Studio Blog

Editor’s Note: Alex is our Studio Intern who is a senior at BYU majoring in print journalism. She is working on a series about unearthing unusual methods of relieving writer’s block and has decided to put her findings to the test.

J. Paul Getty, the renowned American industrialist, was a believer in the ability to reset his brain. He did this by completing a simple exercise called cross crawling. Cross crawling is exactly what it sounds like: you just get down on the ground and crawl like a baby. But to effectively re-balance your mind you must make sure your opposite hand and knee strike the ground at the same time. This diagonal action re-balances the two sides of your brain, and helps you recover from those ever-feared "brain farts.”

Some doctors are recommending a similar exercise that should give you the same effect without causing such a stir when you are crawling around your cubicle.

Begin by taking hold of your right earlobe with your left hand and your left earlobe with your right hand. Then bend your knees into a squatting position and then slowly staighten you knees back to a standing position.

My Attempt:

To save myself from embarrassment, I performed my re-balancing exercises from the comfort of my own home. I attempted both rituals twice, once by myself so I could really focus on what I was trying to accomplish and then a second time for my sister to capture on camera for documentation.


After a long commute home, I hoped the exercises would clear my cluttered mind. I began with the crawling exercise which, at first, felt more like a yoga core workout than a brain teaser. After I was three-quarters of the way across the room, I recognized the definite challenge it was to perfect the cross-crawl. I’m not sure about how well my mind was rebalanced but it did give my mind a relief while trying to focus on the correct technique.

As for the ear lobe squat, in the end, I just felt sort of dizzy. And yes, maybe the reason I felt dizzy was because I had just crawled a 5K but either way it didn’t seem to do much for me. I suggest trying one routine or the other instead of attempting both at the same time. I plan on giving the ear lobe squat a second chance on a later date.

Other variations of the cross crawl can be found on http://headbacktohealth.com/Cross_crawl.html. This will give you the chance to find the cross crawl that will work for you.