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* NOTE: World Tai Chi & Qigong Day advises consulting your physician before beginning any new exercise, herbal, diet, or health program. The research listed here is meant to stimulate a discussion between you and your physician, health insurance carrier, etc., not as medical advise. Research and comments provided here are hoped to stimulate a more robust discussion of powerful natural mind/body health tools.
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Brain Wave Changes During Meditation
“. . . [Buddhist Monks] showed a dramatic increase in high frequency brain activity called gamma waves during compassion meditation . . . gamma waves underlie higher mental activity such as consciousness . . . monks showed extremely large increases . . . never reported before in the neuroscience literature”“. . . monks showed a dramatic increase in high frequency brain activity [gamma waves] . . . a sort that has never been reported before in the neuroscience literature,” says Professor Davidson [neuroscientist at the University of Wisconsin] . . . a sprawling circuit that switches on at the sight of suffering . . . as if the monks’ brains were itching to go to the aid of those in distress.”
-- The Wall Street Journal, Friday, November 5, 2004
– Victoria Province Australia’s Government Better Health Site
http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Meditation?OpenDocument
. . . forms of meditation result in the clearing of one's mind and this promotes a sense of calm and heightened awareness. During meditation, the brain's activity, as mapped by a device called an electroencephalograph (EEG), alters significantly. The most well-known brain waves evident during many kinds of meditation are called alpha waves. These brain waves accompany relaxation of the entire nervous system . . .
. . . A range of disorders
Regular meditation can be used to help to treat a range of disorders, including:
· Anxiety
· Chronic pain
· Depression
· Headaches
· High blood pressure
· Insomnia
· Migraines
· Stress
· Life threatening illnesses.
· Different types of meditation
Meditation has evolved out of many different religions and philosophies, which means there are a number of different techniques to choose from.
. . . Movement - using a physical technique like yoga, Qi Gong or Tai Chi to still the mind by coordinating the breath and the body with gentle movement.
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JOURNAL OF NEUROTHERAPY - Updated 22 March 2004
http://www.snr-jnt.org/journalnt/jnt(2-1)5.html
John F. Gilbert, Ph.D. and Robert Moroney, D.A., CPPS (Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Peak Performance Certification Board) describe their experience measuring the brain waves of a Qigong master during qigong exercises vs. baseline measurements:
During the baseline, it was necessary to reduce the amplitude in order to view the brainwaves as they traced across the screen. Other than this, the data looked very good and was dominated by high amplitude alpha waves. The data was very clean and easy to edit. It turns out the alpha amplitudes were extremely high and averaged 195 microvolts as shown in Figure 1.
Obviously, this is impressively high amplitude alpha, but equally as impressive was the total amplitude of 383 microvolts across the 0.5 to 32.0 Hz spectrum, including 42 microvolts of delta. There are not many individuals who can generate this kind of total amplitude; this is definitely the highest total amplitude and the highest amplitude alpha ever brought to my attention. . . .
About the Authors:
Dr. Gilbert has a Ph.D. from Rocky Mountain University in Education Administration, Supervision, and Curriculum Development. He holds a Doctorate in Comparative Religions and is currently a doctoral candidate in Naturopathy with a major in neurotherapy and nutrition. Dr. Gilbert is employed by Lexicor Medical Technology where his duties include educating clinicians in the use of brain mapping and neurotherapy equipment. Dr. Gilbert is a professor of meditation, yoga, and Kaballah at the Universal Theological Seminary in Boulder, Colorado.
Dr. Moroney is a neurotherapy clinician, peak performance counselor, researcher, and pioneer in the field of human evolution. He is the author of two tape sets and a book The Alphabiotic Alignment: A Bridge to Higher Consciousness. Dr. Moroney is the chairman of the Peak Performance Certification Board and conducts seminars in the raising of consciousness and peak performance. He is a practitioner of Tai Chi and Chi Kung.