Brain Waves and Booze: Another Tool for You to Consider.

[xtexan]

UPDATE: 6/18/08

I bumped this up so that a friend could find it easier. They had asked about my use of the methods I describe in this thread. This was one of the very first posts I made when I joined the forum in September 2006.


Hello everyone:

I just started here recently, and I see that some people are interested in some things I have done to achieve my almost 9 months alchohol (and cigarette) free.

I just came across this site a few days ago, and I was extremely interested in the approach outlined by RJ, and the book. My own program to help myself was closely aligned, and I thought I would share some of my methods so you could add them if you desire to the RJ program.

This may more properly belong in the research section, but since I have some direct experience with it, I will post it here.

I have had an interest in brain wave synchronization for quite some time. Going back 20 years, I have used and experimented with Robert Monroes "HemiSync" program called "The Gateway Voyage". I have two different light/sound mind machines as well.

I am a degreed engineer, but not a doctor. The following is presented as only my personal experience.

The hypothesis is this: The brain wave patterns of those individuals who overuse, or abuse alcohol are shifted into the beta region heavily.

Here is a link with some supporting research for this hypothesis:

University of North Texas North Texan Online Spring 2000 : Brain Waves

This link advocates the use EEG biofeedback to regulate and control ones brainwave patterns into a lower level region towards the alpha and theta range. This type of equipment is extremely expensive, and not common. For my purposes, it is not a viable option for self-help.

For the benefit of those who are bewildered at this point, a little clarification on the terms.

Human brains are always in operation every second you live. The only time a human brain does not generate at least some sort of electrical activity is when it is dead. Certain patterns of electrical activity are more prevalent when you are asleep, some more so when you are awake and concentrating, and some more prevalent when you are agitated and upset. In general the patterns of electrical activity are grouped loosely into four bands.

Alpha Waves: about 8 to 12 cycles per second.
Beta Waves: anything above 12 cycles per second
Delta Waves: generally anything below 4 cycles per second.
Theta Waves: about 4 to 8 cycles per second.

The above is from memory, and other sources have slightly different groupings and definitions, but these are the general ranges. Each band has a mental state associated with it, which in general simple terms is:

Alpha Wave: relaxed mood, passive awareness.
Beta Wave: Alert, concentrating, or agitated.
Delta Wave: Asleep, unconscious of outside things.
Theta Wave: A relaxed state of creative reverie.

Now the brain can have any combination of waves and electrical activity going on a any one time. This means you are not in just one wave state at any one time. Just like music has several different notes, chords, timings all going on at once, so does your brain.

A more general hypothesis is that alcohol or any type of addiction is the result of the individual stuggling to control an unfavorable brain state. You want to feel more relaxed, or in control, or happier, or more outgoing, or whatever.

What I will relate to those here, is a method to shift brain waves to a more favorable state with equipment and methods easily available to the public.

I will split this into different posts, as the things I want to convey, will get lengthly. Again, they will only be the result of my experiences, and not a scientific study.

More later.

[xtexan]

Brain Waves and Booze: Another Tool for You to Consider.

Hello again:

I am going to start editing this in a word processor, and then copy/paste.

In the first post, it was put forth, that my hypothesis of shifting brain waves to a more favorable state, might help one abstain or control drinking.

There is also been some evidence that it can alleviate depressed states as well. In my case, probably like many others, depression and drinking went hand in hand. I got drunk to feel better, but then getting drunk made me feel worse.

In a nutshell, it would seem to be beneficial to shift from beta waves, to alpha, theta, or delta. A machine to measure and graph human brain waves is called an electroencephalograph, or EEG for short. It?s basically a gauge that uses electrodes put on the head that picks up the electrical activity of your brain. You may have seem them on television for a medical program, or in a movie. They really do exist, and are used in diagnostics for any number of medical conditions. They are outrageously expensive though.

