledge and have awe for what we. are? Oh my gosh. And that's what that. was the gift that stroke gave to my. life. And you can see I get a little.

excited about it. >> a little. Yeah. >> We are so beautiful. We are so. beautiful. We are perfect and whole and. beautiful just the way we are. And it's. like if we would become balanced as a. society, we would I truly believe truly. believe with every essence of my being. that our number one job is to love one. another. When we love one another and we. support one another and we encourage one. another, we all grow and we will benefit. as humanity. And when that happens, we.

will really recognize we have fragile. resources on this planet and we need to. nurture the planet as a part of us. because we have a symbiotic relationship. with this planet. Chokes me up. >> Why? because it's. [sighs and gasps] you know lots of. conversations about are we going to make. it or are we not going to make it. What. is the future of humanity? Where do we go? How do we how what.

happens? We we live in a threat every. day of our exist of our uh you know. existence being completely blown apart. Okay. >> What are these? >> I would like for you to put those on. >> Okay. >> Now. Okay. And I just want you to sit in that. for like oh just uh you know 30 seconds. 20 seconds. Actually it's pretty good. look on you there. >> Minute black. >> Yeah. Exactly. Okay. Now I would like. for you to pull your right one. The. little Do you see how it's got a little.

little edge? Yeah. Yeah. Flip it up. It'll flip up. Yeah. And flip it all the. way up. Now what you're doing right now. is you are bringing light in from the. lateral portion of your visual field. What does that mean? Of that eye. So. close one eye and open. Leave one eye. open. Okay. That's a ball. Okay. Down. the middle is an artificial line. >> Yeah. >> Outside the outside portion that is. called lateral. >> and the inside side is called medial. >> Okay. [clears throat].

>> And so the lateral light is now coming. in and that hits the the medial side of. your retina. Okay. >> And the retina is the back of the. eyeball. >> Okay. So, the light's coming in from the. the outside of my eye and it's hitting. the inside of my eye. >> It's hitting the in it's coming out from. the outside of your visual field. It's. hitting the uh medial internal side of. your retina and then those fibers are. boom crossing over to the opposite. hemisphere. >> Okay. I'll put a diagram on the screen. for anyone that's Yeah. >> Yeah. So, right now you are purposely.

stimulating your left hemisphere. So I. just want you to just how do you feel. inside of your body? Just describe a few. things to me. How do you feel. >> feeling analytical about anything? Think. about. >> my back has got a little bit of a pain. in it. Um but otherwise just very. focused on doing this job as the host of. the D of CEO. >> Beautiful. Just focus which is what that. left hemisphere should do. So go ahead. and flip that down. >> Okay. >> Yeah. And then just like stay for like.

20 seconds and let everything kind of. equilibrate to whatever the darkness is. that's in there. >> Yeah. >> All right. Okay. Go ahead then and pull up the. other side. It's a good look. It's like a little. flag right there. Mhm. >> Yeah. Okay. How do you feel? Weirdly I felt more relaxed.

>> Now or before? >> No, now I feel more relaxed. >> Your whole body just went calm. >> Yeah. >> What else? Tell me something more. Any. aches or pains in your body? >> I just feel way more relaxed. I feel. like I'm laying low on a sun lounger. >> Yeah, that's what the right brain feels. like. So you're bringing less. information in from that the light of. the lateral side of your visual field. It's hitting the medial portion of your.

retina and crossing into your right. hemisphere. So what you're doing right. now is you're sending light energy. photons into the right hemisphere and it. is pushing through. And now this is a an. easy easy way for people to control and. choose how they want to be between their. two hemispheres and really get to know. oh. >> how do I know this isn't just a placebo. like how do I because I said I do feel. way more relaxed like I can't be.

bothered to carry on this. >> well if you look at the anatomy if you. look at the the anatomy this is where. light is coming in on the um you can't. really see it on here, but that's going. to be information from your eyeballs, which would be sitting right here, right. there. >> This is fibers. You're wired for this. This is how you are wired. That's why. everything about you, this isn't about a. placebo having a behavioral impact. This. is about the anatomy of the brain. >> Have they tested this in trials to see?

