Monroe Institute - Lab Tour with Skip Atwater

[11.9-16.3] Hi, my name is Skip Atwater. I'm the Research Director here at the Monroe Institute, and I'm [17.0-24.6] here today to talk to you about Hemi-Sync and the binaural beat technology. First, I want to talk about [24.6-34.5] how the Hemi-Sync patented technology is incorporated into the concept of learning tools. [35.1-41.1] And the way we put that together is through a recipe, a formula by which certain behaviors [41.1-49.3] are mixed together in the appropriate proportions and in the appropriate way so that it develops a [49.3-57.9] unique individualized program for you. So let's talk about this recipe that we're going to put [57.9-65.3] together to create an effective Hemi-Sync learning tool. First of all, recipe has ingredients. We're [65.3-71.7] going to talk about five different ingredients. The first ingredient being that of relaxation. Now, [71.7-78.2] relaxation might not sound like it's too spectacular of an idea, but it's been widely known around the [78.2-89.8] world for some time that relaxation is the key to allowing the brain to access different experiences [90.4-96.5] different from the physical body experiences. So imagine first that you're going to relax all your [96.5-102.8] muscles and just let everything go. Now, what that's going to do for you is to change your [102.8-110.2] brainwave state from a beta active brainwave state down into a nice gentle slow alpha state [110.2-118.5] to begin with. There are two dimensions, however, to this concept of relaxation. One is the [118.5-126.3] physiology, which we've been talking about, and the other one is the awareness of being relaxed. [126.3-131.9] You might walk around in your everyday life and not realize that you're tense and tight and worried [131.9-141.8] about things. You have to be aware, conscious of, knowledgeable of what it's like to be relaxed. [142.8-149.1] Now, you can learn to do this. You can be taught this, and psychotherapists have been using a [149.1-154.9] technique called the Jacobson relaxation technique for well over a hundred years now. The Jacobson [154.9-161.5] relaxation technique was invented back in the 1800s. And the way the Jacobson relaxation [161.5-166.8] technique might work, it might be to think about your hand and getting a very tight [167.5-172.6] fist with your hand, squeezing that very tight. And the therapist might say something to you like, [173.2-179.1] feel the tightness of your hand, feel the fingernails pressing into the palm of your hand. [179.6-187.4] Now, slowly one by one, release your fingers, release and relax. Notice the difference between [187.4-198.2] tight and relaxed. Tight and relaxed. Now, extend your fingers and relax your hand. Now, obviously, [198.2-204.3] you'd work through all the muscle groups of the body from your feet, your legs, your knees, [205.7-211.4] your arms, up to your neck and your back and your stomach. Does any of this sound familiar? [211.4-215.2] Do you remember the first tapes that you listened to where Bob Monroe would say, [216.0-226.1] say in your mind, say to your left foot, relax, let go, sleep. And then he would progress through [226.1-233.7] the body in the same way. So Bob Monroe borrowed on this idea of progressive relaxation. And now, [234.5-240.6] in the tapes that you're listening to now, Bob says, do your preparation process. And that's what [240.6-247.0] he means. That's what the preparation process is, this idea of going through parts of your body, [247.0-254.0] relaxing them, looking for that physiological and neurological brainwave response, as well as [254.5-262.9] the awareness of what it's like to be relaxed. So when you say to your body, relax, you really [262.9-268.0] know what that's all about. So that's our first ingredient in this recipe, this idea of [268.0-275.0] relaxation. The next ingredient that we want to talk about is that of breathing, the idea of [275.0-280.9] maintaining your respiration. Now, I like to joke about the idea that breathing is a good thing to [280.9-285.6] continue because in Western science, when you stop breathing, they think you've died. So it's [285.6-291.0] usually a good thing to keep going. But in this case, we want to talk about those two dimensions [291.0-298.7] again, not only paying attention to or regulating that breathing, but something else that breathing [298.7-306.7] may in fact represent some other form of wisdom, knowledge, energy. When you look at a fine piece [306.7-313.0] of art, you say to yourself, boy, that guy was really inspired. Well, what are we saying when [313.0-318.9] we're saying he's inspired? The word inspire means to breathe in. So are we saying then that [318.9-324.9] he held his breath for a long time while he was doing this piece of art or are we saying what? No. [325.7-332.1] We're kind of saying he was filled with the creative spirit. So there is something in our [332.1-339.6] language that tells us that breathing, respiration is important and that we should probably pay [339.6-346.1] attention to it a little bit more than we do. Now, in the early tapes that you listened to, [346.1-350.4] Bob would guide you through some respiration. You would say, take in a big breath and hold it. [351.3-358.3] Now relax and breathe normally. Take in a big breath and hold it. Now relax and breathe normally. [359.2-365.3] But that isn't the way that you're doing it now. Now what is happening is something called [365.3-373.7] resonant tuning. Resonant tuning is a process of taking in a big breath and then exhaling, [377.7-383.5] in the same way. So you are regulating the flow of the breath, but with your own little biofeedback [383.5-392.8] system, you can hear yourself, humming and oming at the same time. Now this respiration practice, [392.8-399.6] this controlling your breathing, this attending to your respiration is an important ingredient here. [399.6-405.6] And I don't want you to skip over. You know, my name is Skip, but don't skip over the resonant [405.6-412.0] tuning. It's an important ingredient here. Breathing is an important ingredient. For those of you who [413.2-418.5] don't think it's really important, don't quite understand what I meant by being inspired, [419.4-424.3] I would ask you to look at the word expired. What does it mean when you are expired? [425.3-431.6] Yeah, that's what it means. So breathing is an important ingredient here and respect for the [431.6-438.7] breath process. So going back then, we're looking at the first ingredient is physical relaxation. [440.0-446.7] The second ingredient is breathing, attending to the breathing process. And the next ingredient [446.7-454.2] is setting some intent. It's important in this exploration of consciousness to set an intent for [454.2-463.0] your exploration. Now we don't normally go around consciously setting our intents in everyday life. [463.9-469.2] It may be that when we were an infant and we needed to learn how to roll over, we needed to [469.2-475.9] learn how to stand up or walk over and grab our brother's toys, that maybe then there was this [475.9-480.7] strong intent. I really want to do this. I'm really going to go do this now. And we had to [480.7-486.7] think really hard about that. But today in our everyday world, we get up and we walk around, [486.7-492.9] we leave the house in the morning on the way to work or on the way to the store or to school, [492.9-498.9] take the kids to school. All those things we just do so automatically. We don't put a lot of [498.9-504.7] thought and concentration into doing all those things. But in this new world of the exploration [504.7-512.5] of consciousness, it is important in fact to set your intent because it's a different realm, [512.5-518.5] a different way of exploring things, a different way of being. So how do you do this? How do you [518.5-525.7] actually set your intent for an exploration? Well, we've given you a tool and this tool is [525.7-531.9] called the affirmation. Now we've suggested an affirmation called the gateway affirmation that [532.0-539.5] begins, I am more than my physical body and because I am more than my physical body and so [539.5-544.8] forth and so forth. But some of you have come forward to the trainers and said, you know, [544.8-551.1] that affirmation just doesn't quite fit who and what I am. And that's good that you realize this, [551.1-554.6] that you're listening and paying attention to the words coming out of your mouth. [554.6-559.3] You see, that was Bob's affirmation. And it was one that he came up with that sort of [560.1-565.5] began this whole thing called the explorer program where people started picking up communications [565.5-573.4] from other energy systems. But it's not necessarily a universal applicable affirmation. You can be making [573.4-580.4] your own affirmation, setting your own intent. Well, how do you go about doing this? You can [580.4-586.4] make up your own statements. Now I suggest you stick with the words first, I am more than my [586.4-591.3] physical body. I mean, you are here at the Monroe Institute and that's sort of what we're all about, [591.3-597.9] being more than our physical bodies. So starting