Outstanding teachers, those who have a lifelong, positive impact on their students, have been in a small minority for as far back as most educators can remember. Yet what they do is exactly what we are looking for now. They inspire their students to be self-motivated, to be connected and to grow in competence, without applying controlled motivation to achieve this.
Read MoreIt is encounter that allows the red brain to finally fade away. Where meditation and mindfulness are solitary, encounter is a social practice: we do it in the presence of, and engaged with, someone else.
We practice encounter when we pay full attention to another without judgement or comparison, responding with kindness and compassion whatever the other person says or does. Paying full attention means that our conscious mind is quiet; we allow everything we see and hear to flow, unfiltered, into our brains.
Read MoreMindfulness is the second key step to improving our management of the red brain.
At its most basic, mindfulness is being aware of what is happening inside our bodies. For example, through paying attention to each part of our bodies in turn, we identify sensations or feelings and just stay with them for a few moments before moving on to the next. Mindfulness is also being aware of what is happening around us and includes combining the inner and the outer: what are the sensations in my legs as I walk through some long grass?
Read MoreOne of the key sources of red brain triggering is the appearance of unasked-for thoughts in the mind. These can be simple distractions when we are trying to stay in flow and work highly productively, requiring us to re-enter the flow state with a subsequent loss of pace. At their worst, random thoughts, can trigger a cascade of memories, an upwelling of emotion and the red brain triggers.
An effective solution to these random thoughts is using meditation.
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