Once I discovered binaural beats and being able to relax my mind by using these sounds to alter the brainwaves, I also noticed the affect it had on my overall system. I noticed that as my mind relaxes, my breathing deepens, becomes more rhythmic and my entire system breathes a sigh of relief! I have learned that my mind, my heart and breathing are intimately connected via our parasympathetic nervous system.
Binaural Beats and relaxing sounds are great, when available, but sometimes they are not. What then? Just breathe!!! In fact there is a whole system in yoga dedicated to this called Pranayama. Pranayama is essentially the practice of breathing and bringing conscious attention to something that is normally part of an unconscious system (the parasympathetic nervous system). Prana is the life force or the breath. Our breathing is also something we can consciously control. By consciously and purposefully controlling the breath, the heart and mind also follow suit. By slowing the breathing the brainwaves will literally adjust to lower ranges. Or course, the heart also follows. This has helped immensely in lowering my blood pressure too!
Here's a quick recap on the brainwave states:
Beta - normal waking states
Alpha - relaxed and meditative
Theta - more relaxed and meditative, REM sleep
Delta - deep sleep
As I fall asleep, most of what I described above is happening naturally. The breath slows, my mind and body become relaxed and boom, before you know it, I'm in Delta state and I'm out like a light! Of course there were times, before I learned a lot of these things that I had terrible trouble sleeping. My mind was over active and it was really not conducive to finding that stillness before sleep.
So, here's a simple exercise to try, this great for reducing stress (or just relaxing) quickly:
Inhale to the count of 4:
1 2 3 4
Exhale to the count of 6:
1 2 3 4 5 6
Repeat for five to ten minutes. Breathe deeply and focus on the counting. Take a little time to do this anytime you might need a "relaxation break". Just knowing you have the ability to give your mind and body this release is relaxing and de-stressing too. You hold the power!!
Here is another page with lots of great info. and exercises from the American Medical Student Association.
There are also some cool apps for this too. Here's one I like:
Universal Breathing - Pranayama
Just a personal note: There is nothing new under the sun. I am just attempting to present info. here that has helped me. I hope to present it in a clear way based on my experience with anxiety which was a spiritual, psychological and emotional awakening for me. In retrospect of this experience I have been reading as much as I could to come to a deeper and more grounded understanding of this seemingly mystical thing that happened to me (so that I could share it with you). I'm not a doctor or a scientist. Please know this is only my experience. Yours will obviously be different, but since my experience was so similar to others I've talked to, I am hoping this may be helpful or useful to you in some way. That is my purpose here.
For sound downloads click here.
Binaural Beats and relaxing sounds are great, when available, but sometimes they are not. What then? Just breathe!!! In fact there is a whole system in yoga dedicated to this called Pranayama. Pranayama is essentially the practice of breathing and bringing conscious attention to something that is normally part of an unconscious system (the parasympathetic nervous system). Prana is the life force or the breath. Our breathing is also something we can consciously control. By consciously and purposefully controlling the breath, the heart and mind also follow suit. By slowing the breathing the brainwaves will literally adjust to lower ranges. Or course, the heart also follows. This has helped immensely in lowering my blood pressure too!
Here's a quick recap on the brainwave states:
Beta - normal waking states
Alpha - relaxed and meditative
Theta - more relaxed and meditative, REM sleep
Delta - deep sleep
As I fall asleep, most of what I described above is happening naturally. The breath slows, my mind and body become relaxed and boom, before you know it, I'm in Delta state and I'm out like a light! Of course there were times, before I learned a lot of these things that I had terrible trouble sleeping. My mind was over active and it was really not conducive to finding that stillness before sleep.
So, here's a simple exercise to try, this great for reducing stress (or just relaxing) quickly:
Inhale to the count of 4:
1 2 3 4
Exhale to the count of 6:
1 2 3 4 5 6
Repeat for five to ten minutes. Breathe deeply and focus on the counting. Take a little time to do this anytime you might need a "relaxation break". Just knowing you have the ability to give your mind and body this release is relaxing and de-stressing too. You hold the power!!
Here is another page with lots of great info. and exercises from the American Medical Student Association.
There are also some cool apps for this too. Here's one I like:
Universal Breathing - Pranayama
Just a personal note: There is nothing new under the sun. I am just attempting to present info. here that has helped me. I hope to present it in a clear way based on my experience with anxiety which was a spiritual, psychological and emotional awakening for me. In retrospect of this experience I have been reading as much as I could to come to a deeper and more grounded understanding of this seemingly mystical thing that happened to me (so that I could share it with you). I'm not a doctor or a scientist. Please know this is only my experience. Yours will obviously be different, but since my experience was so similar to others I've talked to, I am hoping this may be helpful or useful to you in some way. That is my purpose here.
For sound downloads click here.