The human brain has developed a remarkable capacity for critical reasoning and problem solving; this is it’s essential strength, and it’s achievements are reflected in the positive elements of our modern society. The mind is characterised by a linear way of thinking , and thrives upon seeing things in terms of cause and effect. As a consequence of it’s linear and analytical nature, the mind also contains an essential weakness. This weakness arises from the mind perceiving itself as being seperate from other people and seperate from nature. The complex and interweaving connections that allow a human being to function as a whole (essential yet small part of a complex ecosystem and universe) are most often discounted when the mind cannot find immediate and obvious meaning. Without a perceived place in nature and the universe, the mind then pursues safety through (positive and negative) relationships with others, and through controlling (rather than listening to) nature. Much of this characteristic is reflected in the negative attributes of modern society.
Science has demonstrated the existence of “mirror neurons” within the brain, the ‘neurons of empathy’. Empathy is the capacity to feel what others are feeling inside one’s own body (mirror neurons therefore bridge the gap between thinking and feeling, the gap between people, and between ourselves and nature). Utilising mirror neurons to such a degree that they tip the balance towards feeling within a person’s perception, requires either a natural born affinity or a process of learning. As previously described, the name “Osteopathy” means “Bone Feeling”, or utilising empathy as a means of feeling deep within another person’s body, a process that continues to develop over years and decades of practice.
Westerners have little first hand experience of their own interconnection with nature (as more primative cultures do), nor of their own inner self-healing capacity. The information that follows, aims to explain the interrelationship between brain function and the self-healing process, and how to maximise the benefits of Osteopathic treatment.
"No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it"
~ Albert Einstein
* The following brainwave information has been adapted from 'Brainworks Neurotherapy' London.
"At the root of all our thoughts, emotions and behaviours is the communication between neurons within our brains. Brainwaves are produced by synchronised electrical pulses from masses of neurons communicating with each other.
Brainwaves are detected using sensors placed on the scalp. They are divided into bandwidths to describe their functions (below), but are best thought of as a continuous spectrum of consciousness; from slow, loud and functional - to fast, subtle, and complex.
It is a handy analogy to think of brainwaves as musical notes - the low frequency waves are like a deeply penetrating drum beat, while the higher frequency brainwaves are more like a subtle high pitched flute. Like a symphony, the higher and lower frequencies link and cohere with each other through harmonics".
In the field of Biodynamic Cranial Osteopathy, different levels of physiological function are also described in terms of different frequencies - and these are perceived through sensing within the body. One might describe these in terms of the ocean and it's different qualities and attributes: such as crashing waves upon the shore (with blunt physicality), the tide that slowly comes in and out (but with an enormous strength to lift), a deeper stillness and beauty (that influences our deeper self in a way that physical force cannot achieve), and so on.
"Our brainwaves change according to what we’re doing and feeling. When slower brainwaves are dominant we can feel tired, slow, sluggish, or dreamy. The higher frequencies are dominant when we feel wired, or hyper-alert.
The descriptions that follow are only broad descriptions - in practice things are far more complex, and brainwaves reflect different aspects when they occur in different locations in the brain.
Brainwave speed is measured in Hertz (cycles per second) and they are divided into bands delineating slow, moderate, and fast waves.
Infra-Low brainwaves (also known as Slow Cortical Potentials), are thought to be the basic cortical rythms that underlie our higher brain functions. Very little is known about infra-low brainwaves. Their slow nature make them difficult to detect and accurately measure, so few studies have been done. They appear to take a major role in brain timing and network function.
Delta waves (.5 to 3 Hz)
Delta brainwaves are slow, loud brainwaves (low frequency and deeply penetrating, like a drum beat). They are generated in deepest meditation and dreamless sleep. Delta waves suspend external awareness and are the source of empathy. Healing and regeneration are stimulated in this state, and that is why deep restorative sleep is so essential to the healing process.
Theta waves (3 to 8 Hz)
Theta brainwaves occur most often in sleep but are also dominant in deep meditation. Theta is our gateway to learning, memory, and intuition. In theta, our senses are withdrawn from the external world and focused on signals originating from within. It is that twilight state which we normally only experience fleetingly as we wake or drift off to sleep. In theta we are in a dream; vivid imagery, intuition and information beyond our normal conscious awareness. It’s where we hold our ‘stuff’, our fears, troubled history, and nightmares.
