Did you know that humans have brains that are prone to addiction? So how do we protect our kids from addiction to excessive gaming and screen time? That's what we're going to discuss today with my special guest, Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor.

Yes - our topic is literally brain science and how we can apply what we know about the brain to help kids navigate screen time, social media and the pressures online.

Dr. Jill is profoundly gifted at taking complex scientific information and boiling it down into ideas that stick and are helpful in understanding humans and the way our brains work. One of my all time favorite quotes is from her. "Be responsible for the energy you bring into a room."

This interview was so insightful with so many aha moments that it's split into two podcast episodes. This is the second one. Please listed to the first one (episode 10) before this one! You'll get background information on the four sides of the human brain and how a child's brain and a teen brain is actually different than an adult brain and why that matters, when it comes to parenting and working with kids.

Grab a pencil. You're gonna wanna take notes on this one!

Guest information

Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor is a Harvard-trained and published neuroscientist. In 1996 she experienced a severe hemorrhage (AVM) in the left hemisphere of her brain causing her to lose the ability to walk, talk, read, write, or recall any of her life. Her memoir, My Stroke of Insight, documenting her experience with stroke and eight-year recovery, spent 63 weeks on the New York Times nonfiction bestseller list and is still routinely the #1 book in the category Stroke in the Amazon marketplace.

Dr. Jill is a dynamic teacher and public speaker who loves educating all age groups, academic levels, as well as corporations and not-for-profit organizations about the beauty of our human brain. She focuses on how we can activate the power of our neuroplasticity to not only recover from neurological trauma, but how we can purposely choose to live a more flexible, resilient, and satisfying life.

In 2008 Dr. Jill gave the first TED talk that ever went viral on the Internet, which now has well over 27.5 million views. Also in 2008, Dr. Jill was chosen as one of Time magazine’s “100 Most Influential People in the World” and was the premiere guest on Oprah Winfrey’s “Soul Series” webcast. Her new book, Whole Brain Living – the Anatomy of Choice and the Four Characters That Drive Our Life is a #1 release on Amazon in categories ranging from Neuroscience to Nervous System Diseases and Stroke.

Unplug & Plug in

We always end with this question for guests - What are you plugging into? And what are you unplugging from?

Dr. Jill didn't disappoint! She's plugging into her needs and desires in all four areas of her brain. She's plugging into technology for interviews like ours, to satisfy her Character One, but she's also unplugging and making time to play, to keep her Character Three happy.

Takeaway

"Ask yourself - what resonates with your soul - and go do more of that!" (Dr. Jill) is how we ended this episode and what a fantastic way to end!

I'd love to hear your a-ha moments!

Our sponsor

Our sponsor today is the Center for Online Safety. Their mission is to keep kids safe online and they offer training for parents and schools to protect kids from cyberbullying, predators, pornography and other inappropriate content.

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