"Wait... Which Way Is Right Again?"

We've all been there.

You're lying comfortably on the table when your chiropractor gives you one incredibly complicated instruction:

"Turn onto your right side."

Suddenly, everything you've known since kindergarten disappears.

"My right?"

Yes. Your right.

Then comes the pause. The calculations begin. Somewhere in the background, your brain is apparently solving advanced trigonometry just to determine which direction to roll.

And for the record, we see it ALL the time.

There's something about lying face down on a chiropractic table that apparently resets the part of the brain responsible for knowing right from left.

You'll start to roll one way.

Stop.

Look up.

"Wait...this way?"

Meanwhile, your chiropractor is standing there confidently saying, "Yep, your right side."

Here's a little secret:

Sometimes we're confused too.

After spending all day standing across from people, looking at people face down, face up, sitting, standing, and trying to remember whether we're talking about your right or our right, there are definitely moments when the chiropractor's brain needs a second too.

It's basically a daily game of human Twister.

Turns Out, Your Brain Really IS Thinking About It

Here's the funny part: right and left aren't quite as automatic to your brain as you might think.

Telling right from left requires what's called left-right discrimination. Your brain has to consider your body's position, spatial orientation, and sometimes perspective before deciding which direction is which.

Most of the time this happens so quickly that you never notice it.

But change the circumstances by lying face down, turning your head, having someone standing opposite you, or hearing an instruction when you weren't expecting one, and suddenly that tiny mental process becomes a lot more noticeable.

It's also why some people instinctively glance at their hands, picture which hand they write with, or make a tiny imaginary movement before answering.

Your brain is essentially checking its internal map before committing.

So the next time we ask you to turn onto your right side and you suddenly question everything you've ever known about directions, don't feel bad.

Your brain is just doing a little spatial problem-solving.

And if your chiropractor hesitates for a second too?

Well...

Apparently our internal GPS needed to recalculate as well.

Yours in health,

Dr. Orozco