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The habitual brain wave recipe of this workshop participant had lots of fear-induced beta, little theta
and delta, and only a small alpha bridge.
After treatment, we see large flares forming an alpha bridge, expanded theta and delta, and a
disappearance of high amplitudes of beta.
When we first hook people up to EEGs during our workshops, we see the
combinations of brain waves that represent their personal recipes. Often they are
stressed and anxious, with a lot of high-frequency beta waves. They have little
alpha, theta, or delta. To them, this state of being cut off from their unconscious
and the universe, without an alpha bridge, is normal.
After treatment, the entire way their brains process information changes.
They’ve sampled a new recipe and they like it. They have a big alpha bridge
connecting their conscious and subconscious minds. They’re in touch with the
healing frequency of theta and the transcendent frequency of delta.
If we can persuade them to make this a consistent practice, with their brains
enjoying the delicious new brain wave recipe every day, they become habituated
to feeling good. It becomes the new normal. In time, their set point changes, and
the gourmet recipe becomes their staple. Their bodies are bathed in the fields of
healing every day.
Here is one example of a workshop participant who experienced a
breakthrough when his brain flipped into this elevated state.
H
EARING
THE
W
AVES
B
REAKING
ON
THE
D
ISTANT
S
HORE
Harold was in the middle of a profound crisis. A top official at the United
Nations, he’d blacked out and fallen to the ground in the middle of a
hostage negotiation three months before. His doctors told him he was
stressed, and while they could find nothing wrong with his 52-year-old
body, they advised him to relax and learn meditation. He’d made a
complete recovery except for his hearing, which he had lost when he
blacked out. Tests showed that he’d lost 80 percent of the hearing in his left
ear.
He decided to enroll in a weeklong training I was offering at Esalen
Institute in Big Sur, California. He had been visiting Esalen for various
classes for 15 years, and the combination of massage, hot tubs, homegrown
food, and oceanside views usually rejuvenated him.
When I met him, I was awed by his intelligence, humor, and expansive
worldview. He had a satisfying long-term marriage, a successful son, a
best-selling book, professional kudos, and every material benefit. Yet he
was haunted by a gnawing sense that he’d made a wrong turn somewhere in
his life. He wanted coaching to help him decide whether to take early
retirement from his stressful job and to develop a robust health plan.
To help create the changes he envisioned, Harold volunteered to be my
subject for a coaching demonstration in front of the whole group.
Before the training began, we used a panel of tests to assess the well-
being of the people in the group. These tests included psychological
evaluations of depression, anxiety, pain, happiness, and post-traumatic
stress disorder (PTSD). We also measured Harold’s physiological profile.
The panel of tests included cortisol (the main stress hormone), salivary
immunoglobulin A (SIgA, a primary marker of immune function), and
resting heart rate. We hooked Harold up to an EEG during his session so we
could monitor his brain waves.
Working with me in front of the whole group, Harold described his fears
of growing older, of getting sicker, of becoming irrelevant. He recounted
how shocked he felt when he abruptly lost consciousness during the hostage
negotiation: “Suddenly, I hit the floor.” While he was reconciled to the loss
of hearing he’d suffered, he worried that it was the start of a progressive
physical decline.
As I worked with him, Harold began to relax and tune in to his emotions.
His breathing slowed and his muscles relaxed. His EEG readings showed
flares of theta and delta waves, expanded alpha frequencies, and a reduction
in beta. These were all indications that he was getting out of his anxious
“monkey mind” and back in tune with his intuition and his bodily
sensations. As his mind changed, his brain functions shifted.
We worked through a succession of his fears and disappointments and
identified goals that he might achieve if he combined relaxation with
creativity. Energy psychology helped him resolve all the jagged emotions
left over from his health crisis, while coaching psychology clarified the
opportunities before him and the fresh goals he could set for himself.
Eventually, I asked him, “How is that 80 percent hearing loss in your left
ear?” He looked surprised, and said, “It’s almost gone . . . maybe 15 percent
loss now.”
“How do you know it’s an 80 percent hearing loss?” I wondered.
“The doctor told me,” he affirmed. “It’s a medical diagnosis.”
“Let’s work on that belief,” I suggested.
We then focused on beliefs like
It’s a medical diagnosis
and
The doctor
said it, so it must be true
.
After coaching him through a process that questioned those beliefs, I
asked him again about his left ear. He closed his eyes, focused intently on
his hearing. Suddenly, his eyes popped wide open. Almost shouting, he
exclaimed, “I can hear the waves breaking on the shore! I’ve been coming
to Esalen for 15 years, and I’ve never been able to hear the ocean. Now I
can!”
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