Woman's Best Friend
In the last Circle of Friends, I wrote about an animal communicating and Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) session I had with Gabbie and her German Shepherd Django. Gabbie had been very nervous when competing in obedience trials with Django, and EFT helped her to relax. When progress stalled, I had a chat with Django, and he explained that the world is an illusion, governed by the mind.
I thought it was an illuminating conversation, but I did receive an email in reply saying, “you’ve got to be kidding!”.
Of course, if you make it known that you talk with animals, you might as well expect this sort of incredulous reaction. It’s understandable. For centuries, the world has been dominated by logic and intellect. Children in school are praised for being good at maths and science, but downgraded if they are more suited to intuitive and creative pursuits like music, art and drama. The world is more accepting of tangible things like bank statements and scientific facts, rather than feelings and emotions - which is why our children are taught in school to use logic and intellect, rather than how to get on with and understand others.
Which, I guess, is why women in our society have tended to be dismissed and downgraded, because women, in general, are ruled by their hearts and men are ruled by their heads.
Ironically, the sciences are beginning to explain how it is that women, who are right-brain dominant (as a generalisation), just seem to know things, whereas men, who tend to be left-brain dominant, need to go through the logical steps before they can understand and accept.
How the brain works, and how we can (really) communicate with animals
Science now knows that our human brains are divided down the middle, into the left hemisphere and the right hemisphere, and connected by the corpus callosum. Both hemispheres of the brain perform their own distinct and complementary functions, although the corpus callosum enables them to work together to generate a single perception of the world.
The superficial layers of the cortex (the outer part of our brains) are thought to be uniquely human and enable us to think linearly and to develop complex language and mathematical abilities. Deeper levels of the cortex make up the limbic system, which we share with other mammals, representing our emotional brain. Sensory information comes through our sensory systems and is processed through the limbic system. By the time a message reaches our cerebral cortex, we have already placed a ‘feeling’ upon how we view that stimulation. We are first feeling creatures, and secondly thinking creatures.
Left and Right Brain Functions
Our society utilises the left brain 85 per cent, and the right brain only 15 per cent. “We don’t just not engage the skills of the right hemisphere, we mock them,” said neurobiologist Dr Jill Bolte Taylor.
Because science now knows that the world is made of vibrating atomic particles which then form into physical matter, it also knows that we are literally swimming in a sea of electromagnetic fields. The right brain is now known to be a receptor of these energies.
When under the right brain’s influence, borders between specific entities are softened and everything and everyone is connected together as One. Our right brain remembers relationships and is inclusive. Our ability to be empathic, to feel others’ feelings, and to experience compassion, is housed in the right side of our brain. When your right brain is in gear, there is no us and them, no separation.
To the right brain, no time exists but the present. Joy exists in the present moment, and our connection to something greater than ourselves is experienced in the present moment. The right hemisphere thinks in pictures and perceives the bigger picture. Free of rules and regulations, the right mind thinks intuitively, and creatively explores the possibilities. Our right mind is spontaneous, carefree and imaginative.
Whereas the logical left brain understands what letters are and how they combine to make words and then sentences with meaning attached to them, the right brain interprets non-verbal communication. The right brain is about sensory perceptions and feelings (energies), without judgments. It’s also very sensitive, and needs the left brain to act as a filter against the harsh outside world.
Concerned with data and order, the left-brain is not interested in feelings or the more esoteric subjects such as love; it needs the right brain to soften and modulate it.
Although right-brain individuals are far from stupid, the conventional educational system has difficulty in understanding the way they work. They may, for example, be slow learners. It takes more effort on their part, and more time, to flex the muscles of their left hemispheres and learn the rules of language, grammar, mathematics and other fact-based linear subjects (all left brain skills). However, with application, once right-brainers ‘get it’ they can often fly from the bottom of the class to the top of the class. With the rules embedded, their minds can be lightening quick as they’re able to access data from the ‘sea of electromagnetic fields’, the Quantum field (right brain), and make sense of it (left brain).
