“The thing you set you mind on is the thing you ultimately become”— Nathaniel Hawthorne.
“Within you right now is the power to do things you never dreamed possible. This power becomes available to you just as soon as you can change your beliefs”—Dr Maxwell Maltz.
“The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future or anticipate troubles… but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly”—The Buddha.
When it comes to healing, the state of the brain is as important as the state of the mind. As per neuro-scientist Paul McLean, the human brain is divided into three parts. The first part is called reptilian, which regulates breathing, heartbeat, muscle movements and other basic instincts. The second part is called mammalian brain. The third part is the reasoning brain. The cerebral cortex is distinguished by its folds, valleys and ridges, which increases the surface area of the cortex and allows maximum area for grey matter to be packed within the skull. The hypothalamus “is the brain of the brain”, just like the tip of our thumb, yet rules the entire endocrine system.
Generally, the more awake and busy our brains are, the faster the brainwaves. Scientists have divided our brainwaves into several categories. When we are fully alert and mentally engaged, they call it Beta state. When we are relaxed and calm, but alert, they call it Alpha state. When we are dreamy, it is Theta state and in deep sleep, it is Delta state.
Our bodies do most of the healing while we are in Alpha, Theta and Delta. The good news is that we can learn to consciously enter Alpha and Theta, and direct that healing with mental imagery and suggestion. According to Jose Silva, the standard way of entering the Alpha is to associate numbers with the desired states. Number 6 is the outer conscious level, 5 is eye-lid fatigue, 4 is eyes closed and ready to relax, 3 is physical relaxation, 2 is mental relaxation, and 1 is the basic plane level that you learn to use for any purpose you desire. Hypnotherapy also uses Alpha level to suggest to the sub-conscious mind to remove mental blocks, past traumas and unwanted negative thoughts, and put positive affirmations for perfect health.
In order to gain the continued experience of deepening, we can practice the countdown-deepening exercise—counting backwards from 100 to 1 or 50 to 1 or 25 to 1. Mental pictures and verbal instructions are the mechanisms for making physical changes at the subjective or Alpha level. This is called programming. While at the Alpha level, we can picture any part of our body that is ailing and heal it. We can overcome any problem like allergies, colds, headache, anxiety, phobias and problems concerning heart, brain, kidney or liver because the mind runs the brain and the brain runs the body, and so the body complies.
Alpha takes you away from the objective realm, the physical world, and into the subjective world, the causative or creative realm, that is the source of the physical world. By entering the Alpha level, we move towards the world within — a step closer to heaven. Existing on these levels you are aware of the goings-on of the outside world but not actively in it. With practice, you go deeper in the direction of Alpha, which enables you to use your mind for super-health — for yourself and others. When you reach this state, no bells will ring, no sirens will sound, and no voice will announce “this is Alpha”. You will just feel good.
(The writer is one of the world’s luminaries in alternative medicine.
E-mail her at vasanthakrish@gmail.com. )