MindWaves Author Arlene R. Taylor Featured in Online Interview at TheBookInsidercom

Author Arlene R. Taylor was recently interviewed online at TheBookInsider.com about her book "MindWaves: How to use less brain energy to avoid burnouts and better connect with those around you."

A portion of the inteview follows:

Thebookinsider.com: You are a "brain-function specialist." Tell us about this work and what it entails.

Taylor: The science of brain function could only come into its own with the advent of brain-imaging equipment that allows researchers to watch the brain while it is actually functioning. Modalities include PET scans, MRIs, fMRIs, etc. Copies of brain-imaging pictures are regularly presented in the news media, which helps the general public begin to understand what is possible using this type of equipment.

As a brain-function specialist I am interested in research studies that utilize brain imaging. I also engage in research with a number of other brain-function specialists using tools such as the BTSA and Sensory Preference Assessment.

As a brain-function specialist, my overall goal is to help people thrive. Understanding more about how the brain functions in general, and your brain functions more specifically, and practically applying the information in your daily routines can help you to manage your energy more efficiently and be more successful in life.

Thebookinsider.com: What first stimulated your interest in the human brain?

Taylor: I've been interested in the human brain for as long as I can recall. As a little girl I remember watching people and thinking, "I wonder what is going on inside their head." Taking a class in graduate school (Gender Differences in the Brain) further stimulated my interest in the brain and I began taking classes on brain function and reading everything I could get my hand on related to emerging brain-function research.

Thebookinsider.com: Who and/or what have been your biggest influences and why?

Taylor: My conscious awareness was really jumpstarted when I read a book by Wayne Dyer entitled: Your Eroneous Zones. Its kernel (as I recall) was that you are not at the mercy of your environment. Your mindset and the way in which you interpret your emotions into feelings are key in determining your destiny and how successful you are on your journey to that destiny. So many individuals appear to live as if they are just a leaf floating down a stream, as if there is little if anything they can do to impact the way in which life happens for them. Nothing could be further from the truth. We may not be able to control everything that happens to us but we can have complete control over the way in which we respond to what happens to us and usually to the feelings we choose to maintain, as well. Sometimes, by pro-active choices, we can impact even what happens to us. Opportunities surround us everywhere. We can hone our awareness in identifying and pursuing these opportunities or we can be somewhat oblivious and miss them. When that happens, someone else will walk through the open door we failed to see or pick up on the opportunities we could not recognize.