Robert Monroe, in his writings on brainwaves, defined a phenomenon known as the Frequency Following Effect or FFE for short. Here is a link to the Monroe Institute.

http://www.monroeinstitute.com/

The Monroe Institute is a holistic research and therapy center that implements the use of the FFE to achieve changes in human consciousness. He has a patented method called ?HemiSync? that uses only sound waves through headphones to change brain waves.

FFE simply stated, is that if you see light, or hear sounds that are pulsed in a certain way, your brain will tend to follow that pulsing and generate brain waves of the same frequency. The hypnotic allure of a campfire flashing is an example of this, although at a primitive level. Our ancestors in primitive tribes would gather around a campfire, and beat drums and sing in rhythms to the fire flickering to achieve different states of consciousness. This seems to be a root part of our cultures.

So, simplified to an extreme, if you see a light flashed at 10 blinks per second for long enough, your brain will tend to pulse its waves at 10 cycles per second. Simple idea, and EEG traces tend to support this. Of course, epileptic seizures can be triggered in those susceptible, so its something that has to be regarded with some respect and caution. They do not recommend the methods for unmonitored home use by individuals who have epilepsy.

Another program, called ?Holosync?, which is similar to ?HemiSync? is now gaining a following as well. I have one of their free introductory CD?s, and it uses a little different approach from a sonic technical standpoint. Here is a link to their website:

http://www.centerpointe.com/

You can peruse both the above links for your own information if you wish.

I will end this post here, but I will expand and write more as I get time.

To be continued?.

[Sepnine]

Brain Waves and Booze: Another Tool for You to Consider.

Thanks Xtexan, this is very interesting stuff. While I am totally concerned about taking topa - and I am going to try program without it - I am also concerned about the hypno CDs. The thought of anyone messing with my mind upsets me, but I have to be realistic and ask myself what the heck goes on in my mind when I'm blacked out - using hypno CDs can't be worse than that, can it? Not totally comfortable with the methods you mention, but again, how can it be worse than blacking out, and I will check out the links you provide. Thanks again!

[xtexan]

Brain Waves and Booze: Another Tool for You to Consider.

sepnine:

I will wait a few days before I expand further on this topic, but I want to address your concern.

The brain wave synchronization tools I will cover do not put anything into your subconcious that was not already there in the first place. In fact, they tend to bring out things that were forgotten, sometimes for decades. However, some of the things I have found buried deep in my mind, were not very pleasant at all to have come to the surface.

The power of suggestion is a very real thing, documented at length elsewhere. What if you had control of, and in fact were the one putting those suggestions in your own mind? Not what someone else thinks you should hear, but what you, yourself would put in? Would it be postive and constructive, or destructive? I spent too many years putting negative stuff in my own mind, by my own self-talk and thoughts. Another part of my abstinence has been selectively and carefully choosing exactly what I feed my senses.

At any rate, I will expand on options and choices you have when "messing" with your own mind.

[Bambino]

Brain Waves and Booze: Another Tool for You to Consider.

Hi Xtexan

This interests me a great deal, and I have just ordered the CD. and read the links you have provided


Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us. It's greatly appreciated.


Liz

[Sepnine]

Brain Waves and Booze: Another Tool for You to Consider.

Ditto Xtexan, thanks!

[lushy]

Brain Waves and Booze: Another Tool for You to Consider.

I have a question

Xtexan, So which one of these approaches have you or are you using? Have they specifically helped with your need for alcohol (along with nutrition and exercise of course)? I have ordered the free demo CD and am curious to hear more of your experiences. Thanks for sharing!!!

[xtexan]

Brain Waves and Booze: Another Tool for You to Consider.

lush:

I am currently using a high-powered analog light/sound mind machine about once to twice a week for 30 minute sessions. I will go into more details as I put together further posts. I am working on the drafts for my exercise stuff also. Please be patient.

