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Meditation And Brainwave
Entrainment
So much has been written about meditation, but
not so much has been written about brainwave
entrainment. In fact, most people probably
never even heard of the term "brainwave
entrainment". In this article I hope to reveal
how meditation and brainwave entrainment
compliment each other and are inseparable. I
also point out that brainwave entrainment can
be used as a shortcut to meditation.
Meditation Defined
Although there are various definitions for
meditation one of the main definitions for
meditation is stillness of mind, letting go of
stormy and distracting thoughts and emotions,
and for a time remaining focused inwardly.
Those who are intellectually inclined use
meditation to clear their mind and to focus on
just one thought, perhaps a thought about how
to solve a certain problem, or entertaining the
thought of a new idea. Those who are
spiritually inclined use meditation for
stilling their mind so they can focus all their
energy and aspiration on the divine within. But
we are barely scratching the surface in
defining meditation in such simple terms.
Meditation and Brainwaves
Scientifically speaking meditation basically
alters one's brainwaves. Different brainwave
states are associated with different benefits
and experiences. For example when your mind is
racing, stressed, unable to relax or be still,
perhaps caught in emotional turmoil, arguing,
hating, bitter, screaming, or confused, racing
a zillion miles a second etc., you are probably
plugged into a brainwave state at the beta or
even gamma levels. Most of us live our waking
day to day lives at the beta level. Even if we
are generally a calm person we can still be at
a beta level if we are unable to intellectually
relax or take a mental break. If we feel we
always need to be preoccupied with something we
are probably living too much at the beta live,
and in the long run this can potentially cause
premature aging, stress, health problems,
emotional issues, and so on. Healthy beta is
ok. But our brain can be too beta wired which
is not good.
Meditation helps train the brain to be more
synchronized and balanced. Periods of regular
meditation practice help bring the brain from a
gamma or beta level to a more relaxed alpha
level, or even deeper to a theta level, and
ultimately in very deep, intense meditation you
can reach the delta level. Delta is a very
life-giving, rejuvenating state of mind, but
few reach it often enough, not even when they
sleep.
Following is a brief description of the beta,
alpha, theta, and delta brainwave states:
Beta waves (13 to 40 Hz ) - Beta is identified
with active, busy or anxious thinking and
active concentration.
Alpha waves (8 to 12 Hz ) - When we begin to
relax or begin to get drowsy, but are still
awake and conscious, when we are day dreaming,
we are at the alpha level.
Theta waves (4 to 8 Hz) - When we are asleep
and have dreams, and experience rapid eye
movement (REM), and have hallucinations, and
even when we experience deep meditation, we are
at the theta level. When we lucid dream (this
is when you are conscious while you are
dreaming) we are at the theta level.
Delta waves (0 to 4 Hz) - Delta waves are
usually associated with deep, slow brain
activity found in deep sleep. Delta waves are
experienced predominantly in newborn infants,
as well as in healthy adults in deep
rejuvenating sleep, or in very deep states of
brain enhancing, emotional cleansing, bodily
renewing meditation.
The Difference Between Meditation and Sleep
By now you are probably thinking to yourself:
"What is the point in meditating since I enter
the alpha, theta, and sometimes delta levels
every time I sleep? If I sleep 6 to 8
hours a night then am I not basically receiving
the same benefits I would receive if I were
doing 6 to 8 hours of meditation a day for
my entire life?"
The main point here is deep, dreamless sleep at
the delta level. Most people don't sleep deep
enough where the benefits of deep rejuvenating
sleep take place. But if you take even only a
"power nap" for an hour or two and enter a
deep, dreamless sleep at the delta level at
that time, when you wake up and come out of it
there is a new sense of life, energy,
awareness, well-being in you. In deep
rejuvenating meditation you enter that same
level, except that you are awake instead on
unconscious. When you can enter that deep
rejuvenating state of consciousness while
remaining fully aware then you can carry over
that state of mind in your day to day life and
become the essence of who you are deep in your
inner most being. It takes practice and daily
trips to that deep place within.