In terms of gifts, right-brained people have abilities that seem inexplicable and even ridiculous to left-brain dominant individuals. The ability to sense the atmosphere in a room without having any concrete clues is a right-brain attribute. Discerning whether a person is telling the truth from non-verbal signals is also a right-brain attribute.
Being empathic, right-brain-dominant people can often sense whether the people they meet are happy or sad, tired or angry, worried or euphoric. Without engaging the left brain as protection, right-brain-dominant people can often become overwhelmed by the negative energies of others. They frequently know who’s calling when the phone rings, before they’ve lifted the receiver, and they can receive the energetic ‘hits’, like a smack between the eyes, from people with discordant energy.
When you’re relaying a conversation you had with a third party to a right-brained person, they will ask you questions like: ‘what was the expression on their face?’, ‘did he smile when he said that?’, and ‘what was the tone of his voice?’. Usually, left brain dominant individuals won’t be able to remember such details, and may not have even noticed them, whereas to right-brainers the non-verbal signals are more important than the words that were used.
Understanding what animals are saying, it seems to me, is also a function of the right brain. Even before I officially knew that I could speak with animals, I was able to look at my dogs and understand what they were saying to me, and I was able to test whether my impression was right or wrong by giving them what I thought they asked for, or doing what I thought they wanted me to do. If I was wrong, they made it clear – by rejecting the bone, failing to drink the fresh water, or refusing to play. Usually, though, I was right.
So that’s a short explanation, with a scientific basis, as to how it is that our society is divided into two groups of people who have little understanding of one-another. Whether one group is more valid than the other, or superior to the other, I don’t know. As a right-brainer, I’m more inclined to say that we fit together perfectly, making up a stimulating and interesting whole. We can both learn from each other, which we won’t be able to do whilst trying to prove the other fellow wrong.
However, as a right-brain dominant individual, I am always delighted when an animal tells me something that his owner hasn’t told me, but the owner is able to corroborate. It’s wonderful when a missing animal is able to describe his location and he is subsequently found. And it’s a sheer joy when an animal tells me why he is ill, and we are able to go in and treat the cause of that illness rather than the presenting symptoms.
I am also deeply moved when the dogs tell me, over and over again, that we humans are far more beautiful than we realise. They so want us to hear them, stop beating ourselves up, and live joyfully in the present moment.
I thought it was an illuminating conversation, but I did receive an email in reply saying, “you’ve got to be kidding!”.
Of course, if you make it known that you talk with animals, you might as well expect this sort of incredulous reaction. It’s understandable. For centuries, the world has been dominated by logic and intellect. Children in school are praised for being good at maths and science, but downgraded if they are more suited to intuitive and creative pursuits like music, art and drama. The world is more accepting of tangible things like bank statements and scientific facts, rather than feelings and emotions - which is why our children are taught in school to use logic and intellect, rather than how to get on with and understand others.
Which, I guess, is why women in our society have tended to be dismissed and downgraded, because women, in general, are ruled by their hearts and men are ruled by their heads.
Ironically, the sciences are beginning to explain how it is that women, who are right-brain dominant (as a generalisation), just seem to know things, whereas men, who tend to be left-brain dominant, need to go through the logical steps before they can understand and accept.
How the brain works, and how we can (really) communicate with animals
Science now knows that our human brains are divided down the middle, into the left hemisphere and the right hemisphere, and connected by the corpus callosum. Both hemispheres of the brain perform their own distinct and complementary functions, although the corpus callosum enables them to work together to generate a single perception of the world.
The superficial layers of the cortex (the outer part of our brains) are thought to be uniquely human and enable us to think linearly and to develop complex language and mathematical abilities. Deeper levels of the cortex make up the limbic system, which we share with other mammals, representing our emotional brain. Sensory information comes through our sensory systems and is processed through the limbic system. By the time a message reaches our cerebral cortex, we have already placed a ‘feeling’ upon how we view that stimulation. We are first feeling creatures, and secondly thinking creatures.
Left and Right Brain Functions
Our society utilises the left brain 85 per cent, and the right brain only 15 per cent. “We don’t just not engage the skills of the right hemisphere, we mock them,” said neurobiologist Dr Jill Bolte Taylor.
