In this post today, I am sharing with you a very powerful mediation called as the Alpha Brainwave meditation. This meditation can give you a very deep relaxation in a short duration of 7-10 minutes.
I recommend people to do this daily at their workplace for 5-7 minutes after their lunch break. It can give the mind and body a fantastic level of relaxation from workplace stress and mental fatigue.
To give you a bit of background, our brain operates at different frequencies ranging from 0.5 Hz to 40 Hz or even more, depending on the degree of activity of the body or mind. These frequencies can be measured using an EEG by probes attached to the head and body.
At an alert and active state the brain operates at Beta frequency band which is from 15 to 40 Hz. If we start relaxing ourselves then the frequency will get lowered into the Alpha range which is from 7 to 14 Hz. Relaxing below that will get one into Theta which is from 4 to 6 Hz and below that is Delta i.e 4 Hz and below indicating extremely deep sleep.
The picture below shows the frequencies.
The Alpha Brainwave meditation, in just 7 minutes can give very deep relaxation equivalent to 2 hours of Nights sleep. To achieve the Alpha state we simply must relax ourselves to the alpha zone (7-14 hz) and then maintain our awareness at that state without allowing our brain to go down to Theta level where we would fall asleep.
Just follow the steps below and in 5 minutes you will be in the Alpha state. You might ask how you’d know that you are at alpha. There’s a way to figure out that out too. At the alpha brainwave state, our eyelids get locked. So, once you reach a fairly deep level of relaxation, just check (don’t forcefully open but just check) if your eyelids feel locked or heavy. That is an indicator of successful entry into alpha.
Then you can stay in the alpha state for 5-7 minutes and follow the simple 10 count process to get out from alpha to beta state.
The moment brain frequency cones above 14 hz, eyes would automatically open.
Steps are as below:
- Sit on a chair in a relaxed way with your back completely resting on the backrest, feet firmly on the ground and hands on thighs. Neck should be straight and eyes gazing at any point on the horizontal plane.
- Keep breathing normally and close your eyes. Surrender the entire weight of your body to the chair and floor through the backrest and your feet.
- Starting with a count of 30 in your mind, with every exhale, count down one number and keep relaxing your body parts one by one from toe to head. Keep relaxing as you count from 30-29-28-27 with every exhale and do this till the time you reach zero.
- Keep relaxing your toes, feet, ankle, calves, knee, thighs, hip, abdomen, back, shoulders, hands, (palms, wrist, fore and hind arms, ) head region, forehead, eyes. Have a gentle smile on your face.
- By this time you would have reach down to a count of 0. Keep relaxing yourself for 1 minute more every time you exhale. Now your brain would have already reached the Alpha zone.
- To check if you have reached alpha, check if your eyelids feel heavy or locked. if this happens, it is a proof that you have reached Alpha. Be here in this zone for 5-7 minutes. let thoughts come in and go out as the want. don’t interact with those thoughts. be a spectator/ witness to their entry and exit.
- Now is the time to get out from Alpha back into Beta. Simply start counting from 1 to 10 min your mind, every time make some gentle movements of your legs, hands, head etc. by the time you reach 10, you’d be close to Beta. then rub your palms together and check if your eyes open. If they open it means you are back to Beta. in case they don’t open, just rub your palms again and move them over your face till eyes open.
- You are back to beta and may continue with your day. Hope you enjoy this experience.
Alpha meditation is also used for manifesting things by visualization. However, I will write about that in another post.
Have a nice day ahead.
