CREATIVITY. COMPASSION. COURAGE
The Science Bit
... In collaboration with wisdom
By understanding and listening to the three brains, people are better able to recognise where they are out of alignment. You know that feeling when you want to do something, but you can’t quite take the action required? Or where your heart says one thing and your head says another? Or you have made a decision – but it doesn’t ‘feel right’? That is your brains being out of alignment. And it is only when you align your three brains that you will move forward positively.
What is mBraining?
mBraining is a new field of human development and understanding, developed by Grant Soosalu and Marvin Oka. You can buy the book, or obtain the Ebook by visiting Amazon.
From a meta analysis and meta synthesis of hundreds of pieces of literature, Grant and Marvin have developed a set of techniques (mBIT – multiple Brain Integration Techniques) which puts this new knowledge and theory (mBraining) into coaching practice.
According to the science literature we have at least three brains – yes the head, or cephalic brain you were already aware of: The seat of our logic, thinking and analysis; and the heart (cardiac) and gut (enteric) brains, which you were probably aware of intuitively, but may not necessarily have called them brains in the past. mBraining takes that science literature and asks “if that is true – how can we apply that to coaching?”
Have you ever heard yourself or anyone else refer to these brains? It is amazing now you know this, how that inner knowing expresses itself in practice through your language and how you will now start noticing that in yourself and others. So what sort of language patterns might you notice that indicate our ‘knowing’ is coming from one of our three brains?
"Modern neuroscience is now validating ancient wisdom".
An exclusive interview with Grant Soosalu about mBraining
So what do we now know?
According to the science literature we have at least three brains – yes the head, or cephalic brain you were already aware of: The seat of our logic, thinking and analysis; and the heart (cardiac) and gut (enteric) brains, which you were probably aware of intuitively, but may not necessarily have called them brains in the past. mBraining takes that science literature and asks “if that is true – how can we apply that to coaching?”
Have you ever heard yourself or anyone else refer to these brains? It is amazing now you know this, how that inner knowing expresses itself in practice through your language and how you will now start noticing that in yourself and others. So what sort of language patterns might you notice that indicate our ‘knowing’ is coming from one of our three brains?
Below are typical examples of language used by the head, heart and gut brains. Do you recognise that now? Amazing isn’t it – how we may not have picked up on it before.
Head
‘I have got to think this through’
‘I don’t understand’
‘How I see it is’
‘I can’t get it out of my head’
Heart
‘My heart is not in this’
‘She wears her heart on her sleeve’
‘I was heart broken’
Gut
‘Trust your gut’
‘I have got butterflies in my stomach’
‘I haven’t got the guts to do it’
The head brain is the home of cognitive perception, making meaning and thinking things through, the heart brain is the home of emotions, values and relating to others while the gut brain is the home of self preservation, identity and motivation.
I am sure you are now curious
Which brains are you using predominantly? Which brains are you using in different contexts, for example, in decision making? Grant Soosalu and Suzanne Henwood researched multiple brains in decision making and created a psychometric tool to help you to assess that for yourself (or your clients or team). You can read that research here
What we also know is that each brain has a ‘Highest Expression’:
Head: Creativity
Heart: Compassion
Gut: Courage
In mBraining, we use the ‘mBIT Roadmap’ as a heuristic framework to guide clients through a variety of stages of communicating with and aligning their multiple brains. That is the crux of what mBraining is all about.
So what makes it a brain?
In the literature, a brain in this context is defined as a complex adaptive neural network, with a large number of neurons and interconnections between the neurones, plus support or glial cells. Not only that, the brain has its own memory and can adapt from within, without having to communicate with the head brain. So a ‘brain’ in this context is far more complex than just a group of nerve cells that you find for example in your eye or ear.
Are we saying they stand alone? No – of course not. The body is a complex, integrated whole, but the level of autonomy of these specified brains is much greater than we thought it was until a few years ago. And, ensuring the three brains are integrated and in alignment is the ideal situation to ensure a deep and authentic, healthy life style for yourself personally and for work and business. What mBraining is showing is that from that congruent and aligned state, a new higher level of wisdom emerges, as the brains work in synergy with each other, giving an impact which is greater than the sum of the three brains on their own
What Grant and Marvin have done, is to bring that discrete and individual brain knowledge together and to ask the ‘So What?’ question. So what does it change knowing this? So what can I do differently now I know this?
Another key component of mBraining is that it attends to autonomic state prior to coaching. Using breathing, an mBIT Coach will ensure the client is in a receptive state, prior to the coaching process. The way that mBraining teaches you to use your breathing to balance your autonomic nervous system is simple, gentle, safe and amazingly effective. It is truly compassionate – modelling the very central nature of compassion which sits at the core of mBraining.
By understanding and listening to the three brains, people are better able to recognise where they are out of alignment. You know that feeling when you want to do something, but you can’t quite take the action required? Or where your heart says one thing and your head says another? Or you have made a decision – but it doesn’t ‘feel right’? That is your brains not being in good alignment. And it is only when you align your three brains that you will move forward positively.
Would you like to know more - register now for free and download a free Ebook by Dr. Suzanne Henwood.
