Alpha and Ecstacy
August 1996
By Life Positive
Your thoughts disappear, you seem to be on another level altogether, feeling blissful and at peace. Your brain waves are in alpha. Bimol Rakshit teaches you the Silva method to reach this stage and how to benefit from it
‘Close your eyes. Roll your eyeballs upwards. Count down from five to one. Now you are in the alpha state.’ These are lines familiar to graduates of the Silva Mind Control Method.
But others may well ask: Is it really as simple as that to enter the alpha state, an altered state of consciousness that meditators reach after years of sustained practice? And what exactly is the alpha state? Normally when we are wide awake and all our senses are active, the brain generates electrical impulses of 15 to 26 cycles per second as recorded by the electroencephalograph (EEG).
This is the beta state and we spend most of our waking hours at this level. In the terminology of the Silva Mind Control Method, founded by Jose Silva, a Mexican-American, the beta state is known as the outer conscious level. In the second state, alpha, the brain waves are in the 8-14 cycles range and we enter the subconscious realm of the mind. Silva refers to it as the inner conscious level. Below alpha lie the theta (falling into sleep, becoming unconscious; 4-7 cycles) and delta ( dreamless sleep; 0.5-3 cycles) states.
If you function from the beta level alone, you are using only a part of your vast mental potential. By regularly going into alpha consciously, however, you learn to use more of the mind. You feel deeply relaxed and your thoughts begin to slow down. You are fully aware, yet at peace. This state is also equated with that achieved in meditation. Some Silva graduates report feeling both blissful and ecstatic. By getting into the alpha level frequently, you will be able to relax easily and manage and control stress better.
You can also improve your memory and enhance your intuitive and psychic capabilities. While at the alpha level, you must always think positive. Whatever you want to achieve, imagine yourself achieving it. This may be about your health, family relationships, business, studies, career, material goods and so on. Think you are achieving good things in all spheres of life. Be realistic though.
For example, if you are fighting with your spouse all the time, in alpha see that you are having a loving relationship. This helps improve the situation. Imagine that about something you truly desire. If you want to be cured of a certain disease, say or affirm that you are healthy and happy. Don’t stop medication, but you can gradually reduce the dose with the permission of your doctor. For any of your desired events to happen, an effort has to be made from the outer conscious dimension as well.
If you think you are going abroad, you should also apply for your passport. In your known physical dimension, too, you can benefit by going to alpha. You can even practice yoga or say your prayers while in alpha.
But how do you enter this phenomenal alpha level? If you are unable to attend the four-day Silva Method course, you can reach alpha by following this slow and harmless technique at home. The best time to practice is early in the morning, when you wake up, or at night, before going to bed. At these two times we pass through alpha naturally, as we go from theta to beta or vice versa. Let us choose the morning. The mind is fresh. Get up from bed, sit comfortably on a chair. Your posture should be erect, back straight, palms on your knees. You can also sit straight in a lotus posture on the floor or your bed. Inhale fully, wait for a few seconds, then gradually exhale and relax your body.
When the body is relaxed, close your eyes. Look upwards behind your eyelids at a 20° angle. Now mentally count from 100 to I. Concentrate on counting and nothing else. You will gradually reach a wonderful state of mind. You may feel that this is nothing new, you have experienced this earlier-just before falling asleep, or when lost in a childhood memory, or while daydreaming. You have unknowingly passed through this level of your mind many times, hence this feeling now seems just familiar to you.
Do not question it, just relax. This is first time you have reached alpha consciously. To enter this level fast, try this method: For the first 10 days, count from 100 to I; the next 10 days, 50 to I; then 25 to I; 10 to I and finally 5 to I. Though going to the alpha level may be different at different stages, you come out of the level using only one way.
Mentally say: ‘I will slowly come out as I count from I to 5, feeling wide awake, feeling better than before. One…2… prepare to open eyes…3…open eyes… 4…5…eyes open, wide awake, feeling better than before.’ Once you reach your level through the 5-to-I method, you are ready to go to the level any time you choose. And once there, just concentrate on a particular thing. It could be anything you like-a beautiful flower, your daughter’s face, the snow-clad Himalayan peaks, whatever.
Concentrate on this image. Think of it as real, with a three-dimensional form. Think of the color and other details. You will find this is difficult to do. The mind, as we all know, is as restless as ‘a drunken monkey that is stung by a poisonous scorpion’. Thoughts will come in a procession. Do not get annoyed, just push them aside. Concentrate.
For how long? Well, 10 to 15 minutes for a session is good enough. And how often? Jose Silva says: Once is good, twice is very good and thrice is excellent.’ Start from today. Spend some time in your level and see the difference. You will feel more relaxed and stress-free. Your health, too, benefits. Family situations improve as you learn to control your temper.
Even taking important decisions becomes easier. For, as Jose Silva observes: ‘The deeper you go within yourself, the firmer the grasp you will have of a kind of inner peace so strong that nothing in life will be able to shatter it.’