As I get older, it seems that I’m constantly getting these nagging injuries from me doing my crazy Crossfit workouts. (You can ask the wife, she’s tired of hearing me complain).
I’ve tweaked my shoulder, left knee, right trap (upper back), forearm, and; most recently, my right bicep.
I had never hurt my bicep that much before and was surprised on how much it affected my day to day activities.
It affected them so much that I had to rely on my left arm to pick up the slack.
The incident had reminded me about some show that I watched that discussed on how much of a benefit it was to use your non-dominant hand.
You may be surprised to learn that there are benefits to you when using your opposite hand – I know I was.
It feels awkward and you are likely to have much less control over what your non-dominant hand can do, but when you use your opposite hand you are “growing” your brain! I used my injury as a chance to permanently grow my brain for ever more.
I made a vow to start using my left hand for as many tasks that were previously always done with my right. It was time to grown my brain. Trust me. I need all the help I can get. 
This is Your Brain
The human brain is an organ that improves through mental stimulation. The brain continuously adapts, grows and rewires itself through the growth of new neurons. When people age, it’s common that they experience memory loss and sometimes their fine motor skills – but unless the mental decline is caused by disease, most age-related memory and motor skill ability loss is from lack of brain exercise. If you don’t use your brain, it loses it’s knowledge.
This is Your Brain Left Handed
Using your opposite hand will strengthen neural connections in your brain, and even grow new ones. It’s similar to how physical exercise improves your body’s functioning and grows muscles.
Try using your non-dominant hand to write. Use it to control the computer mouse or television remote. Brush your teeth with your other hand. You’ll probably notice it’s much harder to be precise with your movements. When I first started to brush my teeth with my left hand, it was hard to actually move my hand instead of my head.
Now let’s see how I write with my left hand….
Using your left hand might remind you how you felt when you were first learning to write your name, or tie your shoelaces. You will probably feel awkward, but this just means you are teaching your brain a new skill.
Repetitively using your opposite hand will eventually build up the knowledge and ability to use it with better functioning, although it’s probably not going to become as easy to use as your dominant hand.
Your Opposite Hand – Unleashes Creativity
Using your non-dominant, or opposite hand, confuses your brain. The brain is in charge of keeping you functioning and it does that with predictability.
It understands the way our bodies work and behaves in the world, but when we try writing with our opposite hand – it confuses the brain and it’s efficiency.
The brain that operates effectively for our every day activities may not be the same parts of the brain which allows us to be creative.
If you’d like to unleash some hidden creativity, try writing with your opposite hand. As bad as my penmanship is, writing with my left hand isn’t really that worse It is sometimes the nudge our practical brain needs to “move out of the way” for the creative juices to get flowing again!
The non-dominant hand is actually linked to the non-dominant hemisphere in your brain – the one that isn’t exercised as often. There are studies that show that when you use your dominant hand, one hemisphere of the brain is active. When you use the non-dominant hand, both hemispheres are activated, which may result in thinking differently and becoming more creative.
What I Now Do With My Left Hand
I was amazed on how challenging it was in the beginning to use my left hand. I felt like a doofus and realized how uncoordinated my left hand really is.
Now, I consciously make an effort to use my left hand as much as I can. Here’s some the day to day activities that I’ve been able to successfully convert to southpaw:
Do my teeth cleaner using my left hand?
- Brushing my teeth
- Pouring Drinks Milk/Water from Brita Pitcher/My health shake from blender. (I’m amazed on how messy I was pouring my health shake out of a blender)
- Opening jars
- Scooping protein powder/baby formula
- Washing my body
- Cleaning dishes
- Occasionally using a my computer mouse (I’m seriously considering buying a left handed mouse)
- Buttering toast (try spreading peanut butter on toast. It’s a whole different world).
- Carrying the car seat
- Using can opener
- Eating with chopsticks (this one is really tough)
- Occasionally using my mouse (I’m seriously consider buying a left hand mouse for good)
Can You Benefit From Using Your Non-dominant Hand?
Some therapists have used an exercise where they ask their patients to write with their opposite hands, and it allows people to access some suppressed emotions. If this interests you, contact a trained professional to help you through this activity.
For use in every day life, however, you can simply try writing with your opposite hand a little each day, asking your “every day brain” to move aside, and see if it helps you become more creative or triggers improved memory functioning.
Have you ever tried using your non-dominant hand for daily tasks? If so, share your story. Did you feel as clumsy as I did?
Sources:
- http://tusitalatom.hubpages.com/hub/Creativity-and-the-Non-dominant-Hand
- http://www.fi.edu/learn/brain/exercise.html
{ 31 comments… read them below or add one }
I try to use my left (non-dominant) hand as much as I can, although it’s usually because I’m trying to multitask in the morning and am usually running late…i.e., gathering my stuff up for work with my left hand while I’m brushing my teeth with my right. Sometimes it works well, sometimes not so much. I often feel pretty clumsy. I am largely a righty although I do tend to carry things lefty – purses/schoolbags always tossed over my left shoulder, carrying more grocery bags with the left than right, etc.