off with that, then how is it, what are the rules, [597.9-609.2] the guidelines for selecting a statement of intent? Well, the rules, the concept here is to make [609.7-618.8] present tense, active voice, positive statements. Present tense verbiage, not future verbs, [619.5-626.1] not past tense verbs. Present tense verbiage and active voice. If you can, get it into an active [626.1-631.8] verb rather than a being verb and always make some sort of a positive statement, not a negative [631.8-639.1] statement. As a poor example, you wouldn't want to say something like, tomorrow I will get better [639.1-645.7] and better. Well, that's pushing it out to tomorrow, it's not right now. And the inference is [646.9-655.7] that today I must be bad because tomorrow I'll be better. So that isn't really the ideal form of [656.4-663.1] affirmation to set your intent. What you want to try to do is to use present tense, active voice, [663.7-669.9] positive statements. So you might say something like, I am more than my physical body and because [670.0-679.0] I am more than my physical body, I run fast. Present tense, active voice, positive statement. [680.5-688.8] Well, you might say, how can I believe that? Well, as it turns out that that little guardian [688.8-695.5] of consciousness inside that protects us from false statements, I'm a 55 year old guy, [695.5-699.3] I'm kind of heavy and there's a part of my brain that says, he doesn't run fast, [699.3-704.1] he's an old guy, he doesn't run fast. Well, as it turns out that when you get down into the theta [704.1-710.4] state, you undergo that shift of awareness that that little guardian of consciousness goes to [710.4-716.5] sleep. And when you make those statements, those affirmations to yourself, it slips right on by [716.5-722.5] and goes right on into the reticular and is believed to be the truth. And so you begin [722.5-729.5] to shape your world around that truth that you do in fact run fast. So using your affirmation as [729.5-735.7] setting your intent while you're moving on into that nice focus 10 state is just a wonderful place [735.7-743.1] for it. Now, in setting this intense, you might also want to do something called objectification. [743.9-748.9] Take it out of the mental space in your head up here and bring it out into the world. [749.5-756.3] Bring it out into the world by objectifying it. Now what that means is to put it in some [756.3-764.0] physical form by saying with words, those are physical forms, or by writing it down or both. [764.0-770.7] So before you get into your check in and start, you might want to write down on a piece of paper [770.7-778.2] what your intent is. And you might want to say it out loud when Bob says, do your affirmation. [779.1-783.2] Then you can just say your affirmation out loud. So bringing it out of mental space, [783.2-790.1] putting it in the objective world helps. Let's review then. The ingredients that we're putting [790.1-794.5] together for this Hemi-Sync exercise have to do with first physical relaxation, [795.4-802.2] the next paying attention to your breathing, the third setting your intent, and moving on [802.2-810.6] into the fourth, something that we call turning on your internal perceptual processes. Now what [810.6-816.5] does that mean? What is turning on your internal perceptual processes all about? Well there's a theory [817.2-825.7] called sensory integration. This theory says that I know who I am, what I'm doing here, [826.3-832.7] and how I feel about myself based on the integration of my physical senses by what I hear, [832.7-838.7] by what I see, by what I touch. And by putting those together in some appropriate manner, [839.3-846.6] I then make a decision. I realize as it were who I am, what I'm doing, and how I feel about myself. [847.4-852.7] Now let's suppose for a minute that this theory of sensory integration is in fact the truth. That is [852.7-858.4] the real way in which humans find out who they are, what they're doing, and how they feel about [858.4-862.7] themselves. It's a theory, but let's presume for a minute that that is in fact the way it really [862.7-869.6] happens. Ah, then we move over into the check unit and you lay down in the dark, put headphones on, [870.2-880.2] tell your body to relax. What happens? All of your senses go away. Well who are you then? [883.3-891.7] What are you doing? How do you feel about yourself? You have no sensory input on which [891.7-896.9] you can base that decision. No way to integrate those senses. Well what happens is something [896.9-905.9] you probably all have experienced.