Ever wondered how our emotions and thoughts change the outcome of our activities? Why gloomy moods lead to reduced productivity whereas smiles and laughter make even the hardest jobs easier? The magician behind these crazy human behavioral changes is our Brain waves. Yes, your brain aka the huge cluster of neural cells generates waves that make you feel on cloud nine or in the depths of the deepest sea.
So What are Brainwaves?
Brain waves are generated by the complex and synchronized communication mechanism of neural cells, using electrical impulses. An electroencephalogram (EEG) is the set up used to plot the electrical activity of the brain. The graphs show that the variation in the moods of advanced organisms is highly correlated to the pattern of potential variations in the brain. Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Theta, and Infra-low are the various named sections of the bandwidth of the brain wave spectrum.
Their Types
Infra-Low Brain Waves (<0.5Hz) are the least learned among the brainwave brothers because of their near 0 frequency. From recent research, it is thought to be holding a vital role in the internal timing cycle and mutual connection establishments between neurons.
Delta waves (0.5-3 Hz) occur during deep and dreamless sleep. These waves are essential for the development of neural pathways and to trigger the healing process. Theta waves (3-8Hz) are found in the course of dream full sleep which pampers learning.
Alpha (8-12Hz) is the wave that is responsible for your feeling of “Being Here”. The calmness and alertness that you experience while reading or meditating are because of this range of waves.
While Alpha helps you learn languages, Beta Waves (12-38Hz) helps to pin your focus to a task. People like Math geniuses and the coding guru’s relay on Beta waves for their problem-solving abilities. This dominates our normal waking state and makes us engaged with our cognitive tasks.
The last but not the least is the Gamma waves (38-42Hz). These may have saved your life. That sudden rush in your body when some emergency hit is because of this master. Sometimes the last minute during your exams, you might have had that sudden inflow of all the answers you thought you forgot. That was because your brain started generating more gamma waves.
Alright, but are there any ways we can master them?
Yes. There is. With continuous training, we can manipulate our minds to generate the type of waves we want. The ancient saints did this by the powerful meditation practices. Also, it is believed that it was how they could even die on command (Samadhi). Studies have shown that meditation can help us control the state of our minds (by increasing alpha waves and reducing beta), in turn, the brain activity and hormonal releases resulting in the change in the brain wave patterns.
Brain waves change based on the atmospheric condition, health conditions, and medical intakes. But all these factors are secondary to the psychological well being. Mental health is also linked to what we eat. The third factor is an obvious combination of exercise and water intake. Well, in a nutshell, To master your brain waves, master yourself.
Here is a fun fact. Your body has got a mini-brain in your gut. Yeah. Scientists are still confused about how our bodies do marvelous things like these. Anyways, even though we are far behind in understanding our own brain, let’s do the justice it deserves for serving us.
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