Researchers have applied scientific measurements to the subjective experience of silence, fullness, and eternity. They have discovered that the physiological state of meditators undergoes definite shifts toward more efficient functioning. Hundreds of individual findings show lowered respiration, reduced oxygen consumption, and decreased metabolic rate."
Deepak Chopra: Ageless Body, Timeless mind
We're increasingly being told that meditation is good for us: it's going mainstream. Taught in hospitals, 'clinically standardised' meditation and mind-body techniques such as such as autogenics are being recognised as effective methods for dealing with painful and chronic health conditions. The scientific establishment has belatedly caught up with the benefits of practices that have been part of non-Western spiritual teachings and health care for thousands of years.
For ME/CFS sufferers it’s important to develop relaxation skills and learn to listen to symptoms. It enables us to monitor our condition more effectively; within a programme of pacing it can prevent relapses and aid recovery. Many sufferers seem to be attracted to meditation, whether as a practical exercise to benefit health, or as a spiritual practice - or both. So why do we often find meditation so difficult? Do beginners with ME have more problems to overcome than most people new to the practice?
The Healing Role of the Alpha StateDr David Mason Brown, a former GP and now an ME/CFS specialist, has done pioneering work on the condition in the UK. Interestingly, Mason Brown has promoted the use of meditation for ME/CFS sufferers whilst acknowledging the difficulties in practice that are caused by symptoms - most notably, cognitive dysfunction. He is at the forefront of developments in complementary medicine and what he calls the New Energy medicine, having drawn on research across the world and his own clinical experience with hundreds of ME patients.
Mason Brown’s interest in meditation stems from both a spiritual and a medical perspective. Stillpoint is grateful to him for assisting our understanding of how ME symptoms affect meditation and vice versa.
A recovered ME sufferer, when Mason Brown was ill he learned to meditate. "The use of the Alpha state helped enormously", he told us, explaining, "this is a healing state which enables your body and mind to heal itself. You can teach yourself the alpha state, or learn it with the help of a qualified practitioner. Modifying the frequency of your brainwaves and entering the Alpha state places you in direct communication with your subconscious mind and the rest of your body. It produces a healing state described by Dr. Benson, the cardiologist who heads Harvard University's Mind-Body Institute, as the Relaxation Response. This is the exact opposite of the Fight/Flight Response. When working I try to function in alert alpha. If I did not do that I could not maintain my pace of work."
"Meditation, Yoga, deep prayer, etc all use the Alpha state”, says Mason Brown. “It is the brain frequency from 8 to 12 cycles per second and has a very large electromagnetic pulse, which allows transmission throughout the body and the mind and beyond. In that state one can go into the centre of one's being or be connected with infinite intelligence or with the Divine, whatever one perceives it to be. Thus phrases like 'Be still and know' or 'The still small voice within', etc. A mantra combined with slowing and deepening the breathing allows one to focus on this and exclude all the mind clutter that prevents the average person from being in this state. In reality everyone goes into it a little, even if only for thirty seconds at a time with what are called the ultradian rhythms."
Dr Mason Brown summarises the different states of the brain:Beta: Brain Wave Frequencies of 12 to 26 Cycles per Second. Conscious Thought including Intellect & Emotion. The lower the frequency the more relaxed and the higher the frequency the more intellectually stimulated and/or stressed (e.g. a panic attack).
Alpha: Brain Wave Frequencies of 8 to 12 cycles per second. This is the frequency that is able to change subconscious programming and also produce healing states. It is essential for long-term fitness, stamina, and health. Used in medical hypnotherapy, meditation, yoga, etc.
Theta: Brain Wave Frequency of 4 to 8 cycles per second. This is the Light Sleep or Dream Sleep Level. Also called REM Sleep as during dreaming there is rapid eye movement from side to side. It is essential for good mental health.
Delta: Brain Wave Frequency of 4 and less cycles per second. This is the Deep Sleep Level. It is very important for physical rest, tissue renewal, and healing whilst deeply asleep.
::next: Meditation with ME... obstacles