The Whole-Brain Child

left,   instead of  using   only    my  left,   everything  else    went

more    smoothly    and our relationship    in  general improved

as  well.

This    mother  realized    that    by  ignoring    parts   of  her own right

brain, she was missing out on important opportunities to

connect with her son and to enhance the development of his

right brain.

One of  the best    ways    to  promote integration in  our children

is to become better integrated ourselves. (We’ll discuss this

more fully in chapter 6 when we explain mirror neurons.)

When right and left brain are integrated, we can approach

parenting from both a grounded, left-brained, rational place—

one that lets us make important decisions, solve problems, and

enforce boundaries—and from a right-brained, emotionally

connected place where we’re aware of the feelings and

sensations of our body and emotions, so we can lovingly

respond to our children’s needs. Then we’ll be parenting with

our whole brain.