Jeff dude, this is one of the most awesome posts I have read in a while.
I love the brain, I love minty toothpaste, it was a match made in heaven. I am off to get cracking on the left handed brushing right now.
Fascinating post. I hadn’t given the idea much thought before but I can believe there’s a connection.
I remember when my son was a toddler – there was definitely a correlation between physical activity and intellectual & linguistic development.
And I also recall a study in the past involving strokes. Researchers found that by immobilizing the unaffected arm/hand of a stroke victim so that it couldn’t be used, the stroke victim experienced better and quicker recover on the affected side.
Fascinating stuff.
I found this article while I was confirming what I already knew about using your non-dominate hand. I was in the middle of writing this article: http://tellthaiheart.blogspot.com/2010/10/left-handed-motorbike.html because I had just realized that I was having problems driving a motorbike.
Haven’t tried chopsticks yet, maybe soon. Thanks!
The thought of being forced to use my left hand for ever purpose, need and task was nerve wrecking. After just a week the tasks-still awkward-were becoming more normal. Daily things like brushung my teeth, buttons on clothing, texting, eating were becoming familiar and even to the point were it was becoming normal. I now at times think what will it be like when my cast comes off I can use my right hand again.
Today I have started using by Left Hand. Is it true that using non-dominant(Left Hand) will increase IQ Power. Please Reply
Not sure. You’ll have to be the guinea pig for us and let us know if it works
Good read. This is great in theory but really hard in practice. Some other “off the wall” tactics I have tried is listening to classical music while studying and listening to audio notes I needed to learn for a class on my ipod while sleeping. Only problem with that is the earbuds do not tend to stay in place!
What are neural connections? You say they are strengthened and you grow new ones. What will that do for me?
I’ve tried it for brief stints, but never stuck with it for long. I’ve heard the theory of non-dominant hand use helping to develop brain power more than once now, so I think I’m going to try it. In the meantime, I’m trying to find ways to use other fingers for the job my index finger usually does. Not having a lot of luck so far. Great post.
Good one. Tried a few things , found it difficult…
But surely will keep on trying as I think it will improve my overall workings.
I used chopsticks with my left for the first time today. It wasnt hard at all. I can’t use my right correctly with them though. :p
I doing the left-handed mouse maneuver at this very moment.
Well, not this moment because I am typing.
A couple times I caught myself leaning over my keyboard to let my right hand move the mouse because my everyday brain thinks: right hand=mouse.
I like this. It does feel a bit awkward, but it’s not too hard to get used too. I have at least seven more hours on my shift so I will see if I get tired of the southpaw mouse action and switch back to the right hand.
I doubt it though. I’m interested in the effects the use of the non-dominant hand will have on my noggin.
The most prominent issue I have is using the scroll wheel. I’m just not accustomed to moving my left hand in that way. I cheat and use the page up, page down buttons next to the keypad… It’s easier—but I won’t give up training my non-dom to work the wheel.
Your post was fun to read.
Many thanks
I am considered left-handed. While recovering from hand surgery for 6 weeks I was forced to write/print right-handed. It was never comfortable, but legibility did increase between start and end. I quickly reverted back to left-hand writing when the cast came off. As fart as using a mouse, either side is fine though I usually leave it on the right as I have a shared computer.
While I am a leftie, I do several things rightie! Using a wrench ‘feels’ better in my right hand. Also, I play (at least make noise) guitar as a rightie. I tried guitar with switched strings and it never ‘felt’ right.
I kick right-footed, throw left, catch right.
You don’t have to buy a lefty mouse. You can reconfigure it with the control panel. Unless this was originally writtin in the 90s
I am doing this same thing. The only things I was truly right dominate in is writing and throwing. EVERYthing, I’m naturally both, thank god lol. It’s only been a week of lefty writing and it’s made a drastic improvment. I thinking throwing will be quicker, though. Hopefully this won’t take too long 
i ve been practicing writing with left hand since last december…even though i skipped a few months yet i can write pretty fluently except that the writing looks a bit edgy…now i will practice writing with both hands simultaneously..i really feels adventerous….
and believe me if you write/practice regularly your,, non dominant hand will act some times dominantly.
Hi Jeff,
I’ve been doing left-handed activities for three years now. I actually played college tennis right-handed and decided to learn left-handed. So now I can play very well left-handed. It has definitely helped balance out my body and mind.
Kevin
@ Kevin Wow! That sounds tough trying to learn to play tennis with your left hand.
i have just started to use my left hand to type this email and i am already feeling great. You see i am a right hander using my right brain. i have always felt that i have poor blood circulation but at this very momment i feel like my blood is flowing like it should. I also notice that i am thinking clearly. Thanks
From now on i am going to try to do everything with my left hands.
nn
Very interesting. I had surgery on my dominant hand, and was forced to use my left.. For writing and pretty much everything. It was tough at first but after almost a month, I haven’t stopped! I feel great! More brain power, I almost perminently write with my non dominant hand now. I will continue to use it, after I am completely healed, hopefully they will become even
This was an interesting read.
