Left or right brain? Your brain is very beneficial by helping you see/view things, think logically, generate ideas, solve problems, and think creatively. Even without knowing it, we’re all using our brains. You don’t even have to be smart to use your brain. A small part of a person’s thoughts are kept in the conscious level of the mind. Most of it is held in the “subconscious” part of the person’s brain. The “subconscious” part is the part of brain that keeps our deep thoughts. We need to know how to control our thoughts. The brain resembles a shelled walnut when looked at from the top view. The brain is divided into two halves: the left half and the right half. The left half of the brain controls or handles the nerve impulses to the right side of the body. The right half of the brain controls the left side of the body. The left brain is called the “splitter” because it splits thoughts into logical parts. The right brain is called the “lumper” because it controls “whole” thoughts. The right half of the brain thinks with creativity by using imagery, analogies, emotions, and rhythms. The left half thinks with information, analysis, details, rules, logic, language, and words. Gabriele Lusser Rico is a researcher and writer who says that children experience 3 major phases that help develop their minds: the Innocent Phase, the Conventional Phase, and the Cultured Phase. During the Innocent Phase, children that are aged 2-7 years mostly use their right brain. They think with emotion, wonder, curiosity, and delight. During the Conventional Phase, children and teens that are aged 8-16 years mostly use their left brain. They think by using rules, routines, conventional patterns. During the Cultured Phase, teens that are aged 17 years and up balance out both the right and left brains. They start to regain parts from the right brain. You should try to balance out your left and right brain usage so that you do not create many weaknesses in either half.