The weird and wonderful differences between all of us

She was the guest speaker at the monthly East Rand Business Women function, which was held at Summer Place, on February 28.

“We are all put together in the womb in a specific manner. The way you think (brain dominance), the way you see things (eye dominance), the way you hear things (ear dominance), the way you communicate (hand dominance), and your sport and problem-solving skills (foot dominance) determines who you are,” said de Vos.

“Therefore, the way in which we assess people is a physical assessment of the muscle resistance.

“I do a genetic brain profile. I don’t need to ask you a single question for me to give you your inherent preference,” explained de Vos.

“I want my genetic profile to be as close together to my functioning profile. I am in the business of putting you in the space where you’re happy.”

She presented a talk on the different fields of dominance:

• Brain dominance

This is only your thought preferences. Insight and understanding lies in the right-front of the brain; the left-front is where memorising or repetition lies. The left-brain dominant people take information in small dosages; don’t give them the end result, rather tell them how they’re going to get there. If you have right brain dominance you visualise the end result and like to challenge a situation. The left brain likes structure, logical thinking, rhythm and a certain method. They need to know what is going to happen and be in control – if they’re not in control, they can’t relax. The right brain likes to challenge, motivate and analyse in order to change – things must never be the same.

The left hemisphere controls the right side of the body and the right hemisphere controls the left side of the body.

We have 32 combinations (eye, ear, hand, foot) and you also have a functioning profile which could be expressive, emotional or respective.

• Eye dominance

The way we see things differs from others. If you are right-eye dominant, the eye is working from the left hemisphere. The attributes of the left hemisphere include structure and logic. The characteristics of a right-eye dominant person are attention to detail. You’ve got an eye that sees things for what they are. The right eye is diagnostic. Career options for them include CA and attorney, where detail is important. The right eye reads from left to right.

“You might become frustrated with your right eye that wants to read every single word, because you read slower than those who are left-eye dominant and just skim through the reading material,” said de Vos.

The right eye likes things to be neat. It also likes maths, because it’s a subject that you have to look at in detail. The left-eye is working from the right hemisphere and reads from right to left. If you’re left-eye dominant you’ll page a magazine from back to forth. The left eye lives in pictures, because it works from the picturesque right hemisphere. Any movement is enough to trigger a new thought.

The left eye is extremely sensitive to body language and interprets and takes it personally. Left-eye dominant people are also very good hosts and need others to enjoy themselves in order for him/her to relax.

“Your left eye wants to make you feel acceptable. Left-eye dominant people can be manipulated and feel responsible to make others happy, whereas those you are right eye dominant will see someone’s not happy and hope he solves his problem himself,” explained de Vos.

The left eye is a spontaneous, caring eye. It misses detail in reading, because it’s a very skim reader. If you’re left-brain dominant with a left eye, you’ll have these characteristics but it won’t be as intense as with those with a left eye and vice versa.

• Ear dominance

If you are right-ear dominant, functioning from the left hemisphere, you hear whát people are saying and you listen for the detail. People who are right-ear dominant tend to complete people’s sentences because “they know what the other person wanted to say”.

“You’re not trying to be rude. You’re unable to stop yourself and next thing you have completed the sentence,” said de Vos.

If you are right-brain dominant with a right ear the communicator would think that you’re listening, but meantime your mind has wandered. You don’t interrupt, but you’re not listening anymore because you’ve already decided you know what they wanted to say. The impatient right ear tends to be used in careers where you don’t have to listen to people the whole day.

“It doesn’t mean that you don’t care. You care, but you hope they can solve it on their own. You give them space to solve it on their own,” she said.

You might have a left eye that cares and wants to make you look happy, but the moment you start talking nonsense the right ear will stop listening. The left ear hears from the right hemisphere. It doesn’t listen to what is being said, but it listens to the tone and the intention.

“It’s a difficult ear to manage through life because you’re hurt so many times, but 90 per cent of the time you’ve caused it yourself by overreacting,” added de Vos.

The left ear is a caring, sensitive and kind ear; it’s got empathy and sympathy for people. The left ear takes things personally and overreacts.

“The combination of the brain, eye and ear dominance influence who we are, how we react and how we take things up, and we need to manage it better,” said de Vos.

• Hand and communication style

Your hand is your communication style. If you’re right handed and you’ve got a left ear with a left brain, you’ll give others all the information. If you’re right handed and you’ve got a right ear with a left brain, you’ll give only the facts. The emotional input that the lefts ear reads isn’t added onto the detail. But if you’ve got a right hand with a right brain, you don’t want to give information at that very moment. You need time to process information on your own time and then you’ll talk when you’re ready. Left handed people speak from a different space and people don’t always understand them.

• Foot dominance

If you’re right-foot dominant, working from the left hemisphere, your problem solving style will be practical and sensible. If you’re right-brain dominant with a right foot you’ll think about it differently, but your solution will be practical. You’ll also be good at sports, specifically ballroom dancing. The left-foot dominant people’s problem-solving skills come from the right hemisphere, so it’s creative.

“We call the left foot the jinx foot. The left foot likes too literally walk creatively. You’ll find that people who are left foot dominant are clumsy,” mentioned de Vos.

Put that foot where creative footwork is needed: on a hip-hop dancing floor, in the backline of a rugby game and on a soccer field.

According to de Vos, we all lose and keep certain modalities in stress and this is directly linked to your heart rate. All of us lose our non-dominant hemisphere during stress. If you lose things in stress which you need at that stage, the best thing to do is to cross over: cross your arms and legs, or rub your opposite ear. This way, you’re using both hemispheres.

By crossing over you are physically activating yourself out of the stress and you’ll be able to talk/stop talking or solve a problem.