mBIT – Using your multiple brains

A good lesson in life is learning more about how you make decisions. If you asked someone how they make decisions, generally their reply would include some reference to ‘using my head’. But what about responses that includes things like ‘it was a heartfelt action’ or ‘my gut said don’t do it’?  Science has proven that we actually have more than one ‘brain’ that we use in our decision making process and when we can align all ‘brains’ our decisions and actions produce better outcomes.

What is mBIT?

mBIT - Multiple Brain Integration Techniques or mBraining - is a neuroscience that is used to find your way to better decisions and to understand why people make certain choices. 

How does it work?

We each have a head, heart and gut ‘brain’. Simply, not only the head but also the heart and gut have ‘brain functions’ and all play a part in the actions we take and the decisions we make.

mBraining is a process that aligns all three brains so that we can make better decisions and more importantly create clear actions to reach our desired outcomes.

How do we know we have multiple brains?

Neuroscience researchers have established we have complex and functional neural networks in both our heart and gut. These are known as the cardiac and enteric nervous systems and they have all the hallmarks of a brain.

These hallmarks include such things as: large numbers of neuros and ganglia, including sensory and motor neurons; neural cells with inter-neurons, and support cells to name just a few.

Which brain does what?

It is an important to recognise that each brain has different prime functions. That’s not to say these prime functions are exclusive to each particular brain but to recognise each brain ‘specialises’ in certain areas.

The heart brain prime functions are:

• Emoting
• Relational affect
• Values

The gut brain prime functions are:

• Mobilisation
• Self-preservation
• Core identity

The head brain prime functions are:

• Cognitive perception
• Thinking
• Making meaning

Or our more simply

Heart = Compassion, Head = Creativity, Gut = Courage.

How do we mBrain?

It is not possible to fully detail all the mBraining techniques in an article, but I can share two key components which provide an insight into the process.

These are balancing the autonomic system (ANS) and aligning the three brains.

Your nervous systems have two major divisions – voluntary and autonomic. Your voluntary nervous system is responsible for such things as movement. The autonomic is responsible for control of involuntary and visceral bodily functions including cardiovascular, digestive, respiratory, urinary, reproductive functions and responses to stress. Each of these operate in a range of sympathetic to parasympathetic. When our ANS is in extreme states – over sympathetic/parasympathetic – we may see extreme behaviours.

When our ANS is in a balanced coherent state, in very general terms access and ability to align all three brains is greatly increased. Put simply it assists us to make better decisions.

One of the easiest ways to balancing our ANS is by diaphragmatic (or balanced) breathing.  

Balanced breathing is taking slow deep breaths through the nose right down into the lowest part of the lungs so that the diaphragm expands and the stomach pushes outwards. Breathe in for 6 seconds or more and breath out for the same amount of time through the nose or mouth. Balanced breathing is done preferably in a quite location and in a sitting, relaxed position and should last for at least 2-3 minutes or more.

Once our ANS is in a balanced and coherent state the process of aligning all three brains can commence.     

We do this by ‘asking’ what each brain thinks or feels about a decision we are making or actions we want to take. We keep in mind the prime function for each brain and reference this when asking such questions as ‘how does my heart (brain) feel about this idea” or ‘what is my gut (brain) indicating about these actions’. Once this process is completed we then ask each brain what actions can we take to reach the outcome we want.

This then produces two main things – what is stopping us reaching the desired outcomes and ideas on how to do so.

This is a very basic explanation of the process and but even using it in its simplest form mBraining will produce better outcomes.

What is the value of mBraining

In addition to the obvious benefit of being able to make better decisions, if we can identify which brain other people are primarily using when we are interacting or negotiating with them we can tailor our approach.

As is the case in neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) when we match a person’s behaviour and representation system (visual, auditory or kinaesthetic) to create better rapport, we can observe (listen and look) at the actions of another person and identify which brain they are mainly using. For example, a statement ‘that makes sense to me’ may indicate head brain use. Alternatively, when a person has their hand on their heart area when negotiating indicates it the heart brain they are using.

About the author

Trevor is Client Director of Financial Dispute Resolution Service, an approved dispute resolution scheme for financial service providers in New Zealand.

Trevor is a highly-experienced dispute resolution practitioner specialising in the financial sector. He holds a Masters Degree in Conflict Resolution from La Trobe University, a Diploma of Business – Frontline Management from the Australian Institute of Management and is an accredited mediator.Trevor also has qualifications in accounting and adviser compliance.