>> Oh, absolutely. In fact, they just did a. brand new one at Harvard um and and. showed it on fMRI. Yeah. And um. >> have they done like a double blind. control trial where they they put these. glasses on and then ask people how they. feel? >> Well, even more than that, they're doing. they're manipulating the light source in. different kinds of ways. I'm not. involved with that work, but I know that. Marty Tyer at Harvard as well as. Frederick Schiffer. Now, Frederick. Schiffer is a psychiatrist who has been.

doing psychiatry at Harvard Medical. School for his whole career. and he. would use these types of of glasses with. his psychiatric patients and would show. the patient that there is a part of them. that is less well and one side that is. more ill. And so he would use the. relationship between these two different. characters, these two different.

personalities to find more peace and. healing. >> I feel very I it's weird. I felt I just. lifted up the right side again and put. the left side down and I immediately. felt well not immediately but it took a. little while to 20 seconds I felt. focused again. >> Mhm. >> Is that is that just placebo? Am I. >> No, that's what your why that's that's. why you can feel focus because of the. cells that you are now stimulating. In. the other hemisphere it's not about. focus. It doesn't care about focus. It. cares about the big picture and your.

relationship to the big picture. So, it's not like the brain is just this. soup of cells. These cells are very. specifically organized. Every ability. you have is because you have brain cells. that perform that function. And all. you're doing right now is preferentially. stimulating certain cells. It's kind of. like, okay, I'm going to stim I'm going. to open my eyes and I'm going to. experience vision. Well, that's not a. placebo. If I want to be able to.

actively switch between these different. parts, these four personalities in my. brain so I can be most effective in a. given situation. >> Yeah. >> Is there a practice where where I can. control my brain in that way? >> Absolutely. In your life, this is a. practice. >> You don't just learn it and then go do. it. This is a practice. You got to say. to yourself, first step, step number. one, recognize in this moment, am I. using my leftinking judgment, listening. to this conversation, and what is my. judgment? Is my judgment, yes, this.

makes sense. This is interesting. I want. more. Or is this, oh, this is just crap. I just can't go there. I got to turn it. off. Or, okay, I'll give you an example. Uh once you know who your four. characters are, once you have really. thought about them, studied about them, paid attention to what your when they. come out in you, what they feel like. inside of your body. I can I can jump. between all four in an instant because I. know them so well. >> But would you is there a practice you. have to say? >> So this is what I do. So this is what I.

do. Well, once you know the four of. them, and the only way to know them is. to practice with them, get to know them. >> When do you get really unhappy? Who. unhappies you? >> When do you want to growl at people? >> I would name my name. >> Don't name a name. But, you know, see, you went straight into that character. too part of you. That's the only part of. you that holds grudges. Your right thinking doesn't care about. that. It doesn't even know about that. because that's in the past.

So when so so here's the key. Step. number one, observe yourself. When am I. being a character? One, when am I at. work? When am I speaking and organizing. and making a to-do list and when do I. like to be the boss and when do I like. to control people, places, things, and. time and all of that? When am I doing. that? Well, you know that part of. yourself very well. He's probably called. Steven. The part of you that is not very happy. You know, your parents probably know. this part of you. Your girlfriend.

definitely knows this part of you, right? >> Yes. >> Okay. When are you playful? What does it. feel like? It feels completely different. than when you're at work or when you're. not happy. When are you at play? And if. you're not at play much, then you might. want to give yourself a little bit more. play. So, I was working with a group of. physicians because physicians are very. busy people. And right now, the. physician is a very high level of. suicide. So, I care passionately about. this population because they're not. finding any peace because society.

expects them to be left thinking all the. time. They're supposed to be the. authority and they can't have any mental. health issues because they're the ones. we go to for mental health issues. So, all they can do, they don't have time. They are busy, busy, busy and they're. not very happy about it. And our system. is a mess. So, they're having to deal. with that. So I was working with a group. and I said, "Okay, I want you to take a. pair a chalk outside of the ER room and. I want you to draw a hopscotch." And. what happened was all these doctors in.

and out and these medical professionals. were hopscotching in and hopscotching. out. And that just that helped them. bring their glee back just for a moment, just for an instant. So, this is the. glee and it's exciting and it's fun and. it's like figure out what brings you joy. and do that and know and and and this is. why it really helps to know this because. if you're going to say, "Okay, I'm going. to go uh I'm going to go play.

