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Interview with Brian Walsh, Author of "Unleashing Your Brilliance"
In a world where brains count more than brawn, discovering how to use your brain for success in any endeavor, or for just plain pleasure, would be, as they say, a no-brainer. What we now know about the human brain and learning we have discovered only recently, the past decade or so. And, the man who best explains this new knowledge is Brian E. Walsh, Ph.D., author of the bestseller, Unleashing your Brilliance. Brian is a tall, open-faced, smiling Canadian with an accent delightful to Americans. Born in the UK and raised near Montreal, he spent several years in the arctic where he studied Neuro linguistic Programming and anthropology which prepared him for his work in China. He knows how to fascinate an audience while lecturing on NLP and other such ordinarily sleep inducing subjects. I have shown his video lecture to several guests in my home at different times, fascinating them. Recently I interviewed Brian by email on ways we can unleash our brilliance. Evy Cole: What are some of the more obvious obstructions to brilliance that we can unleash? Well, Evy, there are three simple ones that can be tackled with minimum effort and yield tremendous results: They are not so obvious to many people. Hydration, Nutrition, and movement. Let's me expand on this. If a person is dehydrated, both physical and mental capacities are impacted. Dehydration is a major contributor to fatigue. A listless person just doesn't have the energy to focus. When a person drinks water, the small air sacs of the lungs are moisturized, thus allowing a more efficient transfer of oxygen into the blood. Some deep breathing will take this fresh oxygenated blood right to the brain. When someone is dehydrated by just 5%, that person's cognitive ability can be impaired by up to 30%. Dehydration is one of those things that creeps up on us. We usually don’t realize we are dehydrated until it’s too late. The best way to stay hydrated is to sip water throughout the day. An easy way to do this is to keep a water bottle with you during the day. A whopping 40% of the nutrition we take in is consigned to brain functioning. I won't go deeply into what foods help or hinder learning, since there is an abundance of information out there. The simple advice is to stay away from white flour, sugar, and all simple carbs. These so-called foods have low nutritional value and give the body a temporary burst of energy. The following crash often prompts a person to reach for another pop or similar comfort food. Recent research has shown that vegetables are far better than fruits in boosting brain power. Movement is such a large subject that I can only hit a few highlights here. Of course, movement of any kind improves blood circulation. This moves oxygen and nutrients to all parts of the body, including the brain, thus increasing brain function. Under stress or when learning new material, some people have difficulty taking in information through normally clear channels. For instance some have a visual impairment, other an aural. Some become clumsy. Overcoming these deficits can be accomplished through simple and specific cross-lateral movements. Many people find they can think more clearly or learn more easily when they are physically moving. Simply going for a walk is an effective way to boost your ability to think and learn. Aside from mental stimulation (reading, Sudoku, crossword puzzles) simple physical exercise also helps slow down brain aging. What is the difference between emotion and feeling? Emotions are universal and linked to our survival. They are a response to stimuli that we absorb through our senses. They interpret, arrange, direct, and summarize the information taken in. Actually, they color our perception of the world and we often unconsciously react to them. When I say universal, I mean that they are shared by all societies and cultures. For instance joy, surprise, sadness, fear, disgust, or threat. Emotions can be measured through variations in blood pressure, heart rate variability, and brain-imaging techniques. On the other hand feelings are not linked to survival and are context-specific. They are very subjective in nature, and cannot be objectively measured. Some examples of feelings are frustration, anticipation, jealousy, cynicism, worry, and optimism. What do you mean by "Emotional Intelligence"? In the past, potential for success has been measured by using an IQ test. Not only were these tests biased in favor of middle-class western society, they measured only a limited scope of the broad spectrum of intelligence. Emotional Intelligence (also know as EI) was developed by Dr. Daniel Goleman, and it maintains that the key to success at school, at work, or in the family is positive emotions. People with strong EI have empathy for the feelings of others and insight into how others think. They are optimistic and generally positive. They understand easily the dynamics of a given group and, more importantly, where they fit in that group. People with low EI can sabotage their own academic success, and may have difficulties with relationships, and careers. The greatest impact may be on the children of people with low EI who fall prey to depression, eating disorders, aggressiveness, and even crime. Emotional Intelligence can be nurtured and strengthened through training and/or therapy. A number of innovative techniques exist to transform negative emotions into positive ones. This whole subject has gained ground, and has been endorsed scientifically by the Institute of HeartMath. Please explain "Heart Math" Most people understand that stress is a major component of illness. This concept was taken to a new level when researchers studied something called "heart-rate variability." They measured the beat-to-beat changes in heart rate. When these patterns are shared with the higher brain centers, they hugely affect the way the brain processes information. Feelings of frustration and anxiety cause the heart rhythms to become more disordered and irregular, causing energy drains, insecurities, and ambiguity in decision-making. Feelings of love and appreciation increase clear and effective thinking, problem solving, discernment, and memory recall. This is because high quality emotions generate more ordered and coherent heart rhythms, which in turn, reduce nervous system chaos and facilitate cortical function. For example, taking a few moments each day to reflect on what you are grateful for in your life is an effective way to bring your attention to loving, wholesome feelings. Additionally you can make a point daily of telling those important to you, that you care about or love them. This positively affects your heart and theirs! Can you envision use of hypnosis in the schools to enhance learning? I assume that you are referring to formal hypnosis, administered by a qualified hypnotherapist. Hypnotherapy can be very effective for stress relief, test anxiety, motivation, and other issues. I can't see widespread use of hypnosis in our public school systems at anytime in the near future. Some progressive schools, however, are always on the lookout for various enriched learning techniques, and visualization is being practiced by some forward-thinking teachers. Even though television and video games can be educational, they can stifle imagination by training the brain into a passive state. To stimulate imagination, visualization is an ideal approach. For example, a teacher could relax a class just prior to an exam using simple breathing exercises. Positive suggestions could be given that they will be calm, and that every question will be familiar material, and they will find that answers will come easily to them. Most teachers, whether they know it or not, make use of hypnosis simply by the words they use when talking with their students. For instance, a teacher could say, while handing out a test, "Most of you will have a tough time with this." On the other hand, a positive expectation could be generated by saying, "We've covered this material, so all of you will do just fine." Research has shown that expectation can influence outcomes. This is known as waking hypnosis and people regularly use it. Thank you, Brian, this information is vital for everyone. I have a dream for public education that would enhance imagination in all students by providing Alpha Wave time, and it might be possible if we called it "waking hypnosis". I highly recommend Brian's book, "Unleashing Your Brilliance". Visit Unleashing Your Brilliance for more on "The Secret" and the law of attraction: Evelyn Cole, MA, MFA
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