What is it like being ‘Ambidextrous’

Many of the people out there weren’t able to pronounce this word correctly, even I couldn’t pronounce it well at first. If you didn’t know what is the meaning of this word- ‘Ambidextrous’, the image I put probably explained it to you. If you are Ambidextrous, you can use your both hands equally well. Nah, you aren’t ambidextrous if you eat with the opposite hand and write with the correct one, you are said to be ambidextrous if you can write, eat, bowl, grab, hit, etc. with both hands, somewhat equally well.

At first, it seems totally unbelievable to note that such people are present in the world, after all, most of the people we meet either use their left or their right hand. But there are, and were many people with this trait, for eg. Nikola Tesla, Albert Einstein, Leonardo Da Vinci and Benjamin Franklin were among the few famous people known to be ambidextrous.

Ambidexterity is not something you can master in a day, a week or even a month. Most people who have this trait had it naturally, or maybe it was hereditary. Those who learnt this skill took at least a year and went slowly and steadily.

There are hundreds of processes in your nervous system called neurons, the structural and functional unit of the nervous system. They make connections or networks with other neurons through terminal branches by transferring synapses, when you right, the synapses of the brain are transferred from your brain to the hand with which you write. If you want to write with your other hand, the brain needs to transfer signals to that hand, which takes time as new neural connections need to be made. Now you understand how difficult is it for a young child to learn writing, and what causes the handwriting to be shabby at the beginning.

Being ambidextrous though gives you a lot of attention if you are one of those attention-seekers who always want to do something new and impress others. Imagine having a person near you who is filling his name with his left hand and surname with his right. Astonishing, isn’t it?

Scientists say that when trying to write with the opposite hand, you are focusing more on what you are writing. For example, let’s say that you are right-handed and are in the process of writing with your left one, you wish to write a brief essay on Energy, on which you will be tested. If you now write with your left hand, would you not focus more on the words as you are not using your correct hand? This would increase your knowledge of what you are writing and you would be able to grasp more than what you previously did.

Benefits:
Well, obviously you would be better off if you had one of your hands fractured, but let’s not think negative…

1. The Nervous System Factor
   I am sure you’ve heard people say that writing with the other hand ‘activates’ the other hemisphere of the brain. Well, not activating, but it certainly makes it capable of controlling and coordinating better. Being able to write with the other hand, makes that side of the body more capable. It is now easier for the brain to control that part of the body through neurons.
2. Abilities
   Being ambidextrous boosts your abilities. You can get the choice of either doing something with the right or the left hand. Moreover, it makes you famous. It is quite unlikely for someone to find an ambidextrous person. Isn’t it?
3. Present-Mindedness
   Many of us have gone through the stage where we read or write something and end up realizing that we didn’t understand a single thing. When you write with your opposite hand, you are more aware of what you are writing, because you don’t want to make a mistake in the spelling, or the handwriting.

Ambidexterity is great, isn’t it? But it requires patience, self-control and discipline. If you too wanna enjoy the benefits of this great trait. Here is how you can become ambidextrous:

Step 1: Be considerate
Before you start writing with your opposite hand, you should be able to consider that learning this new trait will require hard-work and may take more than a year to achieve. Only if you are ready at this stage, and are enjoying, move on to the next step.

Step 2: Grip
This won’t take much time but is important. Take a decent pen and try to hold it with the opposite hand. Observe how you grip it with the correct hand and do the same with the opposite one.

Step 3: Start slow
Start slow, write the letters of the alphabet. Repeat them slowly and steadily. Then move on to concatenating letters to make words. After a lot of practice, you will notice that you can write sentences. Some sentences that contain all 26 letters like- ‘the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog’. This will help you get some practice of all the letters of the English Alphabet

Step 4: Stay disciplined, set a daily goal if possible
How can you write so easily and well with your correct hand? Because you practice it often! The same goes for your opposite hand. You need to be disciplined to successfully be able to write with the opposite hand. If possible, set a daily goal of writing for some amount of time or some amount of words.

Bonus Step: Simultaneous Writing
Many people might not know this but some people can write with both hands together. Yes! It is extremely difficult but can be achieved with practice. This boosts your efficiency to a great extent!

Lastly, you might have ditched the idea of writing with the other hand seeing the amount of hard work it requires. But you can always take it as a hobby and one day, probably you might be one of those people who are considered magicians when it comes to writing!