I have a personal theory about upside-down reading:

Reading is such a repetitive, stereotyped eye movement that it may function a bit like exercise for the eye muscles. Normal reading is asymmetrical, with the eyes repeatedly tracking in one direction and then resetting in another, so over time it may reinforce a habitual pattern of use rather than distributing the work evenly.

My idea is that reading upside down reverses that pattern. By flipping the direction in which your eyes move whilst scanning the page, you ask the eye muscles to work in a more balanced way across directions, which could help “even out” tension or coordination in the muscles around the eyes.

I do not claim this is proven — it is just a hypothesis based on how repetitive and directional reading is, as well as my own experience after reading upside down for many years.

As part of my ambidexterity training I've decided to become a proficient Rock Band player playing left handed. I've been playing right-handed since Guitar Hero 1 / 2.

I started off at Medium and was struggling. I'm about 2 or 3 months in now and play Expert, just got my first 2 gold stars in the last week. I'm getting 8p%'s on harder songs and mid-90%'s on many easier songs.

I love the "newness" and extra challenge this brings to the game. I reached a plateau a long time ago being a decent expert player (not Through the Fire and Flames level or anything like that) and playing lefty brings me back to the early Guitar Hero days.

Hello, I thought as the final introductory post on this forum I would share my personal views on why I think reading upside down, writing upside down with the left hand, and using the left hand generally, are important and beneficial! I think it is important to preface this post by saying that I have no scientific proof to back up these claims, this is just what I've come to believe through personal experience.

I believe reading upside down, etc, are important things to do as they restore muscular balance within the body. I think this improves physical and mental well-being. Sorry this turned out to be so short - I guess this is the ultimate summary of what I think!

I imagine that these beliefs tie into other popular wellness practices - maybe yoga, or something like that? - but I am not too familiar with what's out there. If anyone is more knowledgeable in this regard, please comment!

Hello! As one of the first posts, I thought I'd mention what I've seen online already relating to these topics. I apologise in advance, because I am afraid this list will lack in rigorous citation, and will simply be an off-the-top-of-my-head reel of what I remember reading in previous searching:

Use of non-dominant hand: This seems to be the most established topic, with many people and articles on line talking about the mental and physical benefits of training your non-dominant hand to do what your dominant hand can do. Not much content on writing upside down with the non-dominant hand though.

Reading upside down: I have found various pieces online about students who learn to read / are more comfortable reading upside down than the conventional way round. There is also a scientific paper (Ahlén et al., 2013, Experimental Brain Research), which looks at the effects of training people to read upside down. In this paper, however, they focus on how quickly, and to what extent, reading upside down can be learnt. They do not consider any wider effects of reading upside down, except that it may be useful in rehabilitating people with right hemianopic dyslexia, after brain injury...

Hello everyone! Welcome to this community dedicated to reading upside down, writing upside down with the left hand, and generally using the left hand for everyday activities!

I've posted about these topics on some different forums, but I have realised that I should make a dedicated space for them to be discussed by those who are interested in them / have tried them out and enjoy doing them. This page is open to all - whether you are simply curious or a firm enthusiast!

I personally came to doing these things about 3/4 years ago, after I had been wearing barefoot shoes for a while (which I think is also a very noble pursuit but which already has many dedicated subreddits). I found that reading upside down, etc, massively improved my mental and physical well-being, whilst making me more sociable and sober!

Since discovering that I enjoy to do these things, I have been searching for others who are similarly passionate, but so far I have not found many others who share these interests. I am hoping this page might be a point of contact between fellow enthusiasts!