logo
episode-header-image
Jan 2023
1h 1m

Understand Your Brain, Upgrade Your Life...

10% Happier
About this episode

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers.

---

The better you understand your brain – and the more effectively you can work with it – the happier and healthier you will be. This is the central contention of today’s extraordinary guest, Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor and she makes this assertion based on two levels of deep expertise. First, Dr. Taylor is a Harvard-trained neuroanatomist. Second, back in the ‘90s, she experienced a severe hemorrhage in the left hemisphere of her brain causing her to lose the ability to walk, talk, read, write or recall any of her life. She later recovered, but that experience, which you will hear her describe in riveting detail, gave her incredible insight into how the brain works. 

She wrote a massive best-selling book called, My Stroke of Insight, which she has now followed up with a book called, Whole Brain Living, where she lays out exactly how to understand your brain and how to work with it.

In this episode we talk about:

  • Dr. Taylor’s personal story and how her life has changed post-stroke
  • The marvels of the human brain
  • The differences between the brain’s two hemispheres 
  • How our society is skewed towards the left hemisphere and how living too much in the left hemisphere can burn us out
  • The brain’s “four characters” and how to work with these characters through a practice she calls “The Brain Huddle” 
  • The differences and similarities between “The Brain Huddle” and another practice we’ve talked about before on this show called, “RAIN”
  • And she describes a tool for understanding your emotions called, “The 90-Second Rule”

Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast-episode/jill-bolte-taylor-552

Up next
Today
How To Meditate When You're Freaking Out | Kaira Jewel Lingo
What to do when you're in the grip of grief, anxiety, or overwhelm. Our Teacher of the Month, Kaira Jewel Lingo, has some suggestions for finding your way through. Join Dan’s online community here Follow Dan on social: Instagram, TikTok Subscribe to our YouTube Channel On Sunday, ... Show More
18m 28s
Aug 22
How To Handle Your Demons | Vinny Ferraro
We’re bringing you some of our favorite gems from the archives, as chosen by our staff. This week, we’re hearing from dharma teacher Vinny Ferraro, as chosen by our producer Eleanor Vasilli. Vinny explores the concept of “alignment” and how you can actually choose your own attitu ... Show More
19m 53s
Aug 20
Next Time You’re Suffering, Ask Yourself This Question | Caverly Morgan
The highest form of self compassion (is seeing there’s no self in the first place). Caverly Morgan is a meditation teacher who blends the original spirit of Zen with a modern nondual approach, drawing from her eight years of training in a silent Zen monastery. She's authored two ... Show More
1h 3m
Recommended Episodes
Apr 2022
Meet the 4 characters of your brain that drive your life - Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor
Everything we think, feel, or do is dependent on our brain cells and how they interact with each other. Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor explains all there is to know about whole brain living and the 4 characters of our brain: how they show up in our daily life, how to integrate them, and h ... Show More
43 m
May 2021
Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor | Whole Brain Living
In 2008, Jill Bolte Taylor gave the first-ever TED Talk to go massively viral. A Harvard-trained neuroscientist, she told the story of her stroke that largely wiped out the entire left hemisphere of her brain, a horrifying experience and yet, the entire time, at her left hemisphe ... Show More
1h 5m
Dec 2021
Whole Brain Living, Psychology + Neuroanatomy + Spirit with Dr. Jill Bolte-Taylor (164)
Join our online community! Using neuroanatomy and her experience having a massive stroke that took her self-conscious mind, Dr. Jill Bolte-Taylor and Sue Marriott discuss the 4 skill subsets in the brain that help us relate to ourselves and the world. Her TED Talk was the first o ... Show More
1h 18m
Dec 2021
Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor and John Britton on Right Brain Injury vs. Left Brain Injury
Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor is a Harvard-trained and published neuroanatomist. In 1996, Jill experienced a severe hemorrhage in the left hemisphere of her brain, causing her to lose the ability to walk, talk, read, write, or recall any of her life. John Britton is a former anesthesiolo ... Show More
51m 9s
May 2021
The Secret to Using Your Whole Brain with Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor
You probably heard me say, "when you know how your brain works, then you can work your brain." You have an incredible gift between your ears, but it doesn't come with an owner's manual. Knowing how to use your whole brain isn't something you're taught or necessarily know how to d ... Show More
20m 53s
Jan 2023
Why Anxiety Is Your Superpower & How Exercise Changes Your Brain with Dr Wendy Suzuki #325
Every morning, my guest on this week’s episode starts her day with 30-minutes of exercise. She knows – from personal experience backed by scientific research – that this makes her more focused, happy, motivated, and even creative. She knows it’ll help her grow new brain cells and ... Show More
1h 31m
May 2015
Brain Hacking: The Truth About How to Change Your Brain
You can lose almost any part of your body, except one, and still be you.What is that one exception? Your brain.Because...The brain is the seat of your memory and your identity.Which is why brain injuries can be so devastating. And taking care of your brain is so incredibly import ... Show More
1h 3m
Jun 2020
#47: Taking Control of Your Brain - Jill Bolte Taylor, PhD
Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor is a neuroanatomist with the 7th most viewed TED talk of all time, titled "My Stroke of Insight." She's been named by Time Magazine on a list of the 100 most influential people in the world and was the first guest on Oprah's SoulSeries show. Dr. Taylor found ... Show More
44m 58s
Mar 2019
TMHS 340: Cognitive Enhancement Through Exercise & How Your Brain Actually Works - With Guest Dr. Wendy Suzuki
What do you do to maintain the health of your brain? You probably already know about the importance of mental stimulation and problem solving for the health of your brain. But the truth is, our brain is an incredibly complex system that can be affected by many internal and extern ... Show More
1h 6m