basketball. I come from Indiana. Everybody plays basketball. I'm going to. go play basketball and I'm going to go. do it for 20 minutes and my character. one is over here saying, "We don't have. time for you to go shoot some hoops, girl. We got business to take care of. We're on a deadline." And little. character three comes in and says, "I. will refresh you. I will be your pause. I will refuel your spirit. I take the. stress away from that subject. I release. I I have all kinds of endorphins and.

excitement stuff going on. And then I go. back and I do such a more creative and. open job because I made space instead of. just the drive drive do linear linear. linear." The beauty of being a human is. you have all four parts of this brain. This is our design. But we are. functioning with only one online as. conscious. Imagine. Imagine if you could say in this instant. I want to um I want to I want to feel as. though just feel as though whatever your.

spiritual beliefs or your beliefs about. a higher power whatever just call it the. universe because we know there's a bunch. of rocks spinning around in space and. we're on one of them hanging on for life. just being human right so that's all. happening. So, oh my gosh, I can say. thank you to all those rocks for being. in the positions they're in so that. we're still here and I can feel this. deep sense of gratitude and as soon as I. feel that gratitude and that awe, oh my.

god, I existed all and it could be over. like that and then it's over, but right. now it's a party. Life can be play. >> Did I ever tell you about the uh data. breach that we had at my previous. company? >> Yeah, I remember hearing about that. >> which which um was a total nightmare. So, I'm glad that we now use One. Password. >> What actually is it, Steve? >> It's called um One Password, and they're. the sponsor of the podcast now. And they. have this feature called Enterprise. Password Manager, which means that if. any of our passwords across the team are. compromised or leaked, then it notifies. us. And obviously, if that were to be.

the case, we're at huge risk across the. entire team. Through one password EPM, you can also store all of your sensitive. information. and it's helping us to move. closer towards pass keys, which means. eventually everybody will be able to log. in to pretty much everything without. ever having to put a password in. >> Sounds like a good addition. >> Yeah, I think it's like the single most. impactful security addition you can make. to your team, especially if your team. has tons of passwords that are all like. hidden in Excel files and stuff. To my. listeners, if you want to secure your. business, head to onepass.com/doac. One password is a game changer. It's the.

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can get $100 credit towards your. membership when you use the code DOAC. 100. But do not tell anybody. That's. DOAC110. >> How long do you think emotions are. supposed to last? >> 90 seconds. From the moment you think a. thought, we're only doing three things. inside of our brain at any moment in. time. We think thoughts, we feel. emotions, and we run physiological loops. to what we're thinking and feeling. So, let's say I'm going to think a thought. like you did. I said, "Uh, think of.

somebody you're not happy with." And you. went and you thought about it and then. you felt it and we could see it in your. body. So, you thought the thought, "Oh, that's the person. I'm mad at them." And. then it's like, "Oh, I'm really mad at. them." You could see you feel I'm really. mad at them. And then you either act on. it or you don't act on it. But if you. simply observe it, it will loop right. through just like a a muscle reflex. It's an a emotional reflex. less than 90. seconds, which means, and everybody's. saying, "Oh, I can stay mad for a whole.

lot longer than 90 seconds." But what. you're doing then is you're rethinking. the thoughts. That's restimulating the. emotional loop, restimulating the. physiological response and and it just. goes on forever. >> When you feel that emotion, is there a. way to is there a strategy for making. sure that you don't act upon it or you. don't reloop? >> Well, I enjoy it. >> You enjoy the emotion? >> I enjoy it. >> Even if you're angry. >> Even if I'm angry. Thank God I'm. capable. I am wired to be mad. I am. wired to be angry. I'm wired to push.

things away and say that is not okay. I. get big. I get ugly. I get I make myself. heard because that's a healthy boundary. I'm going to establish. So I celebrate. the fact that I'm capable of anger. I I. love that I can be sad. I'm glad that I. can grieve. Oh my god. Grief is this. powerful emotion that can consume us, totally envelop us, take us to our. knees. And it's like it's like I have a. friend right now who's about ready to. pass away. Beautiful, beautiful person.

