Opposite Hand Exploration
When you were less than two weeks old, you began to display a preference for using one hand or the other. The one you practiced with most was your dominant hand, and, of course, the other one is your non-dominant hand. In non-dominant hand explorations, you do a job - in our case, writing - with the hand you don't usually do it with. There are some reasons for giving this a try, and they have to do with the connection between your non-dominant hand and your right brain. About 30 percent of all people are left handed, including all those who didn't have a very strong left-hand preference and who learned to write, and maybe eat, with the right hand. That leaves 70 percent as right handed.
For left-handed people: 30 percent have their dominant hand controlled by the right brain. 70 percent have their dominant hand controlled by the left brain.
For right-handed people: 2 percent have their dominant hand controlled by the right brain. 98 percent have their dominant hand controlled by the left brain.
That means that only about 12 percent of all people have a dominant hand controlled by the right brain. When right/left brain research began about thirty years ago, some people wondered what doing things with the non-dominant hand might reveal about the right brain. It turns out that the non-dominant hand is a fairly direct link to our less verbal, more pictorial and pattern-conscious right brain.
When you are ready to give this a try, free write with your non-dominant hand. You
are likely to have trouble with cursive writing, so block print just like you did when you were training the muscles of your dominant hand in kindergarten. In a loose and relaxed state, let the non-dominant hand say just whatever it wants to say. You will almost certainly be surprised.
Many people find that the subject-matter of the free writing becomes childlike. Since many conflicts inside people come from the adult, bossy, responsible side (left brain) fighting with the childlike, creative, irresponsible side, sometimes people can get real insights into themselves and spark their own creativity by writing with the non-dominant hand. Artists sometimes spark their creativity by drawing and sketching with their non-dominant hands, sometimes developing a distinctive style for each hand.
Sometimes people ask questions about conflicts in themselves with the dominant hand and allow the non-dominant hand to answer. It can be a little spooky （怪异的）at first to have some direct access to other parts of your personality than the one you know best, but the results of trying this are often very interesting and very revealing. Once I asked my left hand why I had so much trouble getting started on paper grading. The right hand answered, "Deal. Play a game of solitaire every time you finish five papers and I will let you grade."
I tried it and it worked! Obviously the side of me that needs relaxation and play was objecting to my childhood training that all the work has to be finished before I was allowed to play.
All I will ask you to do in your journals is one week of free writing with your non-dominant hand. Remember to block
print. At the end of the week, mail me the results. It doesn't matter if I can't read it or if it refers to things I don't understand or know about. The exercise is for you to get in touch with your right brain. Just doing it is enough. Continue emailing your logs to me during that week, and let me know how the free writing is going.