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Brainwave Basics 2
Written by Jerry on September 21, 2009 – 4:46 am - 
What kind of brainwaves do you produce?
People tend to talk as if they were producing one single type of brain wave (as in producing "alpha" for meditating).
But these aren’t really "separate" brain waves – the categories are just for the convenience of having a reference for our current predominant wave and they help describe the changes we see in brain activity during different kinds of activities.
We don’t ever produce only "one" brain wave type.
Our overall brain activity is a mix of all the frequencies at the same time, some in greater quantities and strength than others.
Why do we need to know all of this? Balance is the key. We don’t want to regularly produce too much or too little of any brainwave frequency.
How do we achieve brainwave balance?
We need both flexibility and pliability for optimal functioning.
Flexibility, for our purposes, means being able to shift ideas or activities when we need to or when something is just not working.
We need to be able to shift our brain activity to match what we are doing. At work, we need to stay focused and attentive and those beta waves are a good thing. But when we get home and want to relax, we want to be able to produce less beta and more alpha activity. To get to sleep, we want to be able to slow down even more.
So, we get in trouble when we can’t shift to match the demands of our lives.
We’re also in trouble when we get stuck in a certain pattern. For example, after injury of some kind to the brain (and that could be physical or emotional), the brain tries to stabilize itself and it purposely slows down. (For an idea, think of yourself learning to type – you go slowly so you don’t make mistakes.) But if the brain stays that slow, if it gets "stuck" in the slower frequencies, you will have difficulty concentrating and focusing, thinking clearly, etc.
So flexibility is a key for efficient brain functioning.
Pliability generally means being able to bounce back from negative events and to "bend with the wind, not break". Studies show that people who are pliable are healthier and happier than those who are not.
Same thing goes for the brain. The brain needs to be able to "bounce back" from all the unhealthy things we do to it (drinking, smoking, missing sleep, etc.) And the pliability we need to stay healthy and happy starts in the brain.
Pliability is critical for your brain to be and stay effective.
We want our brain to be both flexible to adjust to whatever we want it to do and pliable to go with the flow.
To do this you will need access to a variety of different brain states – same ones we covered before.
What can stop your brain from having balance?
The big 5:
Injury, Medications and alcohol, Fatigue, Pain and Stress
So there you have the very basics about brainwaves. Next we’ll begin talking about tones and waves we can use to “train” our brains.
Never Stop Exploring Life!
Jerry L Saunders,Renegade Monk
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Tags: Alpha Activity, Beta Waves, Brain Activity, Brain Wave, Brain Waves, Brainwave Frequency, Convenience, Different Kinds, Flexibility, Learning To Type, Nbsp, Pliability, Quantities, Rsquo, Sleep, Wave Type
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