Specialists in Personal Development.

It's the alpha and the omega

By Niamh Hooper

Monday May 12 2008  

Alpha practitioner Rodd Briggs explains that the alpha state can help people achieve dramatic results .

 Ever get lost in a good book or gripping movie, lose all track of time when indulging your creative streak or been struck by a eureka moment in the shower?  If you answered yes to any of the above, you've inhabited the alpha state and know how good it feels to exist beyond time and space.

This week I learn to access the alpha brainwave state at will -- a place we get to visit for only 40 minutes in eight hours of sleep. Time magazine described the brain as "the greatest feat of engineering in the known universe".

Our brains pulse and vibrate at specific frequencies. Electroencephalography machines can be used to measure brain activity, like sound, in cycles per second or hertz. We now know we have four levels of brainwave activity. Beta is associated with our wide-awake activities; alpha is a relaxed awareness such as a daydream; theta is light sleep, where awareness is lost, and delta is deep sleep.

Rod Briggs, born in the UK and living in South Africa is an international lecturer in mind sciences and has been teaching people techniques to access the full creative power of the mind in the alpha state for the past 12 years.

"If you learn to access the alpha-wave state at will and have the logical left brain working in harmony with the creative right brain, things become easy to achieve. In fact, the possible side effects of alpha-wave techniques are limited only by your imagination.

"Unfortunately, we're taught constantly what to think, but nobody is teaching us how to think. Thoughts are the start of the creative process that produces the environment we find ourselves in."

Briggs was born with only one working lung, and was practically immobile until 13. But, he spent his time in the library where he discovered "the core of truth" common to all traditions through the ages. When his family moved to South Africa, he became a black belt in Judo, Karate and Ju-Jitsu. He went on to use the techniques he now teaches to become so successful in business that he retired at 30. He guides me through a selection of techniques said to make a person 30-40 times more effective.

He first slows down my logical brain using the colours of the rainbow from red to violet and then sparks my creative brain by counting the 21 steps I take downwards as a frequency is played in the background.

At the bottom is a tranquil nature scene, where I feel the balmy breeze blowing through my hair, soft grains of sand running through my fingers and waves lapping gently against the shore.

When he brings me back up, I'd swear I was there about three minutes. I was actually in the alpha state for 20 minutes. Having felt exhausted before, I now feel refreshed and calm. One of his clients Ciaran ( 38) has been using the techniques for six years now and says they have dramatically changed his life.

"I was totally stressed out developing my own business. Through learning to go to the alpha state on the course, I have tools for life management and keep a healthy balance everyday."

Verdict: I can sense already that it is a valuable tool.

Not only could sleep deprivation become a thing of the past, but countless testimonials show that using the left and right hemispheres of the brain in harmony can bring about dramatic results after one weekend workshop.

- Niamh Hooper