After much reflection I have concluded I have four brains. A Monkey Brain, a Gremlin Brain, A Mindful Brain and a Creative Brain.
Monkey Brain = chatter chatter chatter, pointless and unhelpful and a waste of time.
Gremlin Brain – scared about the world, scared about the unknown, keeps me small and ‘safe’
Mindful Brain – allows me to connect with and enjoy the world around me. Also allows me to connect to my body and experience what emotions and physical sensations I am experiencing that might inform me about something I need to change or work on.
Creative Brain – wonderful, open, expansive, ideas brain that will find solutions to the bigger problems.
After attending a fantastic mindfulness workshop last week delivered by the brilliant Joel and Michelle Levey, I came to my four brain conclusion. I think it was something about spending time with my Mindful Brain, that made me realise just how much time I spend with the Monkey and the Gremlin. Although I am mindful, and I certainly step into my Creative Brain, I still spend more time than I’d like with the other two. Sometimes I find myself so in my Monkey Brain that I will make up a whole conversation I’d have with someone had they driven into me as I crossed the road. Or I’ll be thinking at the speed of light about what to bring to a friendly meet-up later that week, a friendly meet-up designed to be relaxing and connecting, one where Monkey Brain is certainly not invited.
I’ve started to wonder how Monkey Brain and Gremlin Brain are in any way helpful in the process of ‘Staying on purpose and changing the world.’ I’m not sure I can find an angle where they are. Mindful Brain allows us to be present to our authentic selves, it asks us ‘what’s here now’ and we respond, and we are being authentic, we are not pretending to feel or be anything other than what’s actually real for us at that time. Being ‘on purpose’ is all about being authentic. You can’t be on purpose without being connected to who you truly are at your core. And Creative Brain allows us to think of answers to the worlds problems. Staying on purpose and changing the world is about engaging Mindful Brain and then engaging Creative Brain.
Joel and Michelle Levey talked about creating a mind-gym. Taking charge of our minds and stepping into Mindful Brain and Creative Brain doesn’t happen overnight, we have to build the muscle, practice day to day. It’s a process of noticing which brain we are connected to, and then actively and consciously stepping into the brain we want. I wonder what would happen to the world if we were all mind-fit. I’m pretty sure we’d all be totally on purpose, and we’d be absolutely changing the world.
*Image courtesy of Christopher Campbell, Unsplash