the tapes before coming to the hospital, while under anesthe- sia, and in the recovery room, while another group of patients did not use the tapes. All the patients underwent diagnostic or operative laparoscopy. The patients using the tapes had signif- icantly less pain and nausea following the operation, and returned to full activity quicker than the group that had not used the tapes. Another study, reported in The Lancet (August 27, 1988, Vol. 2, No. 8609, p. 491), found that patients who listened to a relaxation tape during hysterectomy recovered more quickly with less fever and significantly less gastrointestinal problems than patients who listened to a blank tape. Other studies have suggested that operating room sounds may be registered in the brain even though the patient is under general anesthesia and these sounds may influence recovery. So part of the effect of the tapes, besides putting positive, affirming, reassuring thoughts in the patient's head, may be that they block out operating room sounds and statements that could be disturbing. Some anesthesiologists now make gentle suggestions to the patient, such as telling the patient, still under anesthesia, that the operation is over and was a complete success and that she will be waking soon and will do well, because of these studies. I decided to try out the tapes used in the Jonas/Burke study for my surgery last year and share the experiences with our members, who face so many operative laparoscopies. My
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Hemi-Sync® Journal 1992-2 (Spring) · 1 Hemi-Sync® Journal 1992-2 Spring.pdf
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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
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