The word 'stress' is used so often in today's society that it pretty much ends up being one of those things that loses its meaning, we end up taking the term and its subsequent toll on us for granted.
This 'state of being' has become the norm; people don't even remember what it's like to live a stress free life.
It's not like there isn't any research that shows how stress affects our lives in every respect, there is TONS of it! But none of that really matters when you have a family to feed, or a mortgage to pay, or a car payment to make...
and the list goes on.
Even though in recent years scientific evidence has proven that stress directly affects our health; and therefore our relationships, our jobs and ultimately our bank accounts, nothing has really changed in the last hundred years or so...
with the exception that there is more stress in peoples lives than ever before.
There are no two ways about it, stress and illness are synonymous; and even though we know it affects our bodies in a negative way, it is tough to get under control on our own without some kind of assistance.
Stress affects the body in so many different ways, that a clear path that describes exactly how this emotional state causes, and ultimately affects long term health isn't really clear.
On the one hand there are some clear correlations between the emotional state and the biochemical state when it comes to stress, but there are still a great many things we do not know because the body is not just a biochemical entity.
The human body is also an electrical/energetic entity, herein lies the problem, how do we tie in what occurs in the physical world to something that is pretty much intangible.
The Asians, Tibetans and other societies around the world have understood what has come to be known in modern terms as bioenergetic medicine, and they have practiced 'it' in the form of meditation, yoga, tai chi and Qigong for many generations.
We here in the West are just now catching on to what other societies have known about for hundreds of years.
Now that we have 'seen the light', there is a great deal of research that is being performed to close the gap between stress, disease and good health.
However it will be some time before researchers will be able to come up with a 'one size fits all' game plan for everyone.
It is well known that the stress hormone adrenaline is released into the bloodstream during stressful situations.
Now researchers are finding that there is a direct connection between this stress hormone and other debilitating diseases such as MS, Alzheimer's, cancer as well as many other pathological states.
It isn't clear right now whether this stress hormone causes the disease, or whether it is the affect that the hormone has on the body during these times of stress.
It is theorized that it may just reduce a person's ability to fight off disease as the various bodily systems get run down.
As you can see, stress is serious business, and is definitely not something that you can take for granted! So, what can you do to 'get a grip'? Is there anything that we can do for ourselves that will establish some sort of balance in our lives? The answer is yes! Well, at least in so far as what you are willing to do for yourself, this is because for the most part most people expect someone else to 'make things right' for them.
The good news is that, you have the power to make positive changes all ON YOUR OWN.
It all starts in the brain...
you have to make a conscience decision to make concrete changes in the way you live and think.
This includes every aspect of you life, areas which include, but are not limited to your diet, quitting smoking, stopping the use of drugs and alcohol, making better choices all together and letting go of the past.
You don't have to work through all this by yourself, there are a great many books and self help video's available to purchase, and or to rent that can guide you through this maze.
It is completely doable, you just need to know what to look for, and be able to ask for help if you need it.
There is even technology available that can basically 'hand hold' your brain through the decompression phase.
This equipment and software will place your brain into the receptive state that is needed to facilitate inner growth.
As it was stated earlier...
it is all in the mind.
Since we have limited space to work with here, we can touch on the one area that will facilitate the fastest response in your body to 'bring it down' to a level that will create the kind of calm that you need to prosper.
Take a deep breath...
There is a lot of software and other technology that is being sold which claims to elicit the relaxation response.
Some of it is wonderful, while others...
well, not so much.
So you have to be careful about what you buy, you don't want to create more stress for yourself than you are already dealing with.
This is how it works, certain types of light and sound technology produces actual sound and light at certain frequencies.
When the client is exposed to these frequencies in their various forms, they have a direct impact on the brain (3).
The brain itself produces its own set of frequencies, in what are commonly referred to as 'brain waves'.
They fall into several categories, they are: •BETA BRAINWAVES (13 to 40 Hz) •ALPHA BRAINWAVES (8 to 12 Hz) •THETA BRAINWAVES (4 to 7 Hz) •DELTA BRAINWAVES (.
