Mind Training and Entering The Zone

Dr Siff responding to a question from his Supertraining group on mental training and entering the zone! The question was as follows - Just wondering if anyone knew anything about this, using EEG to measure brain activity and help a person, enter ‘the zone’ (that’s the mental one not the diet one!!) and whether you need this expensive machinery to do this?

* During my MSc days when I was researching the role of mathematical
modelling of the EEG, I came into contact with some interesting folk working
in this field and I ended up using various signal generators from our
electrical engineering laboratory at my former university in S Africa to
“entrain” my brain rhythms to the frequency of the various dominant brain
rhythms (delta, theta, alpha and beta).

Some interesting changes in mental state occurred that were similar to the
deep relaxation state induced by methods such as Jacobsen’s progressive
relaxation, raj yoga, hatha yoga and similar strategies for manipulating
consciousness. Other patterns of externally applied small currents
(microamps) induced sleep and recovery from stress. Dr Robert Becker did a
considerable amount of research into electroanalgesia and electronarcosis via
the use of (mainly DC) electrical fields across the brain. Some of his work
appears in popularised form in his book “The Body Electric”.

Later I came across commercial devices being sold to facilitate entrainment
of ‘desirable’ brain rhythms, such as HemiSync, Alpha Stim and
ElectroAcuscope. Later a few companies combined these devices with sound
generators (through headphones) to further enhance the entrainment process.
The following book gives a most readable account of such devices: Michael
Hutchison “MegaBrain”. You will also find intriguing snippets of information
in Ostrander & Schröder’s books “Psychic Discoveries Behind the Iron Curtain”
and “Superlearning”.

Another source of information on entering the psychological “Zone” appears in
the recent edition of the Online Athletic Insight journal on the following
website:

athleticinsight.com/ZoneIssueFrame1Source1_1.htm

Spontaneous entries into the Mind Zone are recounted in Murphy & White, “The
Psychic Side of Sports”.
Dr Mel Siff
Author of Supertraining + Facts and Fallacies of Fitness
http://www.drmelsiff.com