NLP: Hypnosis and Brain Waves
A California psychiatrist and psychologist named Dr. Milton Erickson discovered a technique Electroencephalography. It was a powerful, safe, and effective way to help his patient’s access their unconscious mind, past memories. Electroencephalography is the neurophysiologic measurement of the electrical activity of the brain by recording from electrodes placed on the scalp or, in special cases, within the subdural or the cerebral cortex.
The brain operates in four general states determined by the frequency of the electricity generated by the exchange of chemicals in the neural pathways. The four states include Full Conscious Awareness or Beta, the Hypnotic State or Alpha, the Dream State or Theta, and the Sleep State or Delta.
These four states correspond to electrical activity in the brain and are defined by frequency ranges on an EEG.
Full Conscious Awareness occurs when the majority of the electrical activity in the brain is in the beta range (14-35 Hz).
The Hypnotic State occurs when brain activity is in the alpha range (8-13 Hz). The Dream State occurs when brain activity is in the theta range (4-7 Hz).
The Sleep State occurs when brain activity is in the delta range (.5-3 Hz), when we sleep. Full Conscious Awareness / Beta (14-35 Hz)
Our mind is attentive and uses logic to reason, evaluate, assess, judge, and make decisions. This is the stage used to manage new experiences such as learning or reacting to unrecorded events. You are wide-awake, alert. Your mind is sharp, focused. In the Beta state, neurons fire abundantly, in rapid succession, helping you achieve peak performance. New ideas and solutions to problems flash like lightning into your mind. Beta training is one of the frequencies that biofeedback therapists use to treat Attention Deficit Disorder.
Beta-centered programs help you prepare to take an exam, play sports, give a presentation, analyse and organise information and other activities where mental alertness and high levels of concentration are key to your success. The Hypnotic State / Alpha (8-13 Hz)
The doorway between the conscious and the subconscious is opened and memories become easily accessible. This is a perfect stage to perform rehearsed actions such as artistic performances, sporting competitions, as well as letting general creativity to flow.
In the Hypnotic State, you are not really “thinking” in the traditional sense. You are “experiencing” or “letting things happen” without question. This is the stage chosen by most Eastern disciplines and typically used for light meditation. The Dream State / Theta (4-7 Hz) A period in daily life that lasts a few seconds during the phase of waking up or falling asleep and is the brain’s frequency range that we use during hypnosis or self-hypnosis.
This is the state of mind used for centuries by the Tibetan monks to perform the highest meditations as well as to achieve extreme physical and mental states.The explanation of this phenomenon is based on the mechanisms of the possible/impossible.
The brain protects the body from most mental or physical practices that it perceives to be impossible to perform, like flying from the roof of your home. However your mind allows you to fly in your dreams during the sleeping stage, because this cannot harm your body.
In The Dream State frequency, the body is asleep, and therefore judgment of the impossible can rest. Yet in this state, the mind is still awake and able to perform actions considered impossible and therefore limited at a higher brain frequency. The Sleep State / Delta (.5-3 Hz)
Delta is the slowest of all four brain wave frequencies. Most commonly associated with deep sleep. Certain frequencies in the Delta range also trigger the release of Human Growth Hormone so beneficial for healing and regeneration. This is why sleep – deep restorative sleep – the kind that Delta frequencies help induces is so essential to the healing process.
CONCLUSION Vibrations from rhythmic sounds have a profound effect on our brain activity. It is no coincidence that 4.5 beats, or cycles, per second correspond to the trance-like state of theta brain wave activity.
You have your very own signature brain wave activity, unique to you. It has a rhythm and pattern and it incorporates Beta, Alpha, Theta, and Delta frequencies at varying levels over the course of a day as your brain modulates them to match your activities. Hypnosis works because it uses a mechanism already in place. People already think, feel, and act in response to hypnosis everyday, either intentionally or unintentionally.Therefore, hypnosis will remain at the forefront of human evolution because it is through hypnosis that people become who they are in the first place. It seems this natural phenomenon is only limited by the boundaries of our own imagination.