5 to 4 Hz) Hz = hertz or cycles per second Each of the above brainwave states comes with a full description as to the benefits they offer.
The Beta state is the normal waking state, the further down the list you go, the slower the brain waves become.
Delta brainwaves are the slowest form; this state can be achieved during deep sleep.
Although there are some people that can achieve this state of mind while awake, and claim that they can reach a 'oneness' with the universe while doing so.
The yogi's in the East spend their entire lives trying to attain this state of mind, do we have to wait this long? The answer is no, we now have technology that allows us to achieve any mind state that we want in a fraction of the time it used to take.
The technology that has been developed is quite sophisticated, and performs a task called brain wave entrainment.
You can now manipulate your brain using light and sound, and since many neurological problems involve chemistry, psychology and emotions which often times leads to chaotic brain waves, you can with the proper equipment 'put things into order' (1).
On its own the brain produces waves at varying electrical frequencies that are measured in hertz (cycles per second).
Many people with neurological, and other psychological issues have a tendency toward either being either under or over-aroused in their brains.
Mind machines of various types, and some software products help to re-educate the brain using visual and audiological stimulus.
You can learn ways to produce faster or slower brain waves, the great thing is that there are no age restrictions when using any of this technology to enhance ones current mind set (2).
This area of study is not one dimensional, it also needs to be said here that there are other factors that determine how healthy your brain will be, one such area is nutrition, however that is the subject of another article.
This technology can improve: •Hyperactive behaviors •And obtain a relaxed and alert state •Your learning skills and the ability to learn foreign languages faster •And lower your blood pressure •And facilitate memory recall •Hormone balance and production •Self confidence •Job performance •Athletic performance And the list goes on and on...
Light and sound machines and software of various types can be found all over the web, if you go out and do a search for keywords relating to this subject matter, you will get literally hundreds of thousands of hits that discuss every aspect of this topic.
The task now is to cull through what products will be beneficial for you? Some of these products can be quite expensive, and some are not worth anything at all, so you want to make the right choice the first time.
We could go into a long list of do's and don'ts, and things to look for, and what to stay away from but that would require more space than we have here to go over this.
But what we can do is distinguish between the hardware that is being sold, and the software and provide you with a couple of websites to start your search at.
This will save you a tremendous amount of time and effort, because most of the work has already been done for you.
The list and types of products is long, and the reasons to buy them, even longer.
So with regard to hardware, I can say that out of all of the sites that are out there, the best to start with for hardware on every level would be http://www.
photosonix.
com.
This site and Elixa's website will provide you with an array of products that will be beneficial for you to start with.
With regards to the software that is available to the public today, one of the best companies that are out there selling this type of technology can be found at http://www.
transparentcorp.
com.
This company bar none offers some of the finest affordable professional grade software on the market for brain entrainment/stimulation, meditation facilitation, retraining the brain, treating learning disorders and self hypnosis.
The company's forum will provide you with a great deal of information which will help to facilitate your learning process.
It is very important that you connect with knowledgeable, well-educated people that have thoroughly studied how what they sell will affect you, not those that are just marketing products for the sake of just selling 'something'.
It's like the old saying goes, "you can't provide to others what you don't possess yourself".
The field of neuro-science is really in its infancy, even still, with the research that is currently available, and because of the products being offered, you can certainly facilitate the process of changing your life for the better is so many ways using this technology that the benefits are too numerous to count.
References: 1.
Manns, A.
, Miralles, R.
, & Adrian, H.
(1981).
The application of audiostimulation and electromyographic biofeedback to bruxism and myofascial pain-dysfunction syndrome.
Oral Surgery, 52 (3), 247-252.
2.
Frederick, J.
, Lubar, J.
, Rasey, H.
, Brim, S.
, & Blackburn, J.
(1999).
Effects of 18.
5 Hz audiovisual stimulation on EEG amplitude at the vertex.
Journal of Neurotherapy, 3 (3), 23-27.
3.
Oster, G.
(1973).
Auditory beats in the brain.