Because science now knows that the world is made of vibrating atomic particles which then form into physical matter, it also knows that we are literally swimming in a sea of electromagnetic fields. The right brain is now known to be a receptor of these energies.
When under the right brain’s influence, borders between specific entities are softened and everything and everyone is connected together as One. Our right brain remembers relationships and is inclusive. Our ability to be empathic, to feel others’ feelings, and to experience compassion, is housed in the right side of our brain. When your right brain is in gear, there is no us and them, no separation.
To the right brain, no time exists but the present. Joy exists in the present moment, and our connection to something greater than ourselves is experienced in the present moment. The right hemisphere thinks in pictures and perceives the bigger picture. Free of rules and regulations, the right mind thinks intuitively, and creatively explores the possibilities. Our right mind is spontaneous, carefree and imaginative.
Whereas the logical left brain understands what letters are and how they combine to make words and then sentences with meaning attached to them, the right brain interprets non-verbal communication. The right brain is about sensory perceptions and feelings (energies), without judgments. It’s also very sensitive, and needs the left brain to act as a filter against the harsh outside world.
Concerned with data and order, the left-brain is not interested in feelings or the more esoteric subjects such as love; it needs the right brain to soften and modulate it.
Although right-brain individuals are far from stupid, the conventional educational system has difficulty in understanding the way they work. They may, for example, be slow learners. It takes more effort on their part, and more time, to flex the muscles of their left hemispheres and learn the rules of language, grammar, mathematics and other fact-based linear subjects (all left brain skills). However, with application, once right-brainers ‘get it’ they can often fly from the bottom of the class to the top of the class. With the rules embedded, their minds can be lightening quick as they’re able to access data from the ‘sea of electromagnetic fields’, the Quantum field (right brain), and make sense of it (left brain).
In terms of gifts, right-brained people have abilities that seem inexplicable and even ridiculous to left-brain dominant individuals. The ability to sense the atmosphere in a room without having any concrete clues is a right-brain attribute. Discerning whether a person is telling the truth from non-verbal signals is also a right-brain attribute.
Being empathic, right-brain-dominant people can often sense whether the people they meet are happy or sad, tired or angry, worried or euphoric. Without engaging the left brain as protection, right-brain-dominant people can often become overwhelmed by the negative energies of others. They frequently know who’s calling when the phone rings, before they’ve lifted the receiver, and they can receive the energetic ‘hits’, like a smack between the eyes, from people with discordant energy.
When you’re relaying a conversation you had with a third party to a right-brained person, they will ask you questions like: ‘what was the expression on their face?’, ‘did he smile when he said that?’, and ‘what was the tone of his voice?’. Usually, left brain dominant individuals won’t be able to remember such details, and may not have even noticed them, whereas to right-brainers the non-verbal signals are more important than the words that were used.
Understanding what animals are saying, it seems to me, is also a function of the right brain. Even before I officially knew that I could speak with animals, I was able to look at my dogs and understand what they were saying to me, and I was able to test whether my impression was right or wrong by giving them what I thought they asked for, or doing what I thought they wanted me to do. If I was wrong, they made it clear – by rejecting the bone, failing to drink the fresh water, or refusing to play. Usually, though, I was right.
So that’s a short explanation, with a scientific basis, as to how it is that our society is divided into two groups of people who have little understanding of one-another. Whether one group is more valid than the other, or superior to the other, I don’t know. As a right-brainer, I’m more inclined to say that we fit together perfectly, making up a stimulating and interesting whole. We can both learn from each other, which we won’t be able to do whilst trying to prove the other fellow wrong.
However, as a right-brain dominant individual, I am always delighted when an animal tells me something that his owner hasn’t told me, but the owner is able to corroborate. It’s wonderful when a missing animal is able to describe his location and he is subsequently found. And it’s a sheer joy when an animal tells me why he is ill, and we are able to go in and treat the cause of that illness rather than the presenting symptoms.
I am also deeply moved when the dogs tell me, over and over again, that we humans are far more beautiful than we realise. They so want us to hear them, stop beating ourselves up, and live joyfully in the present moment.