Hi Tech and Alternative Healing; iLightZ Hypnosis Accessory

When we think of alternative health we are quick to think of natural remedies, herbs and some sort of hands on healing. But what of high technology does it have a place in alternative medicine. The answer is a resounding yes. Over the past decade two specific forms of electronic technology in particular have proven invaluable in healing, and Brain Fitness biofeedback and brain machines.

WHAT IS BIOFEEDBACK?Biofeedback is a method for learned control of physiological responses of the body. These responses can be either in the voluntary system, such as skeletal musculature, or in the involuntary, or autonomic, NERVOUS SYSTEM, such as heart rate, vascular responses (frequently indirectly measured as temperature), and sympathetic discharges (measured by the electrical skin response).

The experimental data to support the feasibility of such learned controls first appeared in the 1950s with the work of psychologists such as Neal E. MILLER. They increased in the 1960s, mostly through animal studies, although some experiments with humans were also performed. Next came a joint endeavor between experimental psychology and physiology. It became clear that certain dramatic gains could be achieved by using psychological techniques on patients with medical problems. Autonomic and disease specificity and the patient's psychological state must be considered before treatment can begin. For example, learning to relax certain muscles may besomewhat useful in many disorders but may not be the most effective treatment. An anxious patient with tachycardia (rapid heartbeat) benefits much more by learning to slow his or her heart rate rather then by relaxing muscles.

Biofeedback is often used to control certain biological responses that cause health problems, such as headaches, chronically taut muscles from accidents or sports injuries, asthma, high blood pressure, and heart arrhythmias. It is often used instead of drugs in pain control.

The training methods are relatively simple, although they require complex and precise instrumentation. After the desired mode of treatment has been determined for a given disorder, the patient is connected to a computer or an equivalent instrument by a polygraph, and the response is presented back to the patient in either a binary or an analog fashion. In the binary approach, a threshold is set, and whenever the patient crosses that threshold, a light or music indicates that the patient is succeeding. In the analog approach the patient monitors the actual numbers in electrical units that represent bodily states such as heart rate, temperature, or vasculature.

The two techniques can be combined. Initially the criteria are made easy by the therapist, and as the patient succeeds, the task is made more difficult. Ultimately the patient should become his or her own therapist and eventually control specific body functions without the use of instrumentation.

Brain MachinesWhen we say "brain machines," we are speaking of neurotechnology Brain Machine refer to those devices and techniques capable of producing changes in the electrical activity of the user's brain. When these occur, we may experience deep, stress-relieving relaxation, increased receptivity to information (with the ability to process and recall it), and automatic changes in dysfunctional thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

With any luck, we may enter a creative reverie with fertile ideas and solutions to problems. Some people use the technology to improve their ability to learn and remember, some to center and establish a base of tranquillity in a stressful world, and others for entertainment. We think of our products as accelerators of change.

Every thought, feeling, sensation, and level of awareness has a corresponding brain wave pattern. If you want to control your experience, learn to control your brain waves. Until now, that meant lots of hard work practicing some form of mind control with little guarantee of success. Happily, the way to squeeze more performance, joy, and connectedness out of your gray matter (almost effortlessly) has arrived.

HOW DO BRAIN MACHINES WORK?
Brain machines come in a number of forms and flavors. The most well-known and effective measure the brain's electrical activity and then pulse lights and sounds to control that activity. Such devices, through flickering lights and precisely controlled rhythmic tones, stimulate and synchronize the hemispheres of the brain while entraining the brain wave frequencies into desirable states of consciousness. The study of these brainwave patterns, the summation of the brain's electrical activity, as represented by electroencephalography EEG), has led scientists to the discovery that different brainwave patterns are associated with different states of awareness. Four main patterns
have been recognized:

Beta Waves 13 - 30 Hz Alert state
Alpha Waves 8 - 12 Hz Relaxed wakefulnessTheta Waves 4 - 7 Hz Reverie, imagery
Delta Waves .5 - 3 Hz Deep sleep

In the '30s, researchers found that repetitive light stimulation (strobing) caused brain waves to follow and pulse at the same frequency. This frequency following response (entrainment) forms the foundation for many of the effects of mind machines. Today's mind machines have lights in glasses that pulse at predetermined frequencies, generally from 1 to 40 cycles per second (Hz). You close your eyes and see hypnotic colors and patterns in your mind

If you select a session with a target frequency in the low alpha or theta range, you should feel a change in awareness within a few minutes. Many people report a floating feeling. Your attention may start to wander as your thoughts become less linear and logical. Perhaps you may find yourself in a lucid dream complete with sights, sounds and feelings. Some people, auditory types, often hear words in the pulsed sounds. This indicates theta activity and heightened creativity. Because your sense of time changes during the session, it may seem as if you have slept. Usually you will feel a definite difference between your state before the session and how you feel during the session.

Most programs start out in the beta frequency range (13-40 Hz.) and gradually slow (ramp) to the target range. The initial phase may seem frantic, but these frequencies come closest to the brain's when starting. This closeness makes entrainment possible. Starting out a session in theta, for instance, would make it difficult for a beta dominant brain to synch up. This frantic, almost psychedelic phase passes quickly as the pulsing slows. Some users may not find the first sessions very entraining. This happens when you remain analytical, excited at the novelty of the experience or resistant to letting go. Letting go of control stimulates the production of alpha and theta rhythms. In the beginning, most users will benefit from simply "going with the flow" even if that includes losingawareness

LONG-TERM BENEFITSBoth of these technologies affect the body/mind profoundly with lasting effects even without the user's conscious participation. Many users will notice immediate, spontaneous changes in their attitudes and behavior. Others may need to have regular sessions for a number of weeks before the desired results appear. The balancing and stress-reducing effects of biofeedback and brain machines become entrained.

With the relief of tension/stress/resistance in the body/mind, the user becomes receptive to information from "inside" and "outside" essential to fundamental change and healing.

By stimulating balanced, abundant neurotransmitter production, expanding neural pathways, and programming desirable, ecologically sound behaviors, biofeedback and mind machines can enhance physical healing and homeostasis, increase intellectual performance and greatly improved sense of well-being long after machine contact. Their are many other hi-tech devices used in today’s alternative healing and Brain Fitness methods.

Bibliography: Benjamin, John V., Biofeedback (1989); Carroll, Douglas, Biofeedback in Practice (1984); Green, Elmer and Alyce, Beyond Biofeedback (1989); Hatch, J. P., et al., eds., Biofeedback: Studies in Clinical Efficacy (1987); Jones, Marcer, Donald, Biofeedback and Related Therapies in Clinical Practice (1986); Richter-Heinrich, E., and Miller, N. E., Biofeedback (1982).