Whole Brain Living Coaching

by Rob Schware

Hi, I’m Rob. This website is about Whole Brain Living because this material has changed my life. For over two years I’ve been working with Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, scaling Whole Brain Living in schools, justice and wellness systems, mental health practices and more. I’m involved because Whole Brain Living has helped heal my relationship with my wife Alice, has helped me find my more playful self around my grandchildren, it helped me better understand what was going on inside of myself as I summited Mt. Kilimanjaro, and it has helped me sustain and integrate my past psychedelic experiences. Whole Brain Living is a wonderful program because it works! I have had so much fun getting to know the We Inside of Me, that I want to share this material with you!

If you are interested in learning more, and possibly adding Whole Brain Living to your toolbox for personal growth and/or organizational well-being, I’m very user friendly, so let’s talk!

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“We have so much more power over what is going on inside of our brain than we have ever been taught.”

— Jill Bolte Taylor, PhD

MY SERVICES

At the core of Whole Brain Living are four anatomically based regions of our brain, which manifest collectively as our Four Characters. Our coaching sessions will define, identify, and then explore the strengths of each of your four unique characters. After that, we will examine how each of these four parts of your brain contributes to your life in everyday situations. From there, we will explore each of your Four Characters and see how they participate in each of your significant personal and professional relationships. Considering there are Four Characters inside each of us, that means there are eight of us in every relationship! No wonder navigating life and keeping peace with others is often challenging.

I view Whole Brain Living as a powerful tool that we each can master so we can live our lives on purpose as our most healthy selves.  In our sessions, we will use a variety of fun exercises that will help us recognize the different values and roles of each of our Four Characters so we can readily identify which of our Four Characters we are embodying at any moment. To immediately recognize each of your Four Characters, you will not simply create a cognitive relationship with these different parts of yourself but rather learn what each of these different characters feels like inside your body. Through the use of the Whole Brain Living tool, the BRAIN Huddle, you will realize that you have the power to choose who and how you want to be at any moment.

Once you can recognize which of your Four Characters you are exhibiting at any moment, then because you know who your other characters are, you can choose if you want to stay in that character or shift into another part of your brain. This is personal power, and as Dr. Taylor repeatedly says, ‘we have much more power over what is going on inside of our brain than we have ever been taught’. At any moment in time, we are thinking thoughts, feeling emotions, and running physiological responses to what we are thinking and feeling. When you have mastered Whole Brain Living and the BRAIN Huddle, you will no longer be controlled by your emotional reactivity when triggered. Instead, when you know your Four Characters and gain the power to be the person you want to be, you will spend more time being that person. Once you have mastered Whole Brain Living, you will be able to notice and navigate each of your Four Characters throughout the day. With this mastery comes an ongoing sense of peace because you know you have the power to choose who and how you want to be, which is true personal freedom.

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ONE-ON-ONE COACHING

This is a tailored way to help you transform your life by better understanding your whole brain. Our brains are cool!

We’ll practice techniques so you feel empowered to make better choices and live the life you want to live.

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GROUP COURSE

This consists of three 90-minute sessions, with time dedicated to the teaching of the Whole Brain Living concepts, group discussions, and small group break-outs. We will consistently use Whole Brain Living concepts based on everyday life situations.

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CORPORATE WORKSHOPS

These are three-hour workshops designed to gain proficiency at identifying your brain’s four characters and learn to appreciate and value the skills set that each brings to your life and workplace. We'll dive into how our Characters tend to show up in real-life work scenarios. 

Rob and Alice and their six grandchildren laughing on the couch

ABOUT ME

I was part of the first batch of coaches who were trained and Officially Certified in Whole Brain Living, by Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor.

Throughout my professional life, I have worked with leaders in both nonprofit and corporate sectors. I have now chosen to share the knowledge and wisdom of Whole Brain Living with others, because of the profound impact this material has had on my own personal life and relationships.

The coaching sessions that I offer, are specifically designed to help you better understand your brain and your Four Characters. When you learn to bring your Four Characters into conversation with one another, then you learn to negotiate within yourself the life you want to create for yourself. Profesionally or personally, Whole Brain Living will help you identify and manifest the life you truly want.

Here's a story of applying Whole Brain Living: Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro

Rob climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro at sunrise

This is part of a father-daughter story climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania in January 2022.

In late September 2021, I was heavily involved in physical training in preparation for an 8-day climb up the world’s highest free-standing mountain. I was introduced to Jill Bolte Taylor, author of My Stroke of Insight and, more recently, Whole Brain Living. My friend and yoga teacher Nikki Myers told me her book was “a game-changer.”  Whole Brain Living is absolutely absorbing, and was going to be of assistance when things started to get harder and harder between 15,000 ft and the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro (19,340 ft). 

Daughter Naomi touched foreheads with me and quietly sang happy birthday at midnight on our last day just before we presented ourselves to our guides: the final ascent was about to begin.

My legs felt so strong that I had to reign myself in a little and remind myself I would be on this trail for a good 11-18 hours. One step in front of the next, pulling aside occasionally to rest and breathe, chatting ever so briefly to let the guides know the pace wasn’t hurting me.

Rob, her daughter and their team at the Mount Kilimanjaro summit

At around 17,000 ft my attention and focus began to close down and I became doubtful of ever reaching the summit.

Up ahead there were other teams that we occasionally passed. I hadn’t figured on that happening. After hours climbing over a steep, unavoidable scree, I was laboring and I knew I’d soon have a long ascent ahead to test my muscles and lungs. I looked up and saw headlights a great distance ahead and also high up the steep snow-capped mountain. I began to panic and to think “three quarters up this mountain is quite enough.” I went to my zone of disliking the unknown, afraid of the worst possible outcomes ahead. I desperately needed a breakthrough to continue and not collapse on my keister.

So, I adopted a two-pronged strategy: first, don’t look up at anything other than my guide’s heels; second, immerse myself in a brain huddle with my 4 characters. Give them each a chance at the microphone but don’t let any character dominate the conversation. My C1 wanted to continue its sharp focus on the heels in front of me—a solid tactical approach. My C2 felt fear and constriction—moaning and groaning. C3 delighted in hiking in the depths of the dark and felt an authentic joy and lightness of being. And C4 relished the connection with my other characters, felt open to embrace the next moments, and aware of the fellowship all around me.

Almost an hour after sunrise, we reached Stella Point (18,885 ft) on the crater rim of Mt. Kilimanjaro. That also felt like an optional moment to head down! Another 45 minutes later and we reached the highest point on the African continent, which was in warm sunshine the day before but now was a freezing blizzard of snow.