She's been great. Wonderful friend in my. life. I love her. And I will celebrate. every time the wave of emotion hits me. because that's how much I loved her. That's how much I loved her. I. celebrate. I'm capable of being taken to. the floor in that kind of pain and just. weep my whole soul. I mean, I'm wired. for this. This is life. Why do I want to. just put myself in a little box and say, "I don't want to have grief. I don't. want to have pain. I don't want to be. mad. I don't want to do this. I want to. be I want to be a robot. I don't want to. be a robot. I want to be a whole human.

with a whole brain. I want all of it. It's delicious. Oh my gosh. And it lasts. this long and then it's gone. Thank you. And I'm guessing your headache feels a.

little better. >> Why did you say thank you? >> Because it's so rare that people will. really connect with another human being. for anything more than like three. seconds and then I'm uncomfortable and I. can't do that anymore. But we're here to. love one another. You're the gift of my. life. People on this planet are the gift. of my life. We are the gift of your. life. And if we are constantly judging.

each other negatively and pushing each. other away and killing each other, we. are violent against each other. And it's. like, oh my gosh, we are so off track of. what we could be as whole breed living. I truly believe the next step for our. evolution. is waking up the whole brain. And if we. wake up our whole brain, the game is. changed. And that becomes no. It's not. okay for us to create war. It is not.

okay for us to create hate. It is not. okay for us to make that division. anymore. That is not what we we respect. and that is not what we want as. humanity. We want to be whole. We want. to be the next level. We want to feel. safe with each other. >> Are you hopeful? >> Completely 100%. That doesn't mean. we couldn't be gone in an instant. But. absolutely. That's the beauty of the. right hemisphere is it is hope. It's.

possibility. And that's why when you. talk to me about AI, yes, I think a lot. about AI. AI is uh wow. I listen to your. podcast. There's a whole lot of wow and. I don't have that. And this is why. >> sensory, >> you know, it's hard. It's hard. You've. had some really difficult conversations. about, you know, the reality of of the. potential dangers. But here's why that. doesn't bother me. Because I have a.

whole brain. And my whole brain says, "Yes, that is that and that is going on. and that is scary." And I think about it. through the the perspective of a. neuroanatomist. So I see the internet as. like this higher level of consciousness. that we're feeding ourselves into and. everybody's plugged in. And now we're. creating robots and consciousnesses that. we'll think independent of us. So we're. essentially creating an other that we. cannot control. Well, I can't control.

who's got those nuclear codes. So from my perspective, I'm just glad I. wake up every day and it's like, oh, I. get another great day and it's like, woo, possibilities. So, >> have you always been like this? [laughter]. >> No, this is this is really came with a. stroke. This so much came with a stroke. because I lost all of the box. I lost. the box. >> The box. >> The box of thinking this is right. This. is wrong. This is the way we're going to.

do it. Uh, I value money. I was climbing. the Harvard ladder. Uh, you know, I was. a little girl from Indiana. I was. climbing the Harvard ladder. I mean, that was pretty big deal to a little. girl in her family. And so, so I was. climbing the Harvard ladder. And then. bam, that was all gone. And when that. was all gone, what I gained was. [sighs]. [snorts] connection, heart, time, possibility. I my business perspective. has shifted in that I don't reach out to.

people. I don't solicit. I don't hustle. I don't need to because if I'm working, great. I love to work. I love my work. It's yummy. I mean, it's like, how can I. not? But I love to paddle board. I live. half of a life, half my time on a boat. out in a beautiful cove pretty much in. isolation with the bear and the deer and. the fish and the bobcat. I live in. nature. I live the life I want to live.

and then I get off the boat and I come. and visit people and we talk or I go and. I do whatever it is I'm doing. >> Had you not had the stroke, how. different do you think your life would. look? Oh, I'd be probably a professor of. neuroanatomy at Harvard Medical School, teaching and performing research, doing. that thing. That was my dream. >> Do you think you'd be happier or less. happy? >> Oh, no. I'm so glad I had that stroke. I. am so glad I had the stroke. It set me.

free. It set me free. Having the stroke. set me free from having to live a life. based on other people's expectations. about what my life should be. >> because it changed something in your. brain. >> Because that went totally offline and it. wasn't going to be a choice anymore. >> Is it still offline? >> No. >> So it went offline which allowed you to. focus on other things. Think about the. brain and think about your consciousness. and think about you have four parts of. you and all four parts are always.