Scientific American, X, 94-102.
copyright © 2010 Dr.
James Lembeck
This 'state of being' has become the norm; people don't even remember what it's like to live a stress free life.
It's not like there isn't any research that shows how stress affects our lives in every respect, there is TONS of it! But none of that really matters when you have a family to feed, or a mortgage to pay, or a car payment to make...
and the list goes on.
Even though in recent years scientific evidence has proven that stress directly affects our health; and therefore our relationships, our jobs and ultimately our bank accounts, nothing has really changed in the last hundred years or so...
with the exception that there is more stress in peoples lives than ever before.
There are no two ways about it, stress and illness are synonymous; and even though we know it affects our bodies in a negative way, it is tough to get under control on our own without some kind of assistance.
Stress affects the body in so many different ways, that a clear path that describes exactly how this emotional state causes, and ultimately affects long term health isn't really clear.
On the one hand there are some clear correlations between the emotional state and the biochemical state when it comes to stress, but there are still a great many things we do not know because the body is not just a biochemical entity.
The human body is also an electrical/energetic entity, herein lies the problem, how do we tie in what occurs in the physical world to something that is pretty much intangible.
The Asians, Tibetans and other societies around the world have understood what has come to be known in modern terms as bioenergetic medicine, and they have practiced 'it' in the form of meditation, yoga, tai chi and Qigong for many generations.
We here in the West are just now catching on to what other societies have known about for hundreds of years.
Now that we have 'seen the light', there is a great deal of research that is being performed to close the gap between stress, disease and good health.
However it will be some time before researchers will be able to come up with a 'one size fits all' game plan for everyone.
It is well known that the stress hormone adrenaline is released into the bloodstream during stressful situations.
Now researchers are finding that there is a direct connection between this stress hormone and other debilitating diseases such as MS, Alzheimer's, cancer as well as many other pathological states.
It isn't clear right now whether this stress hormone causes the disease, or whether it is the affect that the hormone has on the body during these times of stress.
It is theorized that it may just reduce a person's ability to fight off disease as the various bodily systems get run down.
As you can see, stress is serious business, and is definitely not something that you can take for granted! So, what can you do to 'get a grip'? Is there anything that we can do for ourselves that will establish some sort of balance in our lives? The answer is yes! Well, at least in so far as what you are willing to do for yourself, this is because for the most part most people expect someone else to 'make things right' for them.
The good news is that, you have the power to make positive changes all ON YOUR OWN.
It all starts in the brain...
you have to make a conscience decision to make concrete changes in the way you live and think.
This includes every aspect of you life, areas which include, but are not limited to your diet, quitting smoking, stopping the use of drugs and alcohol, making better choices all together and letting go of the past.
You don't have to work through all this by yourself, there are a great many books and self help video's available to purchase, and or to rent that can guide you through this maze.
It is completely doable, you just need to know what to look for, and be able to ask for help if you need it.
There is even technology available that can basically 'hand hold' your brain through the decompression phase.
This equipment and software will place your brain into the receptive state that is needed to facilitate inner growth.
As it was stated earlier...
it is all in the mind.
Since we have limited space to work with here, we can touch on the one area that will facilitate the fastest response in your body to 'bring it down' to a level that will create the kind of calm that you need to prosper.
Take a deep breath...
There is a lot of software and other technology that is being sold which claims to elicit the relaxation response.
Some of it is wonderful, while others...
well, not so much.
So you have to be careful about what you buy, you don't want to create more stress for yourself than you are already dealing with.
This is how it works, certain types of light and sound technology produces actual sound and light at certain frequencies.
When the client is exposed to these frequencies in their various forms, they have a direct impact on the brain (3).
The brain itself produces its own set of frequencies, in what are commonly referred to as 'brain waves'.
They fall into several categories, they are: •BETA BRAINWAVES (13 to 40 Hz) •ALPHA BRAINWAVES (8 to 12 Hz) •THETA BRAINWAVES (4 to 7 Hz) •DELTA BRAINWAVES (.
