Have you ever heard someone say:

“I’m just not the creative type. I’m more logical.”

Or perhaps:

“I’m right-brained.”

“I’m artistic.”

Photo by Jade Stephens on Unsplash

Maybe you’ve even said one of those things yourself.

They’re attractive labels because they help us make sense of ourselves.

But neuroscience has moved on.

And the wonderful news is this:

Your brain is far more flexible than those labels suggest.

The myth

For many years, popular books and magazines described the brain as if its two hemispheres had separate functions.

The left hemisphere was said to be responsible for logical, analytical thinking.

The right hemisphere for creativity and intuition.

Image from iStock by Getty Images

It was a compelling story. It was easy to understand, easy to remember, and it contained a grain of truth—which is often why scientific myths survive for so long.

The only problem is… that isn’t how the brain works.

Modern neuroscience shows a much richer picture.

Yes, some functions are lateralised, meaning one hemisphere contributes more than the other.

Language, for example, is usually left-lateralised in right-handed people.

But that doesn’t mean the right hemisphere is doing nothing.

Far from it.

During my own research as a cognitive neuroscientist, I studied how the brain processes the rhythm of speech.

While language is largely left-lateralised, rhythm also engages the right hemisphere.

The brain constantly collaborates across both hemispheres.

Rather than dividing itself into “creative” and “logical,” it builds networks that work together.

Categories are good, nuance completes the story

I think this matters beyond neuroscience.

Because we humans love simple categories. Our “little boxes”.

Right or wrong.

Good or bad.

Successful or unsuccessful.

Creative or logical.

Our minds love to organise the world into categories because categories help us navigate complexity.

Photo by Erol Ahmed on Unsplash

The problem isn’t categorising.

The problem is believing that the categories tell the whole story.

Reality is almost always more nuanced.

The scientist’s bias

This is something I also learned during my years in research.

Science doesn’t simply reveal the truth.

Scientists ask questions.

And the questions we ask depend on the theories we currently believe. Sometimes those theories are later refined. Sometimes they’re replaced.

That’s how science progresses.

Not because researchers were “wrong,” but because understanding becomes more precise over time.

The left-brain/right-brain story is one of those examples.

It helped us understand something important about lateralisation.

But it isn’t the whole picture anymore.

How is all this relevant to you?

So if your brain doesn’t define you as “creative” or “logical,” what does?

Practice.

Neuroscience consistently shows that repeated experience changes the brain.

Every time we repeat a movement,

learn a musical phrase,

practice a language,

or return to one slow, conscious breath,

the brain strengthens the networks involved.

What we practice becomes easier. Eventually it becomes a habit. Sometimes it even becomes part of our identity.

Still from a Margaret Morris Movement exercise which I have practiced for 4 years (covid pandemic stopped us from taking exams for a while, so I stayed in Red level of MMM).

We often say,

“I’m just not creative.”

But perhaps the more accurate sentence would be,

“I haven’t practised creativity very much.”

That feels far more hopeful.

Because practice can change.

How we embrace the whole of you in DMB

This is one of the reasons I created Dance, Movement & Breathing.

Not to make people into dancers.

Not to teach choreography.

But to give the brain and body opportunities to practise something many adults rarely practise anymore:

Breathing fully. Moving in new ways. Exploring without needing a result.

Expressing instead of performing.

Captured during a free improvisation; I was so immersed in the music.

Every movement becomes an opportunity to discover something new.

Every breath becomes a chance to regulate your nervous system.

Every exploration reminds the brain that curiosity is something we can practice.

Not because “the creative side” of your brain suddenly becomes more active. But because your whole brain — and your whole body — learn through experience.

A gentle invitation

Perhaps the most empowering idea neuroscience has given me is this:

You are not limited by a label.

You are shaped by what you practice.

If you’d like to begin practicing a different relationship with your body—through movement, breathing, and exploration—you are warmly welcome.

You can begin online from the comfort of your own home, join me in Crete for a retreat, or combine both.

Wherever you begin, the invitation is the same:

Not to become someone else.

But to practice becoming more fully yourself.

—

Dr. Katerina Kandylaki

Bibliography

K. D. Kandylaki et al., "Where Is the Beat? The Neural Correlates of Lexical Stress and Rhythmical Well-formedness in Auditory Story Comprehension," in Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, vol. 29, no. 7, pp. 1119-1131, July 2017, doi: 10.1162/jocn_a_01122.