Jill Bolte Taylor’s Stroke of Insight
I am a frequent visitor to TED - Ideas Worth Spreading and love their video talks and content! You can find amazing videos there on almost any topic and they are usually very valuable resources or just fun to watch for personal interest.
I recently had the chance to discover a great talk given by Jill Bolte Taylor, which I thought would be perfect to pass onto you as it fits in so well to discovering higher awareness levels, which greatly represents Evolving Beings.
Jill Bolte Taylor is a well respected neuroanatomist and has actually also just made the cover of TIME magazine for the 100 most influential people in the world issue for 2008. In this talk she explains her experience while she was having a stroke and recollects what happened to her piece by piece and what profound effect this had on her level of spiritual awareness! Check out the video below and feel free to comment your thoughts and feelings on this talk.
I found this video really astounding and could not believe what I heard come out of her mouth. It is miraculous how during a tragically vulnerable experience, this woman had the power and strength to raise herself to a higher awareness and turn a medically devastating stroke into a “stroke of insight”. Through this experience she not only changed her own life, but now is changing the lives of others!
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14 Comments, Comment or Ping
earthlingorgeous says:
Off topic but I have a mother’s day tag for you. Advance happy mother’s day!
May 7th, 2008
Ellen says:
I’ve been recommending a book by Jill Bolte Taylor called “My Stroke of Insight” to everyone I know. It’s an amazing story, both uplifting and powerful on three levels: physical, emotional, and spiritual, but the spiritual aspect alone makes this the best book I’ve read all year.
How often do you get to hear a neuroscientist describe having a stroke, nearly dying and finding Nirvana, and then making a miraculous recovery so that she’s back to teaching medical students!?!
I came away with a renewed sense of understanding, wonder and hopefulness about the capabilities of the human brain. I give “My Stroke of Insight” highest marks!
You can get the book for just $16.47 with free shipping from Amazon!
May 16th, 2008
Evita says:
Thanks Ellen, it is so wonderful to spread valuable resources!!!
I have seen the book, but did not have a chance to read it yet! I can’t wait to though after seeing this video.
May 16th, 2008
boris says:
Could this also explain the reported effect of psychedelics - LSD and similar?
May 25th, 2008
Evita says:
Boris - as for LSD and using other drugs to get a “nirvana” like effect - I cannot tell you personally what the story is as I have never tried any such substances in my life.
However I know that Eckhart Tolle got asked a similar question and so once he decided to try a drug (I forgot which one) and he stated that although one enters a different realm of percpective like in Jill’s scenario it is a sort of “stressed” nirvana and most importantly does not come out naturally out of your higher awareness to how he experienced it naturally.
May 25th, 2008
Peter says:
OK, interesting lecture, but how do I then access my right brain and shut off my left brain in order to have experiences of “nirvana”? Unfortunately, this was not addressed in the video… other than, first you have to get a “stroke”.
The only way I have experienced this phenomena has been with vipassana meditation as taught by R.S. Goenka, at the vipassana meditation center in Shelburne Falls, Mass. http://www.dhamma.org is the website. 10 day retreats in silence with meals and accommodations and instruction, all for the donation amount of your choice… and pretty much guaranteed experiencing what Dr. Taylor spoke about in her lecture.
May 26th, 2008
Evita says:
Peter - yes it definitely does not make it very practical to have to have a stoke in order to access your right brain…but yes there is another way and that is by inviting moments of stillness into your life in order to access and live out of the moment of now. See our left brain wants to process everything and sees how things were, are and will be. But it is your right brain that is able to just “be” and enjoy the moment and hence the “lighter” and “freer”…Nirvana like state in some cases.
And so your mentioned technique is wonderful as meditation is a great tool for attaining stillness in our lives.
May 26th, 2008
Ed Bannon, Chicago says:
Can I get some science behind this? Obviously, Dr. Taylor is a scientist, but she’s a little too close to the topic. So, she’s saying if we use the right side of our brain more, we’ll all be happier, more peaceful, compassionate and one with the universe. Is there evidence-based support for this conclusion larger than her data sample of one? And short of having a stroke, which sadly is not an option for all of us, is there a way to access our right brain? Finally, I don’t like her anti-left brain attitude. If we didn’t need both side of the brain, I don’t believe we would have evolved with both halves.
May 26th, 2008
Evita says:
Oh Ed I thank you so much for asking just that and yes you can! There is a book entitled “A Whole New Mind” by Daniel H. Pink and the synopsis of the book is “why right-brainers will rule the future”.
Sounds a little biased at first, but it is a wonderful book for anyone interested in the business market, world economy, technology fields, etc. If you are interested in succeeding in those fields this book is a must read!
It has nothing to do with strokes and the “nirvana” experience but outlines some scientific facts and data on why the world is going toward the right brain and why and how this is already helping companies who have adopted that mind set.
As for how to access our right brain more, please read the comment I wrote above to Peter - it is very possible and anyone can do it without of course having a storke or any other mind debilitating experience. There are lots of wonderful teachers on our planet right now, helping people do just that. And in terms of higher levels of happiness, don’t take my word for it, but try it yourself and see what happens…
When we become more still and live out of the moment of now…creatively, consciously, etc. all the little things that make us worry and stress dissolve and a higher happiness and peace shines through and out of you.
And finally in terms of evolutionary lineages, the left brain was necessary for humans at first to survive and evolve away from the other animals and early humans, as they needed logic and reasoning skills to make it to the next day…but we have in the past hundreds of years become too “left brain obsessed” and hence our world has entered into a much colder and separated existance. Look all around it is us against them and each man for himself idea that has dominated greatly and still does in many areas. We need to be balanced yes! And that is why the push is on the “right brain” not to live completely out of it, but to incorporate it back into our existance for a more balanced and happier way to live.
May 26th, 2008
Roberts says:
The New York Times Sunday Newspaper on May 25 had a great two page article on Jill Bolte Taylor and her book, “MY STROKE OF INSIGHT”. Her book is a must read and this NY Times article - called “A Superhighway to bliss” is worth checking out too.
May 28th, 2008
Brenda says:
I read “My Stroke of Insight” in one sitting - I couldn’t put it down. I laughed. I cried. It was a fantastic book (I heard it’s a NYTimes Bestseller and I can see why!), but I also think it will be the start of a new, transformative Movement! No one wants to have a stroke as Jill Bolte Taylor did, but her experience can teach us all how to live better lives. Her TED.com speech was one of the most incredibly moving, stimulating, wonderful videos I’ve ever seen. Her Oprah Soul Series interviews were fascinating. They should make a movie of her life so everyone sees it. This is the Real Deal and gives me hope for humanity.
May 29th, 2008
Martha says:
MY STROKE OF INSIGHT was ranked #5 in all books sold on Amazon today and #1 in Memoirs above even Barbara Walters’ memoir. Babs had been promoting her book for months in advance and Dr. Taylor’s book was self-published.
Then Oprah recommended it. There’s the Power of Now, and then there’s the Power of Oprah!!
“My Stroke of Insight” is out in Hardcover now for less than the old paperback edition. Amazon has it for 40% off.
Jun 2nd, 2008
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