Welcome to Drift 101:
Begin with the Breath…
Before we start discussing our brain let’s talk about how we can influence our brainwaves by simply focusing on slowing our breath. Our average optimal resting breath-rate is less than 10 breaths per minute and engages our parasympathetic nervous system which regulates our “rest and digest” bodily functions. We’ll be guiding our breathing pattern into a healthy rhythm by simply following along with a timed sound wave of pink noise. Pink noise is a pattern found in healthy biological systems including the human body. Listening to pink noise has been found to improve sleep and sharpen memory, according to research. Sound has been inspiring meditative brainwave states for as long as brainwaves have existed. Our mind converts vibrations heard in the air into electrical frequencies that are then processed by the brain in the auditory cortex. Only certain areas of the brain respond when music is heard and we still have much to discover in this area of science. Lowering our breath rate in this simple way has a rippling effect upon the rhythm of our heartbeat and our brainwaves, lowering our more anxious Beta waves and enriching our meditation practice.
Breath + Heart…
Our average optimal resting heart-rate falls between 60-100 beats per minute (bpm.) As we breath in our hearts slightly increase in bpm and then slightly decreases as we breathe out. By learning to consciously lower our breath-rate we can also gain control over feeling and slowing down our heart beat. Over time and with practice this concept of optimal breathing can lead to a reduced risk for heart attacks and strokes. As you breath, listen for your heart beat in your chest. We can amplify this pulsing feeling by briefly holding our breath at the tops and bottoms of our inhales and exhales for just a few heartbeats. Breathe in through your nose and breathe out through your mouth if possible to prevent your jaw from clenching. Breathe in such a way that pushes the belly outward on an inhale and draws the stomach inward on the inhale. You may begin to feel your pulse gently swaying your head and body. Tap into this slight swaying feeling and learn to hold onto it. If you are lying down during your meditation it may be easier to focus on your pulse by placing your attention on your belly button area. You are as present as humanly possible while exploring this pulsing sensation and your Alpha brainwaves increase as you focus your attention here. Exploring your heartbeat in this intimate way is called interoception and can benefit a “healthy” mind, as well as an entire range of neurological disorders such as autism, ADHD, and PTSD.
Breath + heart + mind
As we close our eyes we begin to see an increase in Alpha brainwaves on the EEG. Our Beta brainwaves may begin to lower over time during our meditation and your level of relaxation may also increase. By breathing along with this sound guide with our eyes closed we begin lowering our heart rate, decreasing our anxiety based brainwaves, and enriching our overall sound mediation experience. A cascading effect occurs between these three parts of the body just by learning to slow ourselves down in this simple way. We’re literally begin calming and harmonizing the frequencies of our mind as we drift.
Learn to follow this slow rhythm by practicing with the track below and in our next course we’ll begin exploring our brainwaves! You may choose to lie down or sit up during this listening session. Simply align your breath to the sound wave.
Homework
Below we’re sharing the recorded EEG data from the neuro-meditation session that generated the many sound meditations you’ll hear in this course. We use a Muse S headband, MindMonitor, and Ableton Live to record, sonify, and graph this brainwave data.
