Theta Meditations
I have been meditating for about five years now. It all started when I got sick. Meditation was one of my "prescriptions" for recovery since my nervous system crashed from the toxicity, and my subsequent adrenal collapse.
One of the health benefits of meditation is that it calms and balances the nervous system. Many people spend a large portion of their day with their sympathetic nervous system (fight/flight) activated, whether they realize it or not. Meditation activates the parasympathetic nervous system. When your parasympathetic nervous system is enhanced and activated, your body goes into rest, repair and healing mode. The body is able to heal from the stress response that is activated during the day. Another added benefit is that during meditation your brain has an opportunity to push pause on the constant mind chatter and analyzing of information. You can simply be with your body in the present moment. When you are present with yourself in the now, you can gather your dispersed energy back home to your core.
There are different brain waves that occur as your mind transitions in and out of various stages of alertness, meditation or sleep.
1. BETA: very alert and awake, can be highly focused or even anxious
2. ALPHA: relaxed and calm, creative, meditation begins, peaceful state of mind
3. THETA: the place where you feel as if you're asleep, but you are not, deep meditative state, inspiration and intuition flow, the subconscious releases and creates in this state
4. DELTA: state of deep sleep, restorative
5. GAMMA: elevated consciousness, bliss, and heightened mental function, most spiritual masters access this higher consciousness state
I love all kinds of meditations; from guided with others, to guided meditations I do with myself. I'll do anything from shorter five minute meditations to hour long meditations, and everything in between. Sometimes I just focus on my central channel breathing while moving healing energy through my body, and other times I visualize, create and connect. Any type of meditation is going to be beneficial for your nervous system and your overall health and well being. For the past few years though, when I'm good and relaxed, I have found myself going into a different kind of deep mental state almost as if I'm drifting off to sleep, but yet I'm still awake. It feels almost like I’m floating.
I learned that this meditative state is when my brain is experiencing theta brain waves. I'm not a neurologist and don't claim to be one, but I've studied it a little and learned more about theta brain waves.
Our bodies experience theta brain waves in the morning when we're not yet fully awake. They also occur right as we are drifting off to sleep. Naturally then, early morning hours and late evening hours are a a great time to go into a theta meditation. Although, I will say that the theta meditative state can be accessed any time of day. There’s no secret recipe to get there, it’s just dropping deeper into your body, releasing the mind and letting it step out of the way.
In much of my healing work that I've done to rewire, release and integrate emotions, trauma and blocked energy, the goal has been to drop below the conscious and to access the subconscious. The subconscious brain is where trauma is stored, where we retain memories and retain emotions both good and bad, which then influences our beliefs and behaviors.
When you are experiencing theta brain waves, you are typically accessing the realm of the subconscious.
In the theta meditative state is where inspiration flows and your intuition is heightened. I know this to be true not because I've read it in a book somewhere, but because I've fully experienced it so many times. Meditation naturally slows your mind chatter so that you can receive better. It's a state where your vibration is raised and you can connect with greater ease to God, your angels, the universe or whatever you connect with. It's like fine tuning to a radio station. You just have to turn the dial to the right station and cut through the static, which gets done during meditation when the mind slows down. What comes through is amplified and clearer.
One time in particular that I received some divine communication during meditation, was on March 22nd of last year; my daughter's birthday. I was simply relaxing and breathing into my meditation with nothing particular on my mind, and I dropped into the theta brain state. At the very end of my meditation where I felt like I was in a dreamlike state, I had an impression come to my mind which included specific instructions about what to do regarding my kidney stone that had been stuck for a year and a half! When I came back to a fully alert state and recalled the information, I wasn’t sure if I had actually dreamed it or made it up! Within one hour of doing this simple thing, which included the placement of two hot water bottles on my body in two different places - the 8mm impassable stone was out! The whole sequence of events was beyond miraculous and proved to me yet again, that God is the master Healer.
My 8 mm kidney stone.
Information has also come to me when I haven't even been meditating, but I'm naturally transitioning into theta brain waves while waking up in the morning, or going to sleep at night. I have had several experiences where the names of specific supplements that I had never even heard of, were brought into my mind in the early morning hours while in this sleepy state. Rhodiola root and glucosamine came to me this way a few years ago when I first got sick.
Interestingly enough, even in the week since I initially wrote this blog, I had the name of another new supplement come to me in the early morning hours, along with what issue it would specifically help. Since I have had a health issue where my body does not respond well to the supplements that I need for healing, and the doctors haven't known exactly what to do because of this, we have to proceed very cautiously. These experiences have been gifts from heaven as guidance to know exactly what to do to heal my body. This is one reason why I’ve had to focus on fine tuning my meditations, and learn to surrender all at the same time. My healing is dependent on it! I know with a surety that if I get information about a supplement and it comes from heaven, my body will tolerate it and it will help me.
Clearly, meditation is not the only time inspiration can also come through during the day. I can be doing the dishes and have answers come to me. But meditation is another highly effective tool where a natural byproduct is tuning in and connecting to the Divine within.
I also want to say that there is no right or wrong way to meditate. It's all good! Even if you meditate and feel that you aren't calming your mind very well, that's ok too. My meditations are all different. Sometimes I’m in my own personal zen where inspiration flows and other times my meditations can include my children calling my name and knocking on my bedroom door. That's my reality! One key for me is to try not to force something to happen or create any unrealistic expectations for myself, but to simply surrender to the process. It's not always easy, but when I can get my mind out of the way and drop into my body, and from this space just allow and receive whatever is meant to be - is when the real magic happens.
POST BLOG interesting side note....
In my studying I’ve learned that children between the ages of 2 and 6 years are predominantly experiencing life in a theta brain wave state. This is why it is imperative that children in early childhood be raised in a nurturing environment filled with love, experience an abundance of positive emotions and learning experiences. While we know this is highly important at any age, much of what they are learning, feeling and experiencing in early childhood is being directly imprinted into their subconscious. Powerful! In this age range they are in a heightened state of imagination and and are very connected to their internal world. This all directly impacts the rest of their lives and shows up later in their behaviors, belief systems, and their feelings of self worth. It's fascinating!
