Hemi-Sync® Journal 1991-1 (Winter)

set of responses to my normal environment. I first noticed it during the plane trip home. I generally experienced airports as extremely stressful places. The bustle of people, the overwhelming smells from snack bars, and the random announcements of plane departures required a good bit of conscious focusing and sorting out to get me to my destination. I arrived home from that trip in a calm and peaceful state of mind and body. I noticed this change with interest, but thought little about it. I was working in a hospital clinic for children with cerebral palsy at the time. On clinic days my ability to function efficiently was pushed to the maximum. In a five-hour period, I might see six children for evaluations. There was no real schedule, and a therapist would just pick up the next child who was ready. Thus, there was no way of preparing for a specific child. This was followed by a staffing session in which five or six different professionals would discuss findings on each child and decide upon a set of recommendations. This meeting was usually chaotic, and interspersed with ringing telephones and a general sense of impatience. At the end of the meeting I was expected to type a brief report for each child while sitting in an office with two other persons who were writing reports or talking on the telephone. I was exhausted and constantly frustrated with what I had agreed to do. After my GATEWAY program, I had some new tools. I listened to a METAMUSIC® tape through my Walkman™ as I prepared for the clinic day. I found a quiet therapy room during lunchtime and listened to the Catnapper tape before the staff meeting. I wore headphones and was supported by the Concentration tape while writing reports. As I included at least an hour of Hemi-Sync listening a day, I found myself able to deal easily with most parties, sports events, and shopping trips without specific preparation. My life and perspective expanded. The ease with which I communicated during professional workshops and responded to questions from a large group increased perceptibly. My personal and professional life changed and I was happier and much more effective and efficient. I didn’t think much about why Hemi-Sync helped me this way until last fall. I was invited to present a three-hour Short Course at the annual convention of the American Speech-Hearing-Language Association in St. Louis, Missouri, in November of 1989. In the past, ASHA conventions have represented the outer limits of my ability to cope. The meeting is usually attended by 7,000 to 10,000 persons. Sessions are held in three or four different hotels in a city, and rooms often fill quickly for the more popular lectures or topics, leaving many people unable to get into the sessions they desire. An exhibit hall the size of two to three football fields with hundreds of exhibitors provides an additional auditory and visual feast. I accepted the invitation and was informed that my Short Course sold out immediately, and I could expect to teach a group of 500 persons! I had not attended an ASHA convention for ten years and had no experience with meetings of this size since my introduction to Hemi-Sync. I assumed that since my overal response to busy meetings and conferences had improved, I would have no problem with the environment of the ASHA convention. I was discouraged and disappointed to discover all of the old patterns emerging by the afternoon of the first day. The fatigue was intense, and I was aware of my distractibility and feelings of impatience, and lack of desire to socialize with old friends with whom I had anticipated spending time. I blamed it on a late arrival the night before due to airport delays and a lack of sleep. I was sure that I’d be better the next day. The next morning, I began my day with the Morning Exercise tape and created the images for an easy and relaxed day of learning. Suddenly one of the children with severe sensory integration dysfunction entered by image. There was an instant knowing that the problems I had been experiencing the day before were caused by sensory overload and a reduction in sensory integrative abilities. For the first time I saw the connection between my own difficulties and those of the children with whom I had been working. The child in my image presented me with headphones and a Hemi-Sync tape, and I saw myself wearing the headphones as I attended the rest of the convention. The remaining three days of the convention were blissful. I stuck my Walkman in my suit jacket, put on the headphones and listened to the Concentration tape during all lecture sessions. This provided the narrow focus of attention that was conducive to learning. While roaming the halls, visiting the exhibits, and moving between meetings, I changed to my favorite METAMUSIC tape, Midsummer Night, which created a more open focus for my awareness. I was immediately aware of the increase in my ability to concentrate and remember what I learned in the various lectures and courses I attended. What was even more impressive were the feelings that accompanied the day. I was happy and calm. Friends I hadn’t seen for some time emerged effortlessly. Even