In a nutshell meditation in this context is a
fourth state of consciousness that is unique
because it consists of high awareness with very
low mental or physiological function.
Meditation is an awareness of our inner spirit,
as well as closeness to our spirit. Everyone
comes "pre-wired" with the capacity for this
type of meditative restful awareness. Alas few
ever reach it during normal sleep. But daily
meditation can help your sleep become
deeper.
When reaching deep delta levels during sleep we
feel so much refreshed and rejuvenated when we
wake up. When we fall into deep sleep, the ego
disappears as does all out mental programming
and brainwashed mindset, we are closer to our
pristine innocence. The closer we are to "home"
so to speak the more recharged and healthy we
are in our day to day life.
This clearly proves that the secret of
attaining freshness and peace lies within, not
outside. The goal of meditation is to become
conscious while you are passing through dream
and deep sleep states of your mind, and
remaining conscious when you are in your spirit
so to speak. And then the ultimate goal
(practice makes perfect) is the carrying over
of that awareness into your day to day life and
maintaining it by intuitive living. This is
when an entire life makeover takes place of
which religious rules of conduct and morals and
ethical living are all but cheap imitations of
something that is natural and spontaneous due
to the actual experience of "seeing God" in the
depths of one's being. But that is another
subject.
Brainwave Entrainment: A Shortcut To
Meditation
The primary emphasis in this article relates to
a shortcut method for getting to that deep
inward state where the physical, mental,
emotional and spiritual benefits of meditation
naturally follow. This is where "brainwave
entrainment" comes in.
What Is Brainwave Entrainment?
Brainwave entrainment is a scientifically
proven leading edge in brain/mind technology.
Professionals in the areas of psychology,
neurology, medical health and self-help are
beginning to utilize the power of brainwave
entrainment in their work with patients and
clients. Advances in the effectiveness of
brainwave entrainment have been significant and
gaining ground.
Wikipedia defines brainwave entrainment this
way:
"Brainwave synchronization or "brainwave
entrainment," is any practice that aims to
cause brainwave frequency to fall into step
with a periodic stimulus having a frequency
corresponding to the intended brain-state (for
example, to induce sleep). It depends upon a
"frequency following" response, a naturally
occurring phenomenon where the human brain has
a tendency to change its dominant EEG frequency
towards the frequency of a dominant external
stimulus. Such a stimulus may be aural, as in
the case of binaural beats, monaural beats, and
isochronic tones, or else visual, as with a
dream-machine, a combination of the two with a
mind machine, or even electromagnetic
radiation."
Over the centuries and even today many people
use different methods in an attempt to enter a
deep state of meditation. Some use breathing
techniques. Some use chanting, others use
dance, instruments, music, devotional exercises
and so much more. All these are different
methods used for basically entraining the brain
and lowering the brainwave frequencies to a
state of mind at the alpha, theta or delta
levels.
Also used by some for entering deep states of
meditation are brainwave mp3's or cd's which
are embedded with binaural beats, monaural
beats, or isochronic tones. It has been
scientifically documented that periods of
regular brainwave entrainment by means of
listening to cd's or mp3's embedded with
binaural betas, monaural beats, or isochronic
tones can lead to an increase in overall
emotional calmness, relaxation, deep inner
peace, intelligence, creativity, focus and
mental clarity also improving memory, raising
IQ and creating a rise in energy, and reduction
in stress levels. These are the same benefits
one experiences during meditation.
All this info I shared may sound complicated
and complex in some cases. The fact is that you
no more need to understand exactly how this
process works than you need to know how the
engines on an airplane work to get you from one
destination to another. What you really need to
know is that brainwave entrainment is highly
effective and easily fits into your daily
routine. Just 20 minutes to an hour a day
listening to brainwave entrainment mp3's or
cd's you begin to reap the rewards.
Affordable High Quality Brainwave Mp3's
& CD's (With Free Samples)
If you want to learn more about meditation
and brainwave entrainment, and also listen
to mp3 samples embedded with binaural
beats, monaural beats and isochronic tones,
please click on any of the links in the
Author's resource box below. Thank you for
taking time to read this article.
By:
Edward Crivello
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