running and they're kind of vying for. the microphone. Who's going to talk in. this moment, right? Who's going to think. what? Who's going to perform what? Who's. going to do what? So, we have these. these whole brains and um and then. imagine that you lose your business. sense. You lose that guy. Character one. >> Character one falls off the planet. >> which is the facts, factual part, the. working part. So that would leave me. with just the sort of emotional part and. the present part and the wisdom. >> Yes. >> Yeah. >> So do you miss it? Well, it's gone. Your.

ego has pretty much dissolved because. that's a part of it. >> So, but you might be angry. You might be. angry because I was doing so well and I. was living a life and I liked those. facts and d I wanted to do more business. and I wanted to do more businesses and I. I and you are that guy. I mean you are. so diverse in your business. You are so. good at being character one. But let's. say he goes offline. What do you have. left? So my character went offline. Would you still value? Would you have.

value? What value would you have if you. weren't him? Tell me. >> [snorts]. >> I think my girlfriend would appreciate. me still. My dog would probably. appreciate me. >> maybe more because you probably spend a. little more time with it. >> Yeah, probably. Yeah, my girlfriend. would definitely appreciate me more. >> Mhm. Mhm. Because you'd have time. You. wouldn't be running that wheel. You'd be a different part of you. And.

then if you can master and help heal. your pain from the past or your. disgruntled self that well, you know, I. had this problem and now I can't use my. left arm and so I'm going to be a. miserable human being the rest of my. life because my left arm doesn't work. anymore. >> How do we do that? How do we heal our. trauma from the past from a neurological. perspective? >> Well, I think what we do is we recognize. first of all um the question everybody. wants to heal it. So the way to heal it.

is not to get rid of it. I cannot get. rid of my trauma from the past. My pain. from the past is real and it is mine and. it is expansive and it is mine and. everybody has their pain from the past, their trauma. We all have trauma. So. what do I do with that trauma? Do I let. that trauma just fester in that. character two part of my brain and then. I just look at everyone else who's not. like me now and say, "Well, you didn't. have any trauma. You know, you're better.

off than I am." You know, I start making. a negative, hostile judgment about, "Well, this is my trauma and I want to. protect it." The purpose of trauma is to. say to you, you're a biological. creature. You're in the present moment. You're a real human being. You have a. life. my life, part of my life is my. trauma. And I will bounce from trauma to. trauma to trauma to trauma. And if I. look at the trauma and say, "This is a. horrible thing." Well, maybe it was a. horrible thing. And maybe that was 30.

years ago and that was a horrible thing. And you're keep the more you think about. it and you root into it. And the more. often we run a circuit, the more of that. circus, stronger that gets and begins to. run on automatic. And so now I'm always. worrying about, oh my god, am I going to. have more trauma? and I put all my. energy into that trauma. Well, what am I. doing? It's just the same as if I'm just. a workaholic and doing nothing but. character one. And and so the power of. whole brain living is to know that I I. have four parts of me. And that trauma. is important information. And let's say.

I I I was attacked or I was raped or I. was I had a horrible experience with a. person. And now in the future whenever I. see a person that looks remotely like. that I kneejerk away from that because I. perceive myself from my drama that. that's not safe. So I push it away. That. is an appropriate response. But then I. say, "Oh, but this is actually a. different person." And I can open up my. right hemisphere and with curiosity look.

at this new person and say, "Well, you. might look like somebody who hurt me. many years ago, but you're not that. person. Who are you?" and make a. connection in the present. So the trauma. is supposed to be information. We get in. trouble when we turn it into a. lifestyle. So how do I heal that? I acknowledge it. I value it. I say thank you to it. I. acknowledge its its purpose and I pull. my energy into the other parts of my. brain. My character four, Queen Toad,

can come in and self soothe me and hold. me. >> And what would character 4 say to the. trauma? >> You're loved. You're okay. Thank you. Thank you for this information. Thank you. And hold it. Well, trauma. needs to be heard. Needs to be held and. it needs to be heard. And and then it. can like transform itself into into the. next level of, oh, okay, I'm okay. Even. though I had that trauma, even though I. I had this stroke that all but killed.

me, I'm not resentful. Why would I be. resentful? It's my life. This happened. to be the life story of me. We all have. a life story. So the question is, how. much energy am I going to put into that. and hold myself back when I have all. these other incredible possibilities? And if I was hurt or I was raped, then I. can actually if I want to take that. anger because I matter than hell about. it, then I can I can advocate for other. people to help women get self-defense.

courses so that we can actually protect. ourselves. I mean, I can turn it into. something else. I can make lemonade out. of lemons. We all can. We're wired for. that. You've talked a lot about how you. think about the brain from a cellular. perspective and how we keep it healthy. from a cellular perspective. So I wanted. to get some of your advice on lifestyle. choices that I should be making to have. an optimally healthy brain at the. cellular level. >> Number one, sleep. Sleep is everything.

