Your Left Brain Narrator!
Have you noticed that sometimes you are creating a story before the actual story unfolds? Not only that, the story that you are creating doesn’t even make sense or have a modicum of truth. Do you know where in your brain that comes from? Let’s dial it in!
These stories come from what I like to call your left-brain narrator. One of the things to recognize is that we find meaning through the stories we create. Those stores help to create who we are from a very basic level.
So why do I call it the left-brain narrator? All of the functions that create the stories are in the left hemisphere of the brain. I will briefly discuss and provide you with a link to a research article that has the fMRI scans. So, let’s break this left brain down just a bit.
The left brain organizes our memories into stories. It makes interpretations about the information it takes in. It focuses on the things you give it attention to and tries to make some sort of sense out of those things. It also uses our language and the operation of categorization to make interpretations. All of these functions create the stories we tell ourselves.
So what do we do when our left-brain narrator runs amuck with stories that cause us stress, worry and/or anxiety? Here’s my simple process.
- Acknowledge you are telling a story.
Ask yourself, why is this story coming up?
Am I stressed out?
Am I in a mood?
What are my internal thoughts about myself at this moment?
- Ask yourself about the story.
Is this story true?
Does it make sense?
Have I heard this story before?
Have I told this story in some form or another before?
- Challenge the story.
Remind yourself that the emotions and the thoughts are just information.
Think about what it would be like to change the narrative of the story.
Another thing to remember about these stories, those do not have to define us. We can stop the stories. It takes a conscious effort.
My suggestion… journal about this. Be cognizant of those stories and don’t let them carry you away to something that is harmful or not helpful.
Want to learn more or need help with this concept? Schedule a Strategy Call with me. I have a lot of tools in my tool box and I would like to share them with you. I got you in this journey!
Namaste and Live Long and Prosper
Kitty
#littlebuddhakitty
Further reading about the left brain narrator.
Brains creating stories of selves: the neural basis of autobiographical reasoning
Arnaud D’Argembeau, Helena Cassol, Christophe Phillips, Evelyne Balteau, Eric Salmon, Martial Van der Linden
Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, Volume 9, Issue 5, May 2014, Pages 646–652, https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nst028
No Self, No Problem: How Neuropsychology Is Catching Up to Buddhism by Chris Niebauer
