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Brainwaves, like all waves, are measured
in two ways. The first is frequency, or speed of the electrical pulses.
Frequency is measured in cycles per second (cps or Hz), ranging from .5
cps to 38 cps. The second measurement is amplitude, or how strong the brainwave
is. Brainwaves are categorized by frequency into four types: beta, alpha,
theta, and delta. Each of these is explained below. The Mind Mirror displays
these measurements of the brainwaves of the left and right hemisphere. Each
bargraph represents the output of one filter. The bargraphs are centered
on the frequencies shown in the diagram. The bottom bargraph, labeled EMG,
measures muscle tension on the right and left side of the head. (Relaxation
is a key step in creating an awakened mind.)
Above is a freeze-frame of a splayed
beta pattern on the Mind Mirror – the brainwaves of normal waking thought.
Below are a few seconds of actual brainwaves of someone meditating, as seen
on the Mind Mirror (in a continuous loop).
While an entire session with the Mind Mirror III can
be saved on a computer, it was not always so. The first incarnations of
the Mind Mirror (I and II) did not have any session storage capacity. Therefore,
Anna invented a "shorthand" for drawing the patterns that occurred to act
as a synopsis of each session. However, while it is often useful to review
the recorded sessions, it was soon discovered to be time consuming to review
hour-long files from the Mind Mirror III in order to recall the patterns
that were generated during a session. So, the use of the "drawing language"
for communicating with students what patterns they generated, and to remember
quickly what transpired with someone in a previous session continued. Anna
teaches her students this technique of drawing patterns, and workshop participants
take home a sheet of drawings of the patterns they generated during the
meditations. The brainwave descriptions and corresponding drawings follow.
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BETA brainwaves are the
fastest frequencies ranging from 14 cycles per second up to 38 cycles
per second. Beta is your normal thinking state, your active external
awareness and thought process. Without beta you would not be able
to function in the outside world.
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ALPHA brainwaves are the
brainwaves of relaxed detached awareness, visualization, sensory imagery
and light reverie. Ranging between about 9 cycles per second and 14
cycles per second, alpha is the gateway to meditation and provides
a bridge between the conscious and the subconscious mind.
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THETA brainwaves are the
subconscious mind. Ranging from about 4 cycles per second up to 8
cycles per second, theta is present in dreaming sleep and provides
the experience of deep meditation when you meditate. Theta also contains
the storehouse of creative inspiration and is where you often have
your spiritual connection. Theta provides the peak in the peak experience.
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DELTA brainwaves are your
unconscious mind, the sleep state, ranging from about 4 cycles per
second down to 0.5 cycles per second. But when present in combination
with other waves in a waking state, Delta acts as a form of radar
– seeking out information – reaching out to understand on
the deepest unconscious level things that we can't understand through
thought process. Delta provides intuition, empathetic attunement,
and instinctual insight.
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The MEDITATION brainwave
pattern is a combination of alpha and theta where theta provides the
depth and profundity of the meditation experience – the subconscious
inner space from which creativity, insight, and healing spring –
and alpha provides the bridge, or the link, to the conscious thinking
mind so that you can actually remember the contents of your meditation.
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The AWAKENED MIND™ brainwave
pattern combines the intuitive, empathetic radar of the delta waves,
the creative inspiration, personal insight, and spiritual awareness
of the theta waves, the bridging capacity and relaxed, detached, awareness
of the alpha waves, and the external attention and ability to consciously
process thought of beta waves, all at the same time. It is a brainwave
pattern shared by people in higher states of consciousness regardless
of their philosophy, theology or meditation technique. This brainwave
pattern can be found during “peak experience” and in all
forms of creativity and high performance. The awakened mind is also
the “ah-ha,” appearing at the exact instant of solving the
problem, or getting the insight. |
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Brainwaves 
