Reverse Thinking

Binaural beats

This is the second in the series on binaural beats - audio programs that change brain states. The first one was called Brain wave.

The outcome is a change in physical or emotional state combined with a change in consciousness. That's one of our major goals in Reverse Therapy.

Using them we can switch off worries, connect to Bodymind, create deep trance, or trigger endorphin release.

Binaural beat programs work by entraining the brain to slow down brain wave frequencies. The everyday state - the one in which Headmind is most active - is Beta. The next slowest wave is Alpha (the state that occurs when we are just nodding off to sleep, or are in trance). Beyond that we have the Theta state, which occurs in deep sleep or profound meditation.

Theta waves were first studied in the 1970s and it was noticed that using equipment to produce Theta wave states produced serenity, reduced the need for sleep, cut out anxiety, boosted the immune system, enhanced creativity, and helped integrate the emotions. In addition, it is impossible to worry or get anxious so long as the Theta state is in operation.

Interestingly, Japanese research, which studied brain scans of Zen monks - showed that experienced meditators can actually switch down to the Theta wave in minutes.

Now binaural programs are able to create the same benefits without the need to spend years practicing meditation.

I have been testing two of these programs and recommended them on Brain wave.

If you want to try them for yourself then use the links below.

'Deeper and Deeper' CD Download

'Endorphin Release' CD Download

Brain wave

I have been experimenting with Binaural Beat programs, both for myself and with my clients in Reverse Therapy.

I have been very impressed by the ones I have seen so far. They are an effective way to change brain waves and create deep meditation, lucid dreaming, trance, creativity, expanded consciousness - and many other states too.

They are also a powerful way to switch off from worries and obsessions, as well as other types of Ineffective Thinking.

Finally, they are a short-cut to connecting people to Bodymind. In fact, the last time I felt so enraptured and connected to my body was when I used a Flotation tank a few years ago.

Binuaral beats work by transmitting sound waves at different frequencies to each ear. When the brain notices the difference between the two sounds it synchronises them by creating a third 'beat' (or pulse) which only you can hear.

Listening to a binaural beats CD is a little weird at first. The sounds are like bubbling water, chimes, vibrations, and deep tones. But, in a very short period of time I was in a state very similar to deep trance, feeling extremely relaxed and enjoying the dream-like images my brain sent up.

I have been using two programs this week - one that works on stress reduction, and the other on promoting endorphin release. I will write more about the second one this weekend.

Some binaural beat programs are extremely expensive (anything up to £1400 for some programs).

The discounted prices on the two CDs I am using are very reasonable indeed - $10 and $20. I will be experimenting with other programs and - if they pass the test - then I will endorse them here.

If you would like to buy the Stress Relief CD then click here

If you would like to buy the Endorphin Release product then click here.

Image by uncwshelley

"Hypothalamus" - the Musical

No - the heading wasn't my idea but Mark McGuinness's. And he was practicing some more of his free-ranging creativity on me that he offers over at his own blog.

It all started with another one of those daft 'scientific' reports on the BBC site that claim to have discovered the biological cause for some problem or other. This time 'a Yale University team' were trumpeting that - wait for it - paedophile brains were showing decreased activity in the Hypothalamus when they were shown erotic 'adult' material (as opposed to the non-adult material they prefer). This was followed by a claim that anti-schizophrenic drugs could 'cure' paedophilia by taking out the Hypothalamus.

Taking a wild guess at what goes on in Mark's brain I would say that he got that brain research is becoming a bit like a long-running musical - every one wants to get in on the act, even when they don't have a clue what these discoveries are really telling us about the way human beings actually work.

Regular readers of this blog will know that, in Reverse Therapy, we see the Hypothalamus as one of the core brain mechanisms involved in symptom-production in Chronic Fatigue, Fibromyalgia, Anxiety, Depression and a host of other conditions. That wasn't our discovery but Ernest Rossi's if you want to know more.

But that doesn't mean that the Hypothalamus is the ultimate cause of stress-related illness, any more than it is the cause of paedophilia. That would be a bit like an engineer claiming that a rapid consumption of petrol during the moments before impact was the cause of your car crash.

The reason the Hypothalamus shows a change in activity is that it is changing the signals it sends to the nervous system. One set of signals will damp down arousal, others will rev it up. But the Hypothalamus, in turn, is responding to signals from the rest of the emotional apparatus in the limbic system. And those emotional triggers are based on learning. Human beings weren't born peadophiles any more than they were born ill. They learned to be that way.

If you want to change human behavior you are going to have to start further back than the brain mechanisms that reproduce it. A good place to start would be the stressful experiences that led to the formation of cellular memories, which, in turn, dictated the way the brain - and its human owner - would respond to experiences of that same kind in the future. That raises the awareness necessary for the next step - which is to increase the opportunities for new learning experiences in the present, so that the brain can start to lay down different neural responses.

The Hypothalamus is a bit like the conductor of the orchestra. It regulates the musical offerings of the nerves, the hormones, the cells, the cytokines, the neurotransmitters and the endorphins. You can't blame the Hypothalamus if you give it a score from Schoenberg to play instead of one from Mozart.