Ilchi Lee

Her book records her experience and the realizations she made about the brain during her 8-year process of recovery. Her story is fascinating to me because it illustrates the importance of using both halves of the brain.

She says, “When I lost my left hemisphere I lost all of the normal in-the-box thinking. When I lost the ability to define, organize, and categorize information, I gained the ability to be intuitive and creative.” During her stroke, she says that she could no longer define the boundaries of her own body, and she felt “enormous and expansive.” She was very aware that her usual brain chatter, and all the stress and tension that goes with it, had been silenced.

Her experiences reveal abilities of the right brain that we have not fully utilized. Most of our educational activities focus on the left brain, emphasizing math, logic, language skills, and the like. But it is among the gifts of the right brain we will find the creative answers that can make better lives and a better world.

Most of us are badgered by the chatter of our own prefrontal cortex, and this is a great source of stress in our lives. I see no reason why one should wait for a dangerous stroke to experience the things that Taylor experienced. Brain Education is meant to give people a more complete education, one that develops both sides of the brain and all modes of brain processing for a wider and more fulfilling experience of life.

For nearly everyone, including government policy makers, there is uncertainty: how we got in this sorry state, what we should do about it, and how all this will affect Main Street in addition to Wall Street. Suddenly and dramatically at stake may be many people's credit, jobs, pensions, homes and even mental and physical health.

In short, this is a time when anyone taking in the constant and dire news of the current economic situation is probably feeling at least some negative emotions, such as anxiety, depression, hopelessness, anger and fear. These stress-producing emotions in turn adversely affect physical health. That is, unless you are turning to your brain for calmness, perspective, hope and action.

In your brain -- the primal source of how you create the reality of your life and the world -- are all the answers you need to get through this economic crisis by avoiding or bypassing the personal crisis that may accompany it. I recommend the simple yet powerful method I developed called Brain Wave Vibration (BWV), to relax the body's tension, release its toxins, and relieve its debilitating emotions.

As many practitioners of this exercise have shared with me, when done regularly, BWV changes the world inside of them so that they can better manage the world outside of them, especially when that outside world is flooded with turmoil and threats. BWV can generate hope, unleash creativity, lift confidence, produce clear thinking, remind us of gratitude, deepen peace, and lead to positive actions. Life goes on in a good way. Energy and options appear that help us navigate constructively, internally and externally, through whatever paralysis, hysteria and destruction are around us.

Let's hope the brains of the experts and decision-makers get us through the economic crisis with minimal negative impact. But I sincerely hope people use Brain Wave Vibration to prepare to maximize our internal resources -- physical, mental, emotional and spiritual -- to live life well and benefit others through sharing.

Brain Wave Vibration is a simple training method that helps to reawaken your body’s innate healing abilities, and according to Ilchi Lee, author of Brain Wave Vibration, “[The Head Nod Method] is one of the most simple and convenient forms of Brain Wave Vibration.” As is it can be done at any time during the day, in any location.

The Head Nod Method is designed to deliver vibrations directly to the brain stem for deep relaxation and tension release. Here is how you can do it:

1. Sit in a chair with your arms resting comfortably at your sides or in front of you on the desk. You may also sit on the floor in a half-lotus posture. When sitting in a chair, do not lean your back against the chair—keep your back straight.

2. Close your eyes and breathe comfortably, relaxing your body completely.

3. Begin shaking your head from side to side. It is normal to hear some noise from the neck as you begin, but this will lessen with practice. Breathe fully, focusing especially on the exhalation.

4. Focus on your brain stem, located at the point where your head pivots left and right.

5. Visualize your brain stem and entire brain lighting up as you go deeper and deeper into the shaking motion. Your head may also go up and down or follow the shape of an infinity symbol as you go deeper into the motion.

6. After a few minutes, slowly return to external awareness, breathing in and exhaling fully.

The benefits of this type of Brain Wave Vibration include focusing and retaining information more successfully as well as prevention of stiff neck and shoulders. It is great to do during work or study.

Lee notes: “Enjoy yourself and let your thinking mind drift away.”

Board-certified rheumatologist, Dr. Nathan Wei, writes: “Stiffness, pain and swelling associated with arthritis can severely reduce the range of motion in joints.” It is important to exercise to keep your joints mobile and to keep your muscles strong.

According to Ilchi Lee, originator of the Brain Education System Training (BEST) and author of In Full Bloom: A Brain Education Guide for Successful Aging, “[Many] exercises can be used for basic body and brain maintenance, and to help keep the effects of time at bay.” Body opening exercises will gear you up for lifelong mobility, which is key for the many of us that lead pretty sedentary lifestyles.

If you have been diagnosed with arthritis or if you spend a lot of the day sitting for work—immobile, getting up and working out is not a bad thing. Sometimes working through the pain and laziness can actually be fun, not to mention healthy.

So grab an imaginary hula, and try the following Pelvic Rotation exercise from Lee’s In Full Bloom: A Brain Education Guide for Successful Aging.

• Stand with your feet parallel and your legs spread at shoulder width. Place your hands on your hips. Keep your knees straight.

• Rotate your hips in a large circle, pushing as far as you can in all directions. Repeat 5 times and then reverse and do 5 in the opposite direction.

Pelvic Rotation is a great way to keep your hip joints and lower back relaxed…and the perfect exercise to try after sitting at your desk working all day.