06/11/2025
Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor
Friends and family — I’m excited to share this remarkable talk by Dr Jill Bolte Taylor, a scientist whose personal journey will inspire and move you. Here’s a little intro to set the stage:
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In 1996, at the age of 37, Jill was a Harvard-trained neuroanatomist deeply immersed in research about how the brain creates our reality and how it recovers from severe injury. On December 10 that year, a catastrophic stroke struck the left hemisphere of her brain — the side responsible for language, logic, linear thinking and the sense of “me.” Over the course of only a few hours she lost the ability to walk, talk, read, write or recall parts of her own life.
What sets her story apart is not only the tragedy of the event, but the profound insight she gained while experiencing the stroke — as a scientist observing her own brain in crisis. With the left hemisphere offline, she entered into a state of pure being, of right-hemisphere functioning: profound expansiveness, deep connection, and a new view of what consciousness truly is.
After a courageous eight-year recovery she not only regained full functioning but reframed her life’s work: teaching us how we might access that right-brain presence more often, heal more deeply, and live a balanced “whole-brain” life.
In the talk I’m sharing, she and Steve walk through that journey: what it’s like when the part of the brain that constructs your personal identity shuts down, and how the quiet spaces of consciousness still remain. I found it deeply resonant — especially given our shared love of nature, awareness and the unseen connections of life.
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Why this matters for you and me:
It reminds us that trauma and disruption — even at the deepest level of brain functioning — can become gateways to insight, presence and transformation.
It supports your belief (and mine) in the interconnectedness of awareness, nature, consciousness and healing.
It offers hope: recovery, resilience and a deeper connection to who we are beyond the “left-brain story.”
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A little suggestion before you watch:
Watch from a place of calm, maybe in nature or after a quiet moment, so you can absorb not just the story but the depth of what she’s pointing to.
Notice what part of you resists the story (the logical left-brain voice) and what part of you opens (the right-brain awareness).
After watching, reflect: what part of your own identity might be “offline”? What new space might be opening for you?
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Enjoy the talk — I’ll be curious to hear what you felt more than what you thought. Feel free to drop your reflections here afterwards.
With love & awareness,
Tanya
Harvard Neuroscientist DR. JILL BOLTE TAYLOR reveals How to Retrain Your Brain, Heal Trauma, Control Emotions, and Unlock the 4 Characters Running Your Mind....
