Orientation is the neuropathway that brings us into the now so that we can do things accurately and easily in which there really is only one way.
· There is only one way to read: the way the letters and words follow each other one after the other from left to right, in their correct orientation. That is how reading works
· There is only one correct answer to a math problem and there is a series of steps you have to follow in a particular order that will get you there. That is how math works.
· There is only one place where your shoes are in the real world. There are not other options.
· There is only one time you need to be somewhere and that will not change no matter how fast or slow time seems to be moving for you. That is how time works.
Conversely, disorientation is the part of our brain that allows for endless possibilities, creativity, thinking and being outside of time and/or in the future, the past, or some other reality entirely. It is an amazing place. But it is NOT NOW and it does not serve us when we need to do something or be somewhere in which there really is only one way/time to do it and that way needs to happen in the present.
But the power of orientation reaches far beyond academics and attention. It carries with it the idea of who we are: existing in the moment. It gives you the ability to experience anything and everything in the present with all of your senses at the same time. And it can help you to understand yourself and relate with others in the moment too. Orientation gives reality, right NOW, and in this very moment. It took me almost 46 years to figure that out. But you don’t have to wait like I did.
In my world of disorientation I lived my life almost exclusively in the past or the future and very very rarely in the moment. I was ALWAYS focused on the “next thing”. I remember realizing this as my first child was growing into a toddler and I was pregnant with my second. I said to myself that I had basically missed all of my toddler’s baby-hood because I was constantly looking towards, and worrying about the “next thing” in his journey. With that realization I made a point to try to “enjoy” my second child’s baby hood. I did try, but I didn’t know how. I had no idea how to bring myself into the present.
Then, years later I met a gal who did know how to live in the present. She stayed with my family for a few weeks. I remember talking to my husband one night while she was with us and saying how incredible it felt that she was present ALL THE TIME. My observation was that I never saw her on her cell phone. The cell phone was a physical piece of evidence that I could see and talk about but it was NOT what was really happening. What was happening was that I was experiencing her ability to be present, in the moment, right now. She was not distracted by other things, past or future. What I felt was a person who was truly present. That memory is strong, because I needed to see it. I needed to feel the power and the potential of what being present was like. I was witnessing the value of orientation.
Now, with training and guidance from my learning specialist, I am able to bring myself into the present anytime I want to or need to. It is an incredibly freeing experience. And that experience can be yours as well.
At Logos Learning Solutions we will teach you how to switch between these two distinct neural pathways so that you can turn on orientation when you need to be present or when you need to do linear tasks like reading or math. So that you too might be able to experience the power of the present.