Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Inspirational Video With "Stroke of Insight" Scientist

99.99% One

Oprah's Soul Series If video does not play here, I suggest going to oprah.com. & buying Dr. Taylor's inspirational book Stroke of Insight.
Four parts to this video about 20 minutes per part - very fun to watch! Oprah's interview is brilliant.
Also, Dr. Taylor appears on ted.com

Jill Bolte Taylor
When she was a young girl, brain scientist Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor became fascinated with the functions of the human brain. Jill, one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people of 2008, has a brother with schizophrenia, and his brain disorder led Jill to dedicate her career to studying severe mental illnesses as a Harvard-trained neuroanatomist. While she worked to uncover the differences between the brains of people born with mental illnesses and those who were not, something remarkable happened to Jill's own brain—it went silent. On December 10, 1996, at age 37, Jill awoke with intense pain behind her left eye—a blood vessel had exploded in the left hemisphere of her brain, and within hours, Jill could no longer walk, talk, read or write. She was suffering from an arteriovenous malformation—a rare type of stroke. While Jill struggled to phone for help, she was aware that the left hemisphere of her brain was shutting down, taking with it her language, organizing and other analytical skills. Without the dominant left side of her brain controlling her thoughts, Jill says her mind went silent, leaving only the right side of the brain functioning. Through the right side of her brain, Jill says her consciousness shifted away from reality—and the trauma her body was suffering through—and into a place of inner peace and Nirvana. The experience was life-changing. Not only did Jill face years of recovery after her stroke—and major brain surgery to remove a large blood clot in her brain—she also discovered a better quality of life through increased use of the right hemisphere of her brain. She's now an artist as well as a scientist, creating anatomically correct stained-glass replicas of brains that are sold as fine art. She's also published My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey. The book explains in scientific detail exactly what happened during Jill's stroke and how she recovered. It also takes a closer look at how the right hemisphere of the brain works and how Jill says people with normal brains can access it to find their own inner peace and improve their quality of life and the lives of those around you.

I saw a lecture by Dr. Bolte (another pod cast, I think) while I was at the Feminist Leadership Academy in April.
Thanks for your response, C. The "podcast" is on ted.com. I like this one better because of Oprah's brilliant interview, Ron.
It was terrific! C
Thanks for the endorsement. I'll be sure to watch it! C

C, You are welcome, the relationship/interview between Oprah and Jill is an "insight" itself. Tears came to Oprah's eyes several times as well as to ours watching it. The book Stroke of Insight is a must, also.
One of most important books to come around in a long time. She describes caregivers coming to her in hospital as either "energy givers" or as "energy takers", vividly describing how important the "bedside manner" is ........she is now teaching first year medical students.
Her description of her Mother coming to her, while she was in "infantile state", was a tear dropper also. She did not know who it was, yet her Mother got into bed with her and wrapped herself around her, just what she needed as a patient, then her Mother took her home with her...................I am going to get that book soon. Ron


I have seen this.....remarkable. That we are most likely wired for oneness, Sally
Re: Committing to Oneness Group:

Thanks for the response, Sally. I am looking at possibly dialoguing about "felt" experiences of oneness at the group, with a goal of feeling group oneness.

I have a couple of stories I would like to share - one a feeling of Oneness with the Universe (an experience on a sailboat), and the other a feeling of Oneness with another being (it was not romantic though not ruling that out.) These were vital epiphanies in my life that have kept me motivated to "commit to everyday experiences of Oneness" thus leading to the inquiry: How can we feel oneness with those we apparently think, feel and look so differently?"
Committing to Oneness: An Inquiry, Meditation, & Dialogue Group
Yours in Oneness, Ron


There is a silence into which the world can not intrude.
There is an ancient peace you carry in your heart and have not lost.
There is a sense of holiness in you the thought of sin has never touched.
All this today you will remember.
ACIM

3 comments:

Bridgie said...

I loved the video by Jill Bolte Taylor on TED. www.ted.com/talks/jilltaylor

Also, did you see Dr Taylor's interviews with Oprah on Soul Series - wonderful!

Best of all is her book MY STROKE OF INSIGHT - I've read it twice already. Second time better than the first

Dr. Taylor is a great inspiration. The lessons in the book are life-changing...very simple yet very powerful.

Here's the link to the book http://www.amazon.com/My-Stroke-Insight-Scientists-Personal/dp/0670020745/ref=pd_ts_b_12?ie=UTF8&s=books

and here's the link to Oprah's interviews
http://www2.oprah.com/spiritself/oss/guest/oss_guest_jboltetaylor.jhtml

Rosemary said...

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.

Unknown said...

This is great news for me. I have a girlfriend who has the same condition as Dr. Jill - AVM. Perhaps this will help inspire her as she is having a really down time at the moment.

One Love .. Sabrina