Brainwave States And Meditation

How Your Brainwaves Effect Your Mental States

When we are feeling anxious, worried or stressed, higher or faster Beta waves occur, producing heaps of cortisol which is known as the “stress hormone” and this is extremely bad for your health. What’s more, the more cortisol you produce, the more stressed you feel… the more vulnerable to disease you are and the faster you age!

This overload of stress can cause us to experience headaches, irritability, tension and suffer sleepless nights. Sometimes we experience panic attacks, feelings of dread or we constantly feel tired, run down and completely overwhelmed.

Many scientific reports have proven that “Our Brainwaves Effect Our Mental States“.

And while our mental state affects our brainwaves, the opposite is also true. Our brainwaves affect our mental state – we can actually control our mental state by controlling our brainwaves!

Here are some comments from just a few scientific reports:-

Dr. Elmer Green, prominent biofeedback pioneer, reports:-

Increased learning ability, creativity, mental clarity, intelligence, and intuition… and positive changes in mental and emotional health.

With the creation of new neural pathways, more choices are available. Herein lies the theoretical explanation for the amazing personality changes researchers have reported in subjects using technology to change brainwave patterns.

Increased Relaxation

Dr. Margaret Patterson has shown that certain frequencies in the brain dramatically speed up production of a variety of neurotransmitters. A 10 Hz (Alpha) signal boosts the production and turnover rate of serotonin, a chemical messenger that increases relaxation and eases pain, and catecholamines, vital for memory and learning, respond at around 4 Hz (Theta).

Delayed and Reversed Aging Researcher Robert Cosgrove, Jr., Ph.D., M.D., a biomedical engineer, notes that technologies altering brainwave patterns have great potential for promoting optimal cerebral performance… (and) long-term use may delay aging and deterioration of the brain traditionally associated with aging.

NASA has been using EEG biofeedback for years to increase its pilots ability to concentrate.

Researchers Dr E. Green and Dr K.S. Ozawkie report that… “Theta feedback can be used for becoming aware of subconscious and superconscious aspects of mind in the same way that Vipassana, a form of Buddhist meditation, is used. Vipassana is a meditation method in which the ‘witness’, or ‘observer’ aspect of mind develops. When mindfulness is achieved, the ‘I’ of a person is capable of watching what is happening in body, emotions, and mind without reacting. Experimentally, Theta feedback and Vipassana lead to states of ‘mindfulness’ that are so much alike that Theta training might, without exaggeration, be called ‘instrumental Vipassana’.”

There’s a revolution going on. The present era in neuro-science is comparable to the time when Louis Pasteur first found out that germs cause disease. – Dr Candace Pert, Neuroscientist

Physical Vitality

Vincent Giampapa, M.D. of Longevity Institute International and vice president of the American Society of Anti-Aging Medicine, reveals that placing a listener in the Alpha, Theta, and Delta brain wave patterns dramatically affect production of three important hormones related to both increased longevity and physical well-being: Cortisol, DHEA, and melatonin.

Cortisol is the major age-accelerating hormone within the brain. It also interferes with learning and memory and is, in general, bad news for your health and your well-being.

DHEA levels are a key determinant of physiological age and resistance to disease. When DHEA levels are low, you’re more susceptible to aging and disease; when they’re high, the body is at its peak — vibrant, healthy, and able to combat disease effectively.

Improved Mental Capability

A study by Dr Siegfried Othmer, international leader in the field of neurofeedback and brainwave training, led him to conclude that brainwave training has exceptional effects on intelligence. On average, individuals experienced a 23% increase in IQ.

Individuals that began brainwave training with IQ levels that were less than 100 have been shown to enjoy IQ gains of 33 points on average, in addition to significant improvements in reading comprehension, memory related tasks and logic handling abilities.

A year later, a follow up with those involved in the study found major improvements in self concept, creativity and concentration.

A study by Thomas Budzynski, Ph.D found that college students who used brainwave training technology drastically out performed those that did not in both academic tasks and by GPA.

An M.D. associated with Dr. Siegfried Othmer used brainwave training to treat a boy with an IQ of 70 who was labeled as mildly retarded. A year later this boy was retested and the improvements were startling; he scored 60% higher with an IQ of 112. This specific case is consistent with a myriad of similar cases that have been documented with children with sub 90 IQ scores. Dr. Siegfried Othmer says that “brainwave training clearly facilitates the organization of mental functioning.”

A 2003 study at Imperial College in London supports the notion that brainwave training improves cognition. Neuroscientists Tobias Egner and John H. Gruzelier recruited test subjects at the Royal College of Music, London’s elite school for promising young musicians. Some of the subjects learned, via feedback on a computer screen, how to control the slow waves in the Alpha and Theta ranges. After neurofeedback, the musicians’ abilities had grown enormously, according to expert evaluators.

How you benefit from various brainwave frequencies are listed in the following chart.

The LifeFlow levels which incorporate these benefits, Gamma Tracks (Awaken and Nirvana) Creative Flow and Optimal Learning which incorporate specific frequencies are written in red :-