5 to 4 Hz) Hz = hertz or cycles per second Each of the above brainwave states comes with a full description as to the benefits they offer.
The Beta state is the normal waking state, the further down the list you go, the slower the brain waves become.
Delta brainwaves are the slowest form; this state can be achieved during deep sleep.
Although there are some people that can achieve this state of mind while awake, and claim that they can reach a 'oneness' with the universe while doing so.
The yogi's in the East spend their entire lives trying to attain this state of mind, do we have to wait this long? The answer is no, we now have technology that allows us to achieve any mind state that we want in a fraction of the time it used to take.
The technology that has been developed is quite sophisticated, and performs a task called brain wave entrainment.
You can now manipulate your brain using light and sound, and since many neurological problems involve chemistry, psychology and emotions which often times leads to chaotic brain waves, you can with the proper equipment 'put things into order' (1).
On its own the brain produces waves at varying electrical frequencies that are measured in hertz (cycles per second).
Many people with neurological, and other psychological issues have a tendency toward either being either under or over-aroused in their brains.
Mind machines of various types, and some software products help to re-educate the brain using visual and audiological stimulus.
You can learn ways to produce faster or slower brain waves, the great thing is that there are no age restrictions when using any of this technology to enhance ones current mind set (2).
This area of study is not one dimensional, it also needs to be said here that there are other factors that determine how healthy your brain will be, one such area is nutrition, however that is the subject of another article.
This technology can improve: •Hyperactive behaviors •And obtain a relaxed and alert state •Your learning skills and the ability to learn foreign languages faster •And lower your blood pressure •And facilitate memory recall •Hormone balance and production •Self confidence •Job performance •Athletic performance And the list goes on and on...
Light and sound machines and software of various types can be found all over the web, if you go out and do a search for keywords relating to this subject matter, you will get literally hundreds of thousands of hits that discuss every aspect of this topic.
The task now is to cull through what products will be beneficial for you? Some of these products can be quite expensive, and some are not worth anything at all, so you want to make the right choice the first time.
We could go into a long list of do's and don'ts, and things to look for, and what to stay away from but that would require more space than we have here to go over this.
But what we can do is distinguish between the hardware that is being sold, and the software and provide you with a couple of websites to start your search at.
This will save you a tremendous amount of time and effort, because most of the work has already been done for you.
The list and types of products is long, and the reasons to buy them, even longer.
So with regard to hardware, I can say that out of all of the sites that are out there, the best to start with for hardware on every level would be http://www.
photosonix.
com.
This site and Elixa's website will provide you with an array of products that will be beneficial for you to start with.
With regards to the software that is available to the public today, one of the best companies that are out there selling this type of technology can be found at http://www.
transparentcorp.
com.
This company bar none offers some of the finest affordable professional grade software on the market for brain entrainment/stimulation, meditation facilitation, retraining the brain, treating learning disorders and self hypnosis.
The company's forum will provide you with a great deal of information which will help to facilitate your learning process.
It is very important that you connect with knowledgeable, well-educated people that have thoroughly studied how what they sell will affect you, not those that are just marketing products for the sake of just selling 'something'.
It's like the old saying goes, "you can't provide to others what you don't possess yourself".
The field of neuro-science is really in its infancy, even still, with the research that is currently available, and because of the products being offered, you can certainly facilitate the process of changing your life for the better is so many ways using this technology that the benefits are too numerous to count.
References: 1.
Manns, A.
, Miralles, R.
, & Adrian, H.
(1981).
The application of audiostimulation and electromyographic biofeedback to bruxism and myofascial pain-dysfunction syndrome.
Oral Surgery, 52 (3), 247-252.
2.
Frederick, J.
, Lubar, J.
, Rasey, H.
, Brim, S.
, & Blackburn, J.
(1999).
Effects of 18.
5 Hz audiovisual stimulation on EEG amplitude at the vertex.
Journal of Neurotherapy, 3 (3), 23-27.
3.
Oster, G.
(1973).
Auditory beats in the brain.
Scientific American, X, 94-102.
copyright © 2010 Dr.
James Lembeck