I have used Hemi-Sync occasionally in the last few months. It requires a bit more mental preparation to get good results I have found. The machine I have been using is sort of a "sledge hammer", but I consider it to be an absolute essential for putting my mind into a more peaceful state. A state that can do without alcohol, tobacco, or drugs.

I've even gone so far as to create my own synchronization audio tapes. You need a computer and some audio equipment to do that. Lately I have been messing around with a digital synthesizer and a MIDI system interface. Its in its early stages, and right now its just some casual experimentation and learning.

I think RJ's message that no one thing by itself is a "magic bullet" is right on the mark. It takes the balanced combination of many things all working together in synergy to break the human desire of addiction. My intention here is to suggest additional resources to that end. It worked for me, and maybe it will work for you.

However, if you want to want to get a mind machine right now, and begin using one. Check out this link. They sell a lot of other "new-agey" stuff, but I don't concern myself with those things.

http://www.toolsforwellness.com/

[xtexan]

Brain Waves and Booze: Another Tool for You to Consider.

Hello everyone:

Continuing on with Brain Waves and Booze

I mentioned two sources for programs that can alter brain waves by way of sound only. I have used both, and they are effective to a certain degree. My sister is using the ?HoloSync? program, and is reporting to me excellent results. Her main motivation is de-stressing from taking care of two little children, which she had late in life. She also wants to stop a mild cigarette habit. Luckily, she never indulged in the alcohol like I did.

I mentioned that another way to alter brain waves was by the use of pulsed light. Many know that seizures can be triggered in an epileptic by light flashing at the right frequency. This alone indicates it can have a powerful effect on the brains electrical activity.

Quite a few years ago, a researcher wondered what would happen if you combined both. Both light and sound together, controlled by a computer, putting pulses through a set of glasses and headphones together. More on this later.

Other research, which involved putting the EEG electrodes on Tibetan monks, and Hindu yogis, who were deep in their meditations, revealed something extraordinary. Their brain waves were almost completely synchronized to a certain frequency. Here is one such report.

http://www.stanford.edu/group/hopes/...ndhd/med2.html

Human brains are split into two hemispheres, both a right and a left half. This seems to be a part of our natural design, as we have right and left eyes, arms, legs, ears, nostrils, and so on. In addition, each half of the brain seems to sense, monitor, and control different sides of the body. Strangely enough, in many cases, the left side of the brain, monitors and controls the physical parts on the right side of the body. It has also been determined by research, that different halves of the brain perform different work loads. Its been reported that the right half of the brain is the ?artistic creative? side, and the left half is the ?logical analytical? side.

http://www.funderstanding.com/right_left_brain.cfm

In your normal everyday thinking, left and right halves are typically doing different things, and operating at a multitude of different frequencies and amplitudes. (Think of the music analogy now in stereo).

Not many of us have years, and years to devote to mastering meditation like monks or yogis. What if there was a faster way to get similar results?

Enter the light/sound mind machine. A product of Western technology, that has recently become portable, light weight, and incredibly sophisticated due to modern digital electronics. By using both light and sound pulsed at certain frequencies, in certain patterns, and timings, one can drive the electrical activity of their brains to near the level that a monk or yogi can. The effect is quite astounding and consciousness changing the first time you experience it. Of course, one has to be open to the inputs psychologically, because you can resist and rebel against the effects. Just like if you refuse completely to be hypnotized against your will, you will not enter that mental state.

To be continued?

[Lou]

Brain Waves and Booze: Another Tool for You to Consider.

xtexan

I am really interested in your self help methods and would like to try them..however i am unsure as to whether it would be wise for me to do so. I believe that i have used some kind of self coping mechanism as a child to block out most of my childhood (have been having flashbacks, know something is wrong but my brain jus wont let me remember) im scared that if i try the light and sound therapy i may remember stuff and make myself worse. If i do this and im alone then it may do more harm than good...is this likely to happen??? Any advice much appreciated.

