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What is biofeedback and how can that effect meditation?
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Traditional, energetic practises, for anyone, anywhere.
BioFeedback - The waves of the brain
Meditation is neither sleep nor a hypnotic state. Meditation is becoming more mainstream and psychologist and drs are prescribing patients to start a meditation practise in order to observe their own inner functioning. This is a wonderful method to treat disease as we can begin to observe the various functions in the body from the organs to the brain itself. Just half an hour of meditation each morning can improve our mental functionality by bringing harmony and clarity to the mind.
From a scientific point of view, we can look at meditation as biofeedback. This is the way we measure and monitor electrical waves that are emitted from the brain - brain waves.
What are brain waves? Basically, the brain is made of up billions of cells called neurones. There are countless connections between these individual cells and other cells not just in our brain but in our entire body. Nerve pulses continually travel along these Nerone connections. Each neurone is made up of a central body, an axon and various dendrites. The impulses are received via the axon and the dendrites transmit impulses to other neurones. The nerve impulses are only transmitted when an electrical charge is built up in the neurone. These pulses are the brainwaves. There is a distinct relationship between frequency, the voltage and the amplitude of the brainwave and the state of the individual.
The EEG (electroencephalograph) measures brainwaves of different frequencies within the brain. Electrodes are placed on specific sites on the scalp to detect and record the electrical impulses within the brain. A frequency is the number of times a wave repeats itself within a second.
The are 4 types of brainwaves - Beta, Alpha, Theta and Delta.
Beta Waves are the patterns we generally emit in our day to day activities. We use these waves for rational thinking, and it is the state that most of brain is in when we have our eyes open and are listening and thinking during analytical problem solving, judgment, decision making, processing information about the world around us.These have high frequency with over 13 cycles per second.
Alpha Waves are usually transmitted during mild states of meditation. These are present in a relaxed state of mind where we are passive, non-anxious and tensionless. Alpha rhythms are reported to be derived from the white matter of the brain. The white matter can be considered the part of the brain that connects all parts with each other. Alpha is a common state for the brain and occurs whenever a person is alert, but not actively processing information. These waves are related to creativity and meditative states. These have a frequency of 8 to 13 cycles per second.
Theta Waves are classed as “slow” activity. It is seen in connection with creativity, intuition, daydreaming, and fantasising and is a repository for memories, emotions, sensations. Theta waves are strong during internal focus, meditation, prayer, and spiritual awareness. It reflects the state between wakefulness and sleep and relates to the subconscious mind. They are associated with the unconscious mind and occur when deep unconscious data comes into the conscious awareness. Children often emit this type of wave during waking state however it is much rarer in adults. Waves here have a frequency of 4-7 cycles per second.
Delta Waves are the lowest frequencies. These are related to deep dreamless sleep. We increase Delta waves in order to decrease our awareness of the physical world. We also access information in our unconscious mind through Delta. Peak performers decrease Delta waves when high focus and peak performance are required. It is believed that in this state we can absorb knowledge into the unconscious mind by bypassing the sense organs. Delta waves have frequency of 0.5 to 4 cycles per second.
This is all great, but how does understanding biofeedback help us meditate?
By being aware of our brainwave activity at any given time, we can take conscious steps to change the wave pattern to the desired state. Although it’s not as simple as changing your mind like the click if your fingers, it takes substantial practice and persistent effort. Just like when you first learnt to walk, and talk etc.
Re search has shown us that all body processes can be controlled, even the so-called automatic or vegetative functions, such as heartbeat, respiration, etc. This is something that yogis have been doing for thousands of years. Yet it’s only in recent years that it has been taken seriously by modern science. Scientific tests, have shown that the heart and other organs can be slowed down or sped up by mere willpower. To be able to change our states of meting we must first become aware of these states in our everyday lives and how and when they change.
Consistency is key