Are you ambidextrous or whole-brain thinker? Mindmapping to your rescue

You may be familiar with the term ‘ambidexterity’, which is facile use of both right and left hand. The versatility displayed in using both hands for all kinds of activities reflects a person’s ambidexterity. Some renowned ambidextrous persons were Michelangelo, Leonardo Vinci, Einstein, Fleming, Harry Truman, etc. While ambidexterity can be an inborn train, it some, it develops over the years. Some children are originally left-handed and due to parental or peer pressure are drilled to acquire right-handed habits (at school or home) and thus develop ambidextrousness.

Basing this analogy, we are said to be ambidextrous when we are multi-tasking, which involves the use of both our right and left hemispheres for juggling our tasks successfully. You would have come across terms such as ‘right-brained’ or ‘left-brained’. It essentially means that the person displays more ‘right’ or ‘left’ oriented skills, even though we are integrating both hemispheres in many of our daily activities.

Some of the mental traits of a ‘right’ brain qualities are imagination, risk taking, artistic abilities, highly philosophical, creative, etc. ‘Left’ brain people, on the other hand, are said to be practical, conformist, systematic, comprehend faster, etc. Thus ‘right-brain’ people are seen as being subjective, have wider perception and strong intuition, while ‘left-brain’ people are said to be more logical, rational and analytical.

Whatever mental attributes and capacities we may inherit, it is in the actual use and application of our thinking mind that determines our mental prowess. It is a fact that the innately right-brained traits such as creativity, imagination, curiosity, spontaneity, open-mindedness and enthusiasm are lost due to social, cultural, educational, racial and other influences.

However we can train our mind to think along different lines and greatly improve our mental abilities through constant application and practice. We will be working to our full potential when we combine the mental qualities of the two hemispheres. Ambidextrous mind or whole brain thinking brings out the dynamics of our powerful brain and triggers a heightened level of awareness. To foster an ambidextrous mindset, we can consciously work on incorporating left and right brain activities, use concentration, reflective thinking and meditation.

Mind Mapping is one easy technique that helps in such whole-brain thinking process. Since it is based on the brain-working principles, it is an effective tool for improving our cognitive abilities. Mindmapping uses concise words, associations, links, symbols, color, pictures, dimensions, etc., that help invoke vividness, clarity of perception and easy dissemination. It is a powerful and yet simple technique that not only fosters an ambidextrous or while brain-thinking culture. It is a dynamic tool and can be gauged only by learning and applying the mindmapping technique