Lou-Lou x

[cv1]

Brain Waves and Booze: Another Tool for You to Consider.

Sepnine - Blacking out

Sepnine, according to Dr. Gersten, blacking out while drinking is a symptom of low tryptophan. You may want to go to a specialist and have an amino acid profile taken and evaluated to see where you stand.

Here is a link to more information.

http://www.digitalnaturopath.com/treat/T138417.html

[xtexan]

Brain Waves and Booze: Another Tool for You to Consider.

Lou:

As stated previously, I'm an engineer. I have no training in psychology, but I can tell you what my experience has been.

On a few occasions using both HemiSync and then the light/sound machine, a memory long forgotten would surface. Almost to the point of being able to hear, smell, see everything exactly as it had been. A few times the memory was strange, not meaning anything. Sort of like the way the doors in a house I lived in as a child slid in and out, rather than move on hinges. It may have meant something, but I had forgotten that small detail for decades, and it was not important to me, or was it?

Well, quite a while later on another memory surfaced. Most unpleasant. I won't go into it, because it's a private family matter, but that memory happened to have the door I remembered involved. I may have been 12 years old, but now many incredibly small details surfaced. Sights, sounds, words said, getting paddled by one of my parents. It was a memory of being punished pretty severely. It had been stuck down deep and forgotten for over 30 years.

A revelation happened to me when I remembered it clearly. I then used the NLP technique to deal with the memory. I believe RJ has references to the NLP (Neuro-linguistic Programming) method of dealing with past unpleasant memories on your own. It works!

I also have the audio program of NLP, The New Technology of Achievement, where I learned of the method to deal with bad memories that may be a deep source of personal problems. Its yet another tool in my bag to rebuild myself to a better, happier fellow.

All in all. A memory like that was making me miserable in another aspect of my life. It was incredibly painful emotionally to have it surface, but now as an adult, with other tools, I could deal with it.

I am far better off now. If you wish, check out the NLP audio series. I believe you can get the audio program at this site. It has one way, that I found very effective at dealing with those memories.

http://www.nightingale.com/p~Product...chievement.asp

[spacie]

Brain Waves and Booze: Another Tool for You to Consider.

This is thought provoking information and makes sense to me. For instance when listening to certain songs I begin to reflect back to my partying days and yearn to experince those times. However, we all know we can't go back and have those same feelings.

Question, in your personal opinion has the light/sound worked as a reward for you? I struggle with not giving myself the reward of getting plowed most days of the week. Each morning I wake up from not drinking it's a huge reward as well as feeling alive during the day, but it's short lived. There's a path in my brain that wants to drink as a reward and it's a concrete sidewalk.

Thanks!!
Spacie

[Lou]

Brain Waves and Booze: Another Tool for You to Consider.

Spacie

So well said and so understood, i dont have to say anymore

Lou-Lou x

[Roberta Jewell]

Brain Waves and Booze: Another Tool for You to Consider.

Mind Alive

Hi, xtexan and welcome.

Here's another link that may be of interest, though you may already know about it: www.mindalive.com. Company founder Dave Siever has done some fascinating work in this area, as well. He calls his technology "audio video entrainment" and he ultimately developed a portable unit which provides timed, flashing lights with pulse audio tone to affect alpha, beta, theta, and delta brainwave patterns. Don't know if this is similar to the equipment you're using, but I thought you may want to check it out or get in touch with Dave if you haven't already.

In fact, I've used the "DAVID" device myself and am really impressed with the technology. The unit can be used by itself or a hypnotherapy CD session can be played concurrently, which I really love. I find it very calming and effective. Others have reported to me they use it regularly to help reduce stress.

Exciting stuff and thanks for sharing. :-)
RJ

p.s.: I've talked to Dave a number of times and am reminded of his studies with autistic children, which he's quite excited about and may be of interest to some of our members. Here's one family's experience.There's lots of research at his site, too, and I think he'll be adding to his autism link shortly.