Understanding Learning/Suggestibility Types For Behavior Modification.

My process of Left-Right Brain Learning started one dark cold night at the age of 10 while in the backyard sawing a piece of wood for the fireplace. After a few seconds of being distracted by some lights in the sky, I looked back down to the wood and noticed that the saw had accidentally jumped onto my index finger.

The interesting thing was that I didn’t notice I had been sawing my finger until I looked down and saw the blood. Because of not understanding how I could injure myself and not feel any pain, this mishap led me on a path of trying to find how the mind body are so intimately connected.

I studied every book I could get my hands on related to self-analysis, meditation, hypnosis, etc. Interesting enough the answer came a couple of years later from a magic book describing the art of distraction and how it can trick the mind. Well, that’s what had happened to me when I was so distracted by the lights in the sky. In my case it was a 180-degree refocus of my mind and a 100% absorption of new information – the lights in the sky. At that precise moment, nothing else mattered to me and if I had not refocused back to sawing the wood, I might have lost a finger.

In time, after reading about different modalities regarding behavior modification, I started using self-analysis and a method of self-hypnosis to try to affect functions of my mind and body … some of the functions that are allocated to the subconscious like my breathing and heartbeat. I figured all I needed to do was make a good connection to my subconscious  or later what I would later call my inner mind.

Over the years I would work with anyone who was willing to be my guinea pig. Some people thought it would be fun to experience the things I was experimenting with and others actually wanted to see if I could help them with a problem.

A Pattern Begins to Show Itself:
The more people I worked with, the more I began to observe a pattern arising in connection with the outcome from the type of suggestions I would give to individuals. I started to see that straightforward suggestions would work effectively with some people but not others.

Then one day I decided to ask all the people I was working with the same question, “Did you buy your shoes?” Some took the question very literally and responded with a “Yes I did.” or “No, my mother bought them for me.” Then there were others who were more concerned with trying to figure out the purpose behind the question and they would answer with, “Why, don’t you like them?” or “What’s wrong with them?”

So in my 20s I began to put things together and came up with the idea that some people in their early years learn to accept very literally what was being taught to them and that they could trust in that way of learning. While others, possibly because of being sent mixed messages, got into the habit of thinking they needed to interpret what was being said to them.

Coming from the point of view that we are all “sponges with feet” from the time we are born through childhood, it’s important to understand that old “learned” belief systems (habits) can hamper our lives today in myriad ways, from crushing our creativity to destroying our self-esteem, limiting our ability to learn and be productive or to modify behavior.

So that is why it is extremely important to know and understand your unique type of Learning/Suggestibility.

The Left Hemisphere Versus The Right:
In the mid 1960s, a wonderful piece of the puzzle fell into place with the studies generated by Roger Sperry on the hemispheres of the brain along with what other researchers had discovered. The researchers found that when an individual had one hemisphere, let’s say the left hemisphere, removed because of injury or disease, the patient would exhibit certain traits that were different from a patient who had the opposite hemisphere removed.

And what was fascinating was the fact that the different traits of the two brain hemispheres coincided with my research into people being affected in different ways when given the same exact suggestions. Remember my example of “Did you buy those shoes?”. So it all came together, the left hemisphere was prone to learning and accepting suggestions in a more questionable fashion, and the right hemisphere was more prone to learning and accepting suggestions in a more direct and literal way.

And with that, my Left-Right Brain Learning Process which is a highly personalized approach to alter behavior (and thereby change habits) by fitting the process to your unique type of suggestibility was born.

Remember, it’s not your conscious mind that has the most power. We use only 10% of it. It’s your subconscious mind (90%) that really controls much of how we do things. And if you don’t learn to communicate effectively with your subconscious (Inner Mind), you won’t be the one in control.

LEFT – BRAIN FUNCTIONS
•    Responsible for awareness of time, sequence, details, order
•    Responsible for auditory receptive and verbal expression
•    Responsible for boundaries; knowing right from wrong
•    Specializes in words, logic, analytical thinking, reading, writing
•    Processes information from parts to whole
•    Understands and respects rules and deadlines

RIGHT – BRAIN FUNCTIONS
•    Responsible for intuitive and emotional responses
•    Specializes in understanding the whole picture
•    Specializes in music, art, visual-spatial and/or visual-motor activities
•    Helps us form mental images when reading and/or conversing
•    Helps us to form and maintain relationships

One-Size-Does Not Fit All:
Why are so many new self-help books published every year? Because the old ones didn’t work and soon readers will find that the new ones don’t work either. And why do children have such a hard time in school?

I believe the answer is because, even though everyone has a unique learning process, the teachers and therapists keep using a one-size-fits-all approach for students and clients. In the beginning of trying something new there’s always some excitement, motivation and hope that this new thing will work. But in a short time it simply becomes another disappointment on the path to achieving your goals.

Self-help programs and even our educational systems are based upon the idea that everyone learns the same way. We don’t!

The Big Difference:
My Left-Right Brain Learning Process matches the program to the individual – not the individual to the program. The result – a unique customized process.

The first step in my process is taking a simple Learning Type Quiz that will reveal your Left or Right Brain learning preference. It’s about a three minute quiz containing yes or no answers which you can’t pass or fail. The results will simply tell you your percentage of left and right brain suggestibility.

With the knowledge of what Learning Type you are you will be able to customize suggestions for changes that can affect your thoughts, behavior, emotions, body and even for subjective experiences such as pain.

Just think what this means. To be able to have a strong effect on that 90% of your mind power as a result of knowing how best to communicate with it. Communication on your terms.