Alpha brain waves represent one pattern of electrical activity produced by the brain. The brain is made up of millions of neurons that use electrical signals to transmit information. Alpha waves usually occur when you are engaged in activities such as daydreaming, meditating, or practicing mindfulness.
Relaxes your mind and body
Your burdens and stresses float away when you enter the alpha brainwave state. Pressure and anxiety vanish as your cerebrum’s manner of thinking is quietened down and your psyche moves towards clarity.
Improves your mood
Having increasingly alpha brainwaves, for the most part, demonstrates progressively positive, steady, and adjusted feelings. This implies that you can adapt better to pressure and resist the urge to panic in stressful situations.
Enhances your immune system
Long haul pressure and strain negatively affect your body and mind because of the unreasonable imbalance of your cortisol and adrenaline levels. When you are in that state your body is constantly in the fight and flight mode and your sleep patterns are disturbed. This has a huge impact on your immune and hormonal systems.
One of the most important things about Alpha Meditation is to choose a place that you love being, whether it is at the beach, in the bush or at a waterfall. For this purpose, I will choose a place that I love and that makes me feel happy.
Alpha Meditation Technique
Make sure you are wearing loose comfortable clothes and you are either sitting or lying on your bed or in a chair.
Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths. Breathe in through your nose, feeling your stomach rise. Breathe out through your mouth, feeling your stomach contract. As you breathe out feel your body relax.
Visualise yourself standing on a beautiful sandstone path with a cool breeze blowing on your face. As you inhale, slowly look around you and see the palms glistering with dew in the early morning light. As you wander along the path watch the palms gently swaying in the breeze. As you move closer towards the shadows of the trees you can hear water splashing. Moving through the trees you stop, look up and see the sun filtering through. You can hear birds singing as you continue down the path. Ahead you can see the light getting stronger and the trees starting to thin out. As you keep walking towards the light you see a beautiful stone bench next to a huge pond with a beautiful fountain in the middle.
You sit down on the bench which has been warmed by the sun. Taking a few deep breaths you can feel the freshness in your lungs. You can also smell the dampness of the soil as you sit there. Take a few minutes to feel all the sensations as you slowly breathe in and out.
As you look around, you can see beautiful lily pads gently floating on the surface of the pond, slowly swaying back and forth in the breeze. Watch the blue dragonflies hovering above the water, gracefully dipping down, and floating on the water’s surface. On the edge of the pond also observing the dragonflies is a beautiful green tree frog and as the sun shines on his back it glistens.
Sit there for a while and feel the peace, quiet and relaxing energy flow through you.
Now look towards the middle of the pond and watch as the water from the fountain shoots up towards the sky and as it drops down watch the rainbows filtering through the water. As the droplets land, the sun reflects off them and they shine like little diamonds on the surface of the water. Relax as you breathe in and out. Calmly watching the ripples on the water spread out across the pond towards the bank where the water becomes totally still again.
I want you to visualise the droplets of water as built-up energy being released from your body. As it touches the surface of the water, feel that energy rippling away. As it moves further away from you, it loses its power and gets slower and slower until it is just still. Feel that stillness throughout your body and relax into it.
Sit with this for a while, slowly breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth. Feel the relaxed, calm energy flowing through your body as you breathe. Feel the warm air on your face and the slight wind blowing in your hair. Relax deeper into the moment as you breathe out. Feel your body relax and grow lighter on every out breath.
Now slowly bring your mind back to the sounds around you, wiggling your toes and fingers and very slowly opening your eyes. Take a while to just let your body be in this space, quietly observing your surroundings from a distance in a detached way. Feeling more relaxed, calmer and with a positive feeling about your surroundings.
You can repeat this process using a place that is relaxing and special to you.
A recording of the entire Meditation Techniques series will be available to download in the coming weeks.
