25 Aug Telluride Integrative Wellness Conference: Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor
Brain scientist Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, is a featured speaker at the Telluride First Foundation’s very first summit on Integrative Wellness. Other renowned presenters in the field of health and wellness are Dr. Deepak Chopra, Dr. T. Colin Campbell and Rolf Roll. Event takes place Friday-Sunday, September 11 – 13. Full schedule here. Tickets/passes here.
“How many brain scientists have been able to study the brain from the inside out? I’ve gotten as much out of this experience of losing my left mind as I have in my entire academic career,” Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor
Please scroll down to the bottom of this story to listen to my interview with Dr. Jill.
World peace?
A no brainer.
All it would take is for everyone on the planet to experience a stroke in the left cerebral hemisphere of their brain – and recover to tell the tale.
Ok yes, that may be a bit of a stretch, but what is true is that a stroke on the left side of the brain shuts down the “me” and opens us up to the “we.”
Shuts down ego-based logic and opens us up to group think and a sense of euphoria about the vastness and beauty of this Blue Marble and beyond.
Poetry and metaphor, a right hemisphere gift, trump lists, numbers, and gloom-and-doom headlines.
A sense of deep and abiding internal peace overwhelms us.
La La Land wins.
At least in the moment.
And that’s a good thing, an “idea worth spreading,” according to Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, whose TED Talk on the subject, (2008), went viral and is now one of the most viewed talks in the history of the illustrious conference, which dates back to 1984.
Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, a featured speaker at Telluride First’s Integrative Wellness Summit.
The now famous 18-minute presentation catapulted Dr. Jill’s story into the public eye, and within six weeks of presenting at the TED conference, she was chosen as one of TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World for 2008. She was also the premiere guest on Oprah’s Soul Series web-cast.
Since that fateful morning of December 10, 1996, when the then 37-year-old, Harvard-trained brain scientist experienced a massive stoke as a blood vessel in the left side of her brain exploded, Dr. Jill has dedicated at least part of her rich, meaningful life to helping people look at themselves through a much more open and compassionate filter.
And Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor is scheduled to speak at The Telluride First Foundation’s very first Integrative Wellness Summit. Her talks are on Saturday, September 12, the first from 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. on the subject of “How to Manifest a Healthy Brain”; the second from 2 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. (with Christine Eartheart) about “Tools for Whole Brain Joy.”
In plainspeak, Dr. Jill will explain how our brain organizes information and the difference between our right and left cerebral hemispheres. Her firm belief is that the most important relationship we each have is the the one between our logical, rational, verbal left brain, and its counterpart, our creative, intuitive, thinking-in-pictures right hemisphere.
The big idea is to help us understand how our two brains work together to create a single seamless perception of reality, and what is going on inside our heads when we experience personal conflict. When we understand who is who inside our head, we can learn to recognize those skill-sets within ourselves and in others, which helps us see we each really do have the power to choose, moment by moment, who and how we want to be in the world.
Compassion is an outcome.
Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, holding human brain, just as she did at her now-famous TED Talk.
On that fateful morning and within the space of four brief hours, Dr. Jill, an neuroanatomist by profession, observed her own mind completely deteriorate to the point she could no longer walk, talk, read, write, or recall any details of her life.
As the damaged left side of her brain – rational, grounded, detail-and time-oriented – swung in and out of function, Dr. Jill alternated between two distinct and opposite realties: the mind-expanding nirvana of the intuitive and kinesthetic right brain, in which she experienced a sense of complete well-being and peace; and the logical, sequential left brain, which recognized Jill was having a stroke, and enabled her to seek help before she was lost completely.
It would take eight years for Dr. Jill to heal completely, but because of her deep knowledge of how the brain works, her respect for the cells composing her human form – and an amazing mother – she completely repaired her mind and re-mixed her understanding of the world according to the insights gained from her right brain on that fateful morning.
Today Dr. Jill is convinced the stroke was the best thing that could have happened to her.
It has taught her that feelings of nirvana and peace are never more than a thought away.
Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor’s New York Times bestselling memoir on the subject, “My Stroke of Insight,” describes the journey to recovery and becomes an inspiring exploration of human consciousness and its possibilities.
Today, Dr. Jill serves as the CEO of My Stroke of Insight, Inc. and Chairman of the Board of the not-for-profit Jill Bolte Taylor BRAINS, Inc., which is dedicated to providing educational services and promoting programs related to the advancement of brain awareness, appreciation, exploration, education, injury prevention, neurological recovery, and the value of movement on mental and physical health, as well as other activities that support this purpose.
Dr. Jill feels passionate about helping others find their way back from neurological trauma, and is excited about the upcoming feature film of her life.
She regularly keynotes at conferences such as Telluride First’s event around the world about how we can build a healthy relationship between tour two brains for one better result.
To learn more, click the “play” button and listen to my conversation with Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor.
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