The two hemispheres of your brain process information differently--the right brain is more artistic and emotional, while the left brain is more analytical and sequential--but share responsibility for making your body function. Most people have a dominant side of their brain; the dominant side processes the information and knowledge you garner on a daily basis. Using both sides of your brain, however, will help augment any learning process, and there are several exercises you can use to develop your non-dominant side. First, though, take a brain-dominance test, such as the one from Michigan Tech, to determine which hemisphere is dominant and which needs some extra exercise.
WATIZIT
An exercise for your right brain, WATIZIT--What Is It?--gives you a series of images, pictures that are only part of the whole. It is your job to determine what the whole picture is. Different versions of this game, some under different names, may be found in books at the store or library, and some are also available online.
Writing
Writing, spelling and word composition are parts of your logical, left brain functioning; if you want to exercise your left brain, write about something. Keep a journal of your day-to-day activities, maintain a regular blog on the Internet or contribute articles to a magazine or newspaper. Keep the topics factual; the factual topics will help you utilize the analytical and sequential skills of your left brain.
Singing
Sing a song about an everyday object, or about the first thing you look at. Songs blend melody and rhyme, both of which are right brain functions, and creating a song--even a simple, four-line ditty--will help increase the functionality and expand the capabilities of your right brain. You can also use this activity to help figure out a problem, because your brain will work a bit differently as you sing about the problem.
Figure Out Puzzles
Puzzles are heavily left-brained activities; they focus on sharpening your deductive and reasoning skills. Crossword puzzles and Sudoku are the most popular puzzles that also make excellent left-brain trainers. A standard puzzle will also help exercise your left brain, but make sure to keep it appropriately challenging. You’ll get more left-brain exercise from a 1,000-piece puzzle than a 250- or 500-piece puzzle.
Drawing
Drawing is a right-brained activity that taps into your creative mind and demands that you translate the images in your head into images on paper. You don’t have to produce anything of superior quality; even jazzed-up stick figures will help give your right brain some exercise. If you’re hesitant about drawing anything, you can use an exercise provided by Draw Right to make you more comfortable. The mission is to complete the other half of the Faces/Vase optical illusion.
Reading
Reading helps hone the analytical segment of your left brain, but the key here is to focus on what you are reading rather than skim through for select content. Select longer news articles or books, and check out the contents of a magazine or newspaper. If interest is a concern, read something about a topic that interests you; you will garner practical knowledge out of it and exercise your left-brain in the process.
