Forums IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ Beyond Human Meditation and Holosync

I am currently using Holosync Awakening Level 2. I want to highlight exactly how I use h/s and how I feel after a session and would appreciate any comments.

I work a fairly busy day, getting up about 5.10 am and arriving home about 6pm. This means I can usually fit in a h/s session at 7pm till about 8pm. But that may be what I perceive as a problem. I cannot help but feel I am indeed only "fitting" h/s in to a busy routine and am not sure if that is the most efficient way to do h/s. You see it is almost as if I rush home, realising that I do not have a huge amount of time in the evenings and know that if I do not rush home I won't be able to do a h/s session.

Also, as soon as a session is over, I take the headphones off and generally get up and immediately go about my business so to speak. I did this last night and suddenly thought, "wait a minute Steve, where is the meditation, where is the real mediation here?" You see, feeling somewhat rushed, even if I am not actually rushing about, then just donning a pair of headphones for an hour and carrying on as normal afterwards does not feel like meditation to me. And I wonder if this the most effective way to do h/s?

My problem off course is that I cannot change my work routine to any great degree and it seems pointless to me to do h/s in this fashion when I have this vague feeling I am only paying h/s lip service?

Any thoughts anyone?

Regards
Steve.

Dear Steve:

If you are sitting with the headphones on for an hour, you are receiving benefit from Holosync, even if you mind is busy taking care of other things. It's the binaural beat that is doing the work that would normally be done in the mind by someone else using traditional meditation. As long as you can find the time to sit for the hour, you will get benefit. It would be helpful if you could sit still for an additional 5 or so minutes after the CD stops, just to allow your body to complete the cycle it is on when the CD stops.

Some people incorporate other types of meditation into their holosync time. Personally, I use a variety of techniques, including but not limited to: working on visualization of my goals; healing for myself and for others; at times just focusing on the breathing in and out and noticing how that concentration affects the meditation, or doing this in conjunction with REALLY listening to the sounds (rain and gongs, etc) on the CD. For me, most of the time, the sounds of the rain seem to have pretty much completely disappeared, so I find it somewhat interesting to actually focus on the sound at times.

You might also consider shifting some of the things you do in the evening around - so instead of doing holosync immediately upon coming home from work, perhaps fit it in an hour or two later. The sense that you are rushing it may be coming from the fact that you have just come in from rushing around the rest of your day, so putting a space between that and the holosync may actually help you relax into it more.

Hope these suggestions help.

Cheers!
Unis
Currently AL4: CD1

Do it in the evening... before going to bed instead of getting up. A good time is actually when you come home from work instead of watching the news or TV... you can record most stuff and bypass the advertising so why lock yourself into the TV schedule. I guess you probably have the news going in the background. Even 30 minutes of meditation then slowing down and joining the family makes sense.

Alex

A few other things I'd like to add to my response above:

If you find during your sitting that the mind is racing around, seeming to be reviewing things happening in your life, this is a great opportunity for you to take on the part of "The Watcher" aspect that Bill Harris talks about in his books and CD's. Just observing what is there - and probably finding that as you observe, the mind does slow down, and you begin to actually meditate because of this, means that your time with Holosync is being well-used. This is good training for you to take that "Watcher" aspect and begin to incorporate it into your everyday activities, as well.

If the Holosync is zonking you out, this is also indicative that it is working - sometimes the sub-conscious needs an enforced period of quiet to just absorb and re-organize the filing system, STS. This isn't necessarily meditation of the personality, but it is meditation for the Soul.

Cheers!
Unis

Alex

Thanks very much for your reply. I am interested in your suggestion of doing h/s in the evening before you go to bed rather than in the morning. Do you have any reasons for suggesting this?

Your point re Television is, in my opinion, a valid one. I do not have a television and have not had one for 12 years! It is my choice, but TV generally bores me and as you say when I had a television I felt I was getting locked in to a routine that was nothing more than a waste of my time in my opinion.

So basically on arriving home I usually relax a bit, have something to eat etc and then about an hour or so later I do a session with h/s. When I use h/s there is no noise whatsoever in the house, no radio, no TV, no kids…. its great! My only difficulty is this feeling of being a little rushed in the sense that I only have a certain amount of time to accomplish all the things I want. I like to come home and take my time cooking/eating, I like to fit in a h/s session as well but I also like to have time later on just to relax with a book etc. But then my early start in the morning means a relatively early night too. I guess I might just have to have a good look at my routine and also try to be aware of that feeling of being rushed and see whether I can lessen its affect on me.