in the midst of a crowd, the person stood out among the others and seemed to drift my way. I had looked forward to a minicourse on a topic of particular interest. When I arrived, the room was filled and I was not able to attend. I was aware of a brief sense of disappointment, but the inner sense that something more important would happen. I left the room and immediately ran into a colleague whose presentation I had attended that morning. We sat down for tea and explored some of her ideas and experience in greater depth. I was immediately glad that the full room had given me this opportunity. My energy level was unusually high throughout the remainder of the convention and I enjoyed my time there without fatigue. In August of 1990 I attended an intermediate hammered dulcimer workshop at the Augusta Heritage Center in Elkins, West Virginia. I have always been a closet dulcimer player; the prospect of expanding my skills and learning to play in a group was both exciting and terrifying. The class provided a challenge to my sensory integrative abilities that I had not expected. New playing skills were taught primarily by learning a tune by ear, and then developing the ability to hear specific chords, embellishments, or rhythmic styles. I was expected to play what I had heard. Learning by ear has never been a strength, and situations that depended on it have usually led to frustration, and a reduction in my ability to play. In addition, we were encouraged to practice what we were learning during class. At intervals, sixteen hammered dulcimers would begin to practice a tune or technique. These were not times of playing together, and the resulting cacophony was overwhelming. I found it impossible to hear my own instrument and get any feedback in the din that resulted. I wondered if Hemi-Sync would help and decided to experiment. The next day I wore my headphones and listened to the Concentration tape softly throughout the day. I listened to the new patterns with greater ease. I was aware that even though could not play the pattern smoothly, or even remember the tune with ease, there was not the emotional overlay I had experienced before. Rather than feeling that I would never be able to do this, I simply knew that I was learning and would be able to produce what I had learned at a later time. I don’t know whether the Hemi-Sync increased my ability to learn, but I know that it prevented me from unconsciously interfering with my own learning by eliminating negative messages and scenarios. The most noticeable difference was my ability to hear my own instrument and to concentrate during the group practice times. Even when I did not wear the headphones, there was a carryover, and the sound of my own dulcimer came to the foreground of my awareness. I was interested in exploring differences between open focus and narrow focus of attention during the dulcimer class. The Concentration tape provided excellent support for the narrow focus of attention. In the past, I have achieved the wider, open focus by listening to a METAMUSIC tape. This, however, was not an alternative when the desired open focus was on a broader awareness of another piece of music or playing style. One day I listened to the Free Flow 12 tape during class. I found my consciousness flowing with the music, but flowing right out of the room—with a clear feeling of having missed most of what was being taught! I listened to the Surf tape and felt an intense desire to close my eyes and nap! I ended up moving to a relaxed, open Focus 10 or Focus 12 state without the tape and my awareness of the total feel of a piece of music increased. I have experimented with different types of earphones during the past year. Ideally, I would like for my Hemi-Sync backup to be unobtrusive. I do not wish to give the impression that I am not paying attention or am listening to something unrelated. As an alternative to headphones, I have tried the small, in-the-ear buttons. These have not worked well for me because in order to stay easily in the ear, they must fit tightly. This puts the Hemi-Sync into the foreground rather than the background, and detracts from listening to a speaker. Although headphones are larger and are obvious to others, they allow sound to come in around them, enabling an easier mix of the Hemi-Sync and room sounds. CONCLUSIONS Hemi-Sync enhances the sensory integrative abilities of the brain. The responses to Hemi- Sync signals are most dramatic in children and adults with severe sensory integrative dysfunction. However, a similar improvement in processing and focusing abilities is seen in individuals with normal sensory integrative abilities. Each of us varies in the ability to organize and integrate internal and external sensory information for learning. We are aware of situations in which our abilities emerge with ease, and other situations in which a sense of overload and disorganization predominates. Hemi- Sync can help each of us learn and function in the easy and effortless way that is associated with high levels of sensory organization and integration. Hemi-Sync® is a registered trademark of Interstate Industries, Inc. © 1991 The Monroe Institute