Sleep, sleep, sleep. These are. billions, 800 billion. cells that are eating and creating waste. for you to have a consciousness in every. instant. Imagine the number of cells it. takes for you to just look at me and. have a relationship in this moment with. me. I mean, your brain is working hard. So, it's eating, it's creating waste. Go. to sleep. Sleep should be a priority. And if you sleep then the micro ga can.

come out and then all the garbage and. waste can get cleaned up. The waste gets. pushed away and you wake up crisp and. fresh the next day because your brain. cells have been taken care of. What are. you feeding them? If you are feeding. them preservatives, you are preserving. them. Oh my gosh. Pay attention to what. you're consuming. Fresh fruits, fresh. vegetables. try to do it if you know I know we exist. in a world where not everybody can eat.

organic but boy pesticides are poison. So paying attention to what we are. consuming. How much sugar are we eating? Sugar. Sugar is just not a healthy. choice. no matter what. Now I love chocolate and. I'm going to eat chocolate. It's my, you. know, vice. I'm going to do it anyway. Dark chocolate. It's a bean. It's a. vegetable. Somebody said that to me once and I. believed him. Okay, so um what are you. eating? Movement. You have to move your.

body. You are an organism. So many of us. think that especially if we're in that. character one left thinking brain. My. body is designed to like move my left my. brain around. No, you are an organism. So finding ways to get yourself into the. different characters is great for you. If you can't get into your body, name. for me a song if you would that as soon. as you start in on it, your body goes. What gets your beat going?

>> Give me one. >> Why did I think of gigs walking the. hardest? Um Um. >> then do it. >> No, I can't I can't do it. >> Yes, you can do it. >> It was No, it was I was thinking of cuz. it was playing outside before we started. recording. I was thinking of Olivia. Dean's new song, Man I Need, but I can't. sit here and sing Man I Need. And then. the little. >> Well, then don't sing it. Just give. So. for me, she's like. >> Exactly. Yeah. >> Yeah. But that was forced. Now, can you. do it like you mean it?

>> We ought to put the glasses back on you. and see what happens. Okay. For me, I'm. disco era. I want some hot stuff, baby. This I. cannot not do this. I become my body. All of me. It's like dance like nobody's. watching. That's what character 3 is all. about. >> So why is that important for a healthy. brain at a cellular level? >> Oh my gosh. It's the break. It's the. pause. It's the fun. It's the joy. It's. the present moment connection. What is. my life going to be like if I don't have.

any of those things I just listed? >> So exercise, quality sleep, nutrition, >> hydration. >> Hydration. >> Hydration. >> Why is that so important? >> Oh my god. Your body is nothing but. cells connected to one another. And. cells are filled with water and the. space between them is filled with water. And it's a delicate balance of what what. atoms and molecules are inside the cells. versus outside the cells. But you're. just a big liquid ball. >> Excuse me.

>> Yes, you are. I said it and I meant it. That's what you are. You are a fleshy. ball of you. That's it. Water. You need. to be hydrated. Now, you can't. overhydrate. If we overhydrate then. we're we're distilling. uh what's going on in those populations. of in the cell or extracellular matrix. So don't just you know drink your weight. in water every day but you have to stay. hydrated. >> What about learning? Is it good for the.

brain or. >> Oh yes. Yeah. It's it's wonderful. When. I learn let's say I'm going to learn to. do a sport. >> Yeah. >> So uh and let's say that sport's going. to be uh tennis. >> Yeah. And so I'm going to go to my. character one. And character one is. going to say, "Okay, this is how you. hold the racket." And um and this is how. you hold your body and this is where how. you're going to swing that. And try. that. And so left hemisphere comes in. and gives you the plan and it gives you. the details and you you do that. And.

