doctor (my general practitioner) was supportive and gave me another article on the subject. I contacted The Monroe Institute in Faber, Virginia, which produces the specialized tapes that were used in the Jonas/ Burke study. The Institute is a nonprofit educational and research organization devoted to understanding human con- sciousness and practical applications of this understanding. I was sent the set of six tapes called the EMERGENCY SERIES, surgical support tapes, which the brochure in the cassette holder said was “designed to assist individuals through a physical crisis such as major illness, traumatic injury, or surgery.” The tapes included one for use before surgery, one for use during surgery, one for the recovery room, one for recuperation from surgery, one called Energy Walk, and one called Surf, recorded surf sounds. The tapes include the blended, sequenced sound patterns that are the result of research by Robert Monroe and col- leagues at The Monroe Institute. Their work has identified specific signals, called “binaural beats,” which are fed into each ear through stereo earphones to produce synchroniza- tion of the left and right hemispheres of the brain, (which The Monroe Institute calls “Hemi-Sync”). These audio signals help reduce “that constant psychological turmoil that people go through” with surgery, says one surgeon who has used them for his patients. Binaural beats are not the same as the subliminal messages
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Hemi-Sync® Journal 1992-2 (Spring) · 1 Hemi-Sync® Journal 1992-2 Spring.pdf
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that some tapes advertise. Subliminal messages means the message is not audible. On these tapes, in addition to the special modulated frequencies to control brain waves, the voice, if one is present, is audible. The voice on The Monroe Institute tapes is a very soothing one which encourages the listener to relax. Tape One, the Pre- Op tape, for instance, is a wonderfully relaxing, affirming tape in which the narrator takes the listener step by step through conscious relaxation head to toe. First, let your jaw, let your Jaw go limp and relax, let the muscles and nerves of your jaw go limp and relax. Now, your eyelids. Let your eyelids relax and go limp. Now, let your lips, let the muscles and nerves in your lips relax, relax easily and go limp. Now, the muscles in your forehead . . . Chances are that by the end of this tape you're asleep or at the least, very relaxed and no longer anxious. iii --- PAGE 4 (OCR) --- The instructions note that you should use the Pre-Op tape as many times as possible prior to surgery, both before and after admission to the hospital. I found this tape unbelievably soothing and used it many times before surgery. One night I found it hard to sleep—I was anxious and the persistent, intermittent sound of the foghorn out on Lake Michigan bothered me. “I hope the tape will knock out the foghorn sound,” I thought as I put the Walkman™ on, It didn’t, but it made me feel so good and so relaxed, that I wasn’t bothered by
the foghorn anymore. After the surgery, I realized that the tape did the same thing with pain and discomfort—it was still there but it didn’t bother me, just as the tape said, As I wrote at the time (Shirley Bliley of the Institute had suggested I keep notes on my use of the tapes): Several times anxiety hits me and I listen to the Pre-Op or, a couple of times, the /ntra-Op tape, and find despite my thoughts still being somewhat anxious, I’m surprisingly calm and feel an inner peace. After a disconcerting doctor visit and as anxiety builds the night before, the tapes help. The morning of the surgery I listen to them at 5:15 a.m. on the way to the hospital. I listen waiting to be taken down to surgery and in the pre-op area. I discussed them with the anesthesiologist—he’s very interested and more than willing to help by being sure the earphones stay on during surgery and replacing the /ntra-Op tape with the recovery room tape when I go into the recovery room. I woke in the recovery room to the soothing sounds of the recovery tape . . . Let the others help you restore your balance . . . You accept the green, blue, and purple healing energy that they are bringing to you; the bright healing, warm energy they are giving to you . . . The nerve signals of pain Now through you and do not register during this period now Tt was a far better way to wake than my previous four surgeries when I remembered waking either to searing pain