Alpha waves (8 to 12 Hz)
Alpha brainwaves are dominant during quietly flowing thoughts, and in some meditative states. Alpha is ‘the power of now’, being here, in the present. Alpha is the resting state for the brain. Alpha waves aid overall mental coordination, calmness, alertness, mind/body integration and learning.
Beta waves (12 to 38 Hz)
Beta brainwaves dominate our normal waking state of consciousness when attention is directed towards cognitive tasks and the outside world. Beta is a ‘fast’ activity, present when we are alert, attentive, engaged in problem solving, judgment, decision making, or focused mental activity.
Beta brainwaves are further divided into three bands; Lo-Beta (Beta1, 12-15Hz) can be thought of as a 'fast idle', or musing. Beta (Beta2, 15-22Hz) is high engagement or actively figuring something out. Hi-Beta (Beta3, 22-38Hz) is highly complex thought, integrating new experiences, high anxiety, or excitement. Continual high frequency processing is not a very efficient way to run the brain, as it takes a tremendous amount of energy.
Gamma waves (38 to 42 Hz)
Gamma brainwaves are the fastest of brain waves (high frequency, like a flute), and relate to simultaneous processing of information from different brain areas. Gamma brainwaves pass information rapidly and quietly. The most subtle of the brainwave frequencies, the mind has to be quiet to access gamma.
Gamma was dismissed as 'spare brain noise' until researchers discovered it was highly active when in states of universal love, altruism, and the ‘higher virtues’. Gamma is also above the frequency of neuronal firing, so how it is generated remains a mystery. It is speculated that gamma rhythms modulate perception and consciousness, and that a greater presence of gamma relates to expanded consciousness".
Dunsborough Osteopathy utilises a frequency based method of treatment. These frequencies vary from 70Hz to 3Hz (theta/delta transition): and by mechanical means, the patient is gently encouraged down to a deeply restful state; then the practitioner themselves takes over and deepens the process even further still. This therapeutic method both unlocks and releases the deep fascias of the body (as described in the 'Fascia' portion of this website), but also incorporates the principles of 'entrainment'.
In 1666, Christian Huygens, a notable Dutch physicist and inventor of the pendulum clock, demonstrated how 2 pendulum clocks placed on the same wall will naturally come into phase. This occurs because a subtle transfer of energy occurs between the clocks and this sets up a regular interference pattern. Likewise, when the human body comes into contact with a regular rhythm of any of the above mentioned frequencies, the brain itself will adjust to match that rhythm. As a consequence, the use of a frequency based method of treatment, has both a mechanical influence upon the body, and also a neurological one.
The ultimate objective of Osteopathic treatment, is to awaken and activate the self-healing capacity that is already present within a patient. Most often this is achieved by relaxing and slowing a person's nervous system down, until a latent potential awakens within. As far as daily life in concerned, someone maybe able to remain deeply calm within themselves (and even feel a spiritual peacefulness), even during periods of great stress and mental activity. It is possible that the slower frequencies mentioned above are associated with an increasing capacity for self-healing, because they allow the deeper functions of the body as a whole to reveal themselves (as the white noise of active brain function subsides).
Considering Einstein's quote above: it is true that a lot of people's problems today are a consequence of their modern lifestyles, and ambient stress. Our body’s physiology is not adapted to coping with the stress of a modern life (stresses that over time become normal, and seemingly nothing out of the ordinary), and this impedes the body's own self-healing and self regulating mechanism. If a practitioner is working towards achieving a lasting meaningful therapeutic change, and discussed sports, politics or life events with a patient whilst treating, this has the potential to impede a patient's progress. The objective of treatment is to quieten the mind (and it’s tendency towards activity), and open a doorway to a person’s greater inner potential.
Language is an extremely powerful tool in treatment, and can be used to assist in distracting and calming the mind. Over the course of a treatment, conversation can be used to distract from immediate problems, to evoke memories and images and gradually brings a person down to a relaxed state. Eventually the objective is to abandon the mind's activity all together, and open the door to a deeper therapeutic potential.
For those patients who have got stuck in the habit of functioning at a faster rate in their lives (at the exclusion of other aspects within themselves), it is incumbent upon them to arrive at their appointment with a willingness to slow things down, and to be receptive to their own greater potential.