then uh at some point you've done it. enough that now you're just going to. start whacking a ball, right? Whacking a. ball. And you're going to practice it. over and over again. And then it gets. like really fun. And then it's back in. your body and now we're back to girls. just want to have fun, you know? I mean, we're back into character three. >> Well, we know alcohol's bad. >> Well, you're drunk because your cells. are drunk. I mean, just think about it. If I'm going to consume alcohol, it's. going to suck the water out of those. cells. They're going to de they're going. to be dehydrated and I'm going to end up.

with a headache. And when they get. fragile because the membrane has been. drunk, drunk, drunk, drunk, you know, abused, abused, abused, eventually they. tend to cremate and blow up and that's. the end of those cells. So alcohol is. not good. Addiction is um you know, we. exist in a society and and I think that. this is important. We exist in a society. where the left hemisphere, especially. character 2, where our cravings and. addictions are. Is if I'm not happy. because I'm not living a fulfilled life.

because I'm on YouTube or I'm watching. social media and all these people are. getting all these clicks and I'm not. getting all these clicks and I'm not. living this lavish life that these other. people are living and I'm down on me and. I'm just like not very happy. I'm going. to make poor choices because that is. what that part of us is designed to do. So I say take responsibility for the. energy you bring into a room. And if you. pay attention to who walks in and what. part of you walks in and you come in as. a whole person, now I am completely.

available to master the moment, whatever. the moment is. >> Dr. Jill Balty Taylor, uh. >> oh, >> if you if you had a closing message for. my audience, something that maybe maybe. we've a subject we've missed. >> Yeah. >> Or something that you think is the most. important thing to close upon, what. would it be? Your life is worth 30. seconds. If you're in your car and you're getting. ready to pull out between those two cars. that are coming, your life is worth 30. seconds. Take a breath. Take a pause and.

save your own life. It has changed my. life. As soon as somebody said to me, Jill, isn't your worth your life worth. tw 30 seconds? And I thought to myself, oh my gosh, actually it is. >> And what does that mean? It means just. relax. It means I'm not going to try to. squeeze myself into boxes where I maybe. don't fit or belong. I'm going to pause. physically. I'm talking about physical. Physical. So, seriously, if you're. driving,

>> okay, so you're saying slow down. >> Slow down. 30 seconds. Your life is. worth 30 seconds. Be conscious about it. >> Thank you. Very fascinating. Incredibly. fascinating. You have a remarkable. energy and you have a wonderful way of. reminding me of the I guess. transitioning me from the uh the working. factual part of my brain to being more. present in the moment. And I imagine. you've done that for everybody that's. listened today. There's a real puress to. you that I wonder if many of us might.

have just lost along the way somehow. So, thank you so much for being who you. are and your your journeys are. unbelievably incredible, unbelievably. inspiring. And the fact that you've. you've been so centered on gratitude and. an appreciation for life despite. all that you've been through is a. remarkable thing. We have a closing. tradition on this podcast with the. Alaska leaves a question for the next. not knowing who it's for. And the. question left for you. is what do you do when your life doesn't.

turn out the way that you had hoped? >> I thank the universe that option wasn't. for me. Next. So easy. So easy. Thank you to that right. hemisphere consciousness that connected. to the universe with all those atoms and. molecules and big old rocks floating. around that that wasn't meant for me. Something better is on its way or I'm.

going to go paddle board. I'm perfectly. good with that. >> Thank you so much. Thank you. [music]. >> If there's anything we need, it is. connection. Especially in the world. we're living in today. And that is. exactly why we created these. conversation cards. Because on this. show, when I sit here with my guest and. have those deep, intimate conversations, this remarkable thing happens time and. time again. We feel deeply connected to. each other. At the end of every episode,

the guest I'm interviewing leaves a. question for the next guest, and we've. turned them into these conversation. cards. And we've added these twist cards. to make your conversations even more. interesting. And there are so many more. twists along the way with the. conversation cards. This is the brand. new edition. And for the first time. ever, I've added to the pack this gold. card, which is an exclusive question. from me, but I'm only putting the gold. cards in the first run of conversation. cards. So, if you want them, join the. wait list now and you'll get early. access when they get released. Head to. the link in the description below.

[music]. [music]. [music]. [singing]. >> [music].