I was ambidextrous as a child, but my school hated how “lazy” it made me (i.e. one hand would get tired, so I would use the other). They decided I was right handed and tried to get me to stick with it. I still do everything left handed except right and in some things, like sports, I’m better lefty. I am working at it and hope to be back to “normal” by the end of this year.
Having had an operation on my right shoulder I’m having to do most things with my left(non-dominant) hand. It is difficult especially personal things. Brushing my hair is difficult as well as cleaning my teeth but things get easier the more you practice. As for making me more creative… well I can’t wait to be able to use both hands to do some experimental textile art things.
I’m naturally right handed. I started writing with my left hand a year ago as I was bored and reading up on left-right brain hemispheres and I came upon the term ambidextrous. So I gave it a shot, once a week I would write for 5-10 minutes the alphabet and numbers in a printing notebook. I felt like I was back in elementary school again. At first my printing was shaky, but now a year later, everyone says it looks neat and even better than their printing with their right hands
I started turning switches off and on with left hand and turning door knobs, even eating soup with a spoon in my left hand. At first, it was just a joke and I would consciously have to tell myself to use my left hand.
But a year later, my left hand dominates! I write with my left hand all the time. I use my right hand at work when I have to write fast, but I also work as a writer. So when I’m writing down my thoughts or ideas in my journal, I find writing with my left hand makes me write slower, so I give my thoughts a lot more time to write down.
I also feel like I’m more balanced. Before when I was strictly using my right hand, I would do those left/right brain quizzes and my results stated that I was more right brained.
Now that I use my left hand more than my right hand, I have done the same quizzes again and my left/right brain ratio is 48% (left brain) – 52% (right brain) – more balanced. I also feel it with my decision making and I don’t easily cry any more when I get emotional . Before becoming ambidextrous, I was extremely emotional and would cry at movies or if I heard a sad song on the radio (like a typical women).
But now when I get teary, I can tell myself to hold back the tears and tell myself it’s not worth to cry over something so small.
I think it has something to do with using my left hand more with handling things. So it sounds a bit crazy that using your left hand can make you become more level-headed, but it worked for me.
I advise anyone who wants to pick up a new hobby and also better themselves to become ambidextrous, it starts with 10 minutes a week with writing with your left hand and just picking up objects with your non dominant hand. After a year of doing it, you’ll feel the difference. I know I do, and I will continue to be a ‘righty to who turned lefty!
I love to play racquetball. When I injured my left shoulder last year in a bike accident (I’m left-handed), rather than give up racquetball, I began to play with my right hand. I’m an excellent player when using my dominant left hand- not so much with the right, but it allowed me to continue the exercise activity I love, and continue to gain the health benefit of playing regularly. Toughest part was to get past the ego aspect of looking like a clumsy beginner
Halfway through this I started to use my mouse with my left hand lol. I might have to do this, but I think I really use my brain with a lot of things I do. I play guitar, and I have to shred with my non-dominant hand. That’s a lot of coordination I’ve built up, and quite a bit of full brain usage. I must be getting super smart now!
Wow! This is really interesting. Not sure if this has anything to do with it but the most creative people I’ve met are tend to be left-handed rather than right-handed. I wonder how using the opposite hand for them would influence their creativity? Thanks for sharing!
This reminds me of something we did in high school art class. We still used our dominant hand, but the project was to look at our other hand and draw it…..without ever looking at the paper…or even lifting the pencil off the paper. The purpose was to concentrate on the detail of your hand. Then we did it again but were allowed to look at the paper, but as little as possible. That practice helped me draw one of my best pictures ever with incredible detail. I like the idea for using the non-dominant hand for as many things as possible too. I might have to start doing that.
This is one trivia I haven’t heard of. I must try doing this myself and see some results personally.
I know this works, and I do it at times. However, so you’ll know – you don’t need to purchase a left-handed mouse. Move you regular mouse to the other side of the keyboard, then (depending on your operating system – assuming Windows of some flavor) go to Control Panel and find Mouse. Open the Mouse panel and find the tab at the top that enables you to change mouse settings. Click on “switch buttons” (or whatever it says) and the left mouse button will become the “right click” and the right mouse button will become the regular click. Voila! You now have a left-handed mouse. I’ve worked on computers for 45 years, so if you have a problem, give me a call or send me at email. Cowboytechcomputers dot com.
I’ve wanted to start using my non-dominant hand for more things, but never gotten around to doing it. Thanks for the tips, will definitely have to give this a shot!
I pratice marital arts, and when ever we do stuff that requires us to use are non-dominant side I am always amazed on how badly I do and was wondering what I could do to improve in this area when I came accross your post, it just make sense that one would need to just to more things with their non-dominant side in order to get better, thanks for the post.