The Alpha Brainwave

A mind in alpha is a relaxed mind, free of stress and is automatically using more of the right side of the brain.

To understand the importance of the alpha brainwave, let's have a quick look at our 4 types of brainwaves.

Your brain frequency fluctuates countless times every day, spontaneously, as the need arises.

The best time for identifying when our brainwave is changing is at night, when we go to sleep. You lay down, close your eyes, and your brain automatically starts slowing down so you can rest, dream, and become rejuvenated.

The sleep process is necessary for us to maintain our mental and physical health and balance.
This is also the reason, that when we are sick, we sleep more, as our brain slows down automatically into an alpha state to regenerate your body...

Brainwaves - ( Frequencies ) there are 4 types of brain waves.

The Beta Wave has a frequency of 14 to 21 cycles per second.
We use that in our ordinary waking state, with most of our activity being at about 20 to 22 cycles per second. At this level, we reason, rationalize, and execute whatever chores we need to do.
However, it will increase with stress, as faster it goes as more stress and nervous you will get. Or as more stress you encounter, as faster your brain frequency becomes.
If it goes up to about 60 cycles per sec. you will get hysteric and a bit higher you will pass out.
The golden rule, as higher your brain wave, as harder you will find it to function.
A typical situation, would be an examination, an important business meeting or similar. You are stressed out, your brainwave is probably up to 30 or higher, you simply can't think straight.

The Alpha Wave. - that's the one we like most :-)
The frequency is from 7 to 14 cycles per second.
This is the State of Mind where you are in a "relaxed alertness".

You are calm and peaceful, with clear creative thinking, ideas, solutions and intuitive breakthroughs.
Studying is easy. This is the State of Mind, where you can reach your full potential.
And by the way, this is also the State of Mind, where your Body is Regenerating itself, with an increase in health and vitality, and here is where daydreaming and nocturnal dreaming take place. Hypnosis also takes place here.

The Theta Wave. - deep sleep - Between 4 and 7 cycles per second is the theta
state. All our emotional experiences are recorded here.

The Delta Wave. deepest sleep - Frequencies less than 4 cycles per second are
encountered in total unconsciousness, the delta state.
In an eight-hour sleep period, you might spend 30 to 90 minutes in delta, 30 to 60 in theta, and the rest of the time in alpha. Obviously, this will vary from person to person, and even from night to night with the same person.

The important thing to note is that different states of brain waves are a natural phenomena that you go through every day, and that you can consciously choose to drift into an alpha state of mind.

Now that we know a bit about brain waves, let's have a look at the alpha brain-wave again...

The key words for alpha are :

"relaxed alertness"

"calm - peaceful, with clear creative thinking, ideas, solutions and intuitive breakthroughs"

"body regeneration"
"increase in health and vitality"
and .....
it is also the natural state of the right side of your brain to be active...


This combination, esp. relaxed alertness and having access to your right brain function is an important state of mind to have...

In fact, the ability to trigger right brain function and alpha brain activity, is the ability to get in touch with your >> intuition - creativity - music - art - painting - writing - dancing... and such things as problem solving - seeing the bigger picture - and the ability to swing into the left side for logic contemplation and swinging back to see your conclusion in a bigger picture...

After all this... how do we actually manage to drift into the alpha brain wave or the right side of the brain, and use these states at will... ?

By Music - generally, relaxation music or meditative music is also alpha music or the other way around. By playing Alpha Music, your mind will drift into the alpha state.

By creative activity - example > painting.. you may start off painting with your left side, but if you don't need to concentrate on techniques, you soon will shift over to the right side and into the alpha state ... by the way this is also where you loose sense of time.. and you tend to paint longer than you wanted to.
Most artist know the power of music, and play alpha music or similar to help them to get into the right mood...

By relaxation exercise or meditation... which you have to learn first..
and once again, those activities are helped by alpha type music, which in that case is called > relaxation music or meditation music.

Conclusion is obvious... you can influence your personal space, your living space or your working space, by playing appropriate music...

Music is extremely powerful, we all know how certain songs can affect us, music is a powerful medium to trigger off emotions...

To listen to alpha music can have to functions...

one is to help you to get there,
and the second one is to work as an anchor,

because the music is now linked or anchored to your state of mind, the alpha state... meaning next time when you listen to that music, you will be able to access that alpha, "relaxed alertness" state of mind even faster....



Article supplied by the editor of Use Nature, Dieter Luske