Regards
Stephen

So many desires no wonder the feeling of being rushed..

Have you ever deliberately done progressive relaxation? Tensing and releasing muscle tension while in the first part of a Holosync session and then going on a relaxing mental holiday?

Reason I suggested trying Holosync before bed. It can help you to make the mental shift of slowing down after listening... since you will be going to bed. Chances are you'll wake up earlier and refreshed so you can have your leisurely breakfast and start to the day.

While you may not be listening to TV routines that are slotted into parts of the day create that rush too. Break the pattern to break the feeling of being rushed. Play a board game instead of reading a book. Go for an evening walk to the local and chat with strangers.. breaks the pattern.

Routines are like walking on a treadmill... moving fast and hard but the scenery doesn't change, sure you'll feel rushed... you're moving to the tempo of the clock. That's why I suggested listening before bed... it changes the routine in a significant way added benefit... you're mentally relaxed and ready for sleep... not picking up a book that starts simulating ideas and plans that you need to wind down from when before going to bed.

Alex

Unis

Thanks for the reply Unis.

Normally I sit upright in a chair for an hour when doing h/s. I used to lie down but I felt that was not the best way for me.

Sometimes my mind races when using h/s but I try to gently bring it back to the meditation. And yes I have used various techniques such as focusing gently on my breathing, or as you say REALLY listening to the sound of the waves, or in my case, the gongs. I feel anything that might help bring me back to the present moment is helpful. I don't want to spend that hour thinking or worrying about the future, or dwelling on the past etc., I prefer it to be about the present moment, and that means my meditation session.

I do occasionally zonk out on the second part of the session but not always. I zonked out last night and had just a little difficulty in falling asleep but that is no real problem.

I like what you say about being the 'The Watcher' and I have read what Bill Harris has to say about this. It sounds very similar to what some practitioners of Zen/Buddhism might call 'mindful meditation' and that is the ability to basically be in the present, regardless of what you are doing. For example, if you are making a cup of tea then you are primarily focused on that rather than allowing your mind to race ahead about what you are going to do in the next hour or so or letting it fret about something that happened in the past etc. It is in my opinion an easy concept to understand but not so easy to accomplish. I often find that my mind has drifted again and that it is anywhere but in the present. But then maybe it is not a bad thing that I am at least aware of that and able to bring myself gently back again to the present.


Regards, and thanks for your comments which were very helpful.
Steve.

Alex

Thanks again.

I agree with your comments re breaking the routine. I have just returned from a short vacation in the United States (Los Angeles) and I felt that I had all the time in the world over there. I didn't need to "rush" around or rush home to cook dinner or whatever and the feeling of just taking a leisurely evening walk back to my hotel absorbed in what was around me was fantastic. But I guess that is the nature of vacations; being removed from your normal routine and daily activities/ responsibilities provides you with more time to do what you want. I think I once read somewhere that breaking the pattern almost gives one the illusion of having more time and can help avoid that feeling of "where has the year gone?" but it is so easy to get into that routine, must get home, must have something to eat, must read some of that book because I am really enjoying it etc, etc.

I have done progressive relaxation as you described and found it very effective but never during a h/s session. I guess I felt that I did not want to detract from the h/s itself.

One further question. When you talk about trying h/s prior to going to bed are you suggesting almost immediately prior to bedtime. I tend to use h/s around about 7pm which is approximately three hours prior to my normal bedtime.

Regards
Stephen

Is that must ,or mush mush?

I would consider doing it the hour before bed. To help the wind down. then climb into bed to sleep.

I don't do Holosync by the way. I have my own days and routines is not one of them at the moment but that's only because I can't find a watch that works and I haven't put batteries in the ones that don't.

Alex

Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind by Shunryu Suzuki is a very good book on Zen Meditation.

The author is very wise, and his approach to meditation is very sensible. I think reading this book or listening to it in audiobook format will help you derive a greater sense of meaning from your meditation experiences, which is what I think I see you longing for.

It seems to me you may want a greater sense of participation and meaning in the process. If that is so, then that book will help.