Considering a revisit

After nearly 4 months break from using meditation CDs of any kind I am considering going back to the Brain EV System to see if anything interesting arises that I can report on.

Whilst I have experienced some noticeable growth over the six-months of usage, especially in the area of my creativity I feel it is worth seeing if indeed it really is actively beneficial. I am in no hurry to get back to the Brain EV sessions and I may even wait a few more months before doing so. I think the biggest benefit I have had from the Brain EV System to be honest is the fact that it got me regularly meditating. I think unassisted meditation is good enough as long as you are not eager to see big changes overnight, but are content with integrating the practice of meditation into your life.

That’s the point really. I do rate the Brain EV System highly, but meditation is not a finite program, it is something that will only bring lasting benefit if you continue to do it as part of your life. After all the benefits of eating do not last if you stop eating! The benefits of meditation are the same, just like the benefits of regular sleep too.

Still, what I have to compare is where I am now with where I was when I started meditating, first with Holosync, which I stopped using in favor of the Brain EV System. There is no concrete proof that meditation changed my life, but any life change comes as a result of the sum of everything you adopt, apply, integrate, experience and act upon, so meditation has to have played a part.

What I can say is that these systems, especially Brain EV, provided an accelerated catharsis for certain "stuff" that needed to be eeked out into the open for me to deal with it. From that perspective I think it is superb. It may not be your cup of tea to have to "Deal with stuff", but on some level you are dealing with stuff all the time and it is far better to do it with more consciousness because that will give you the opportunity to choose the next step rather than just react to whatever step you feel you’ve been pushed into.

There’s the difference between adopting a meditation practice and not and why I am interested in revisiting a program I have already completed to see if it will provide more hidden benefits. Until I resume, it’s back to traditional meditation for me, which is what helps me with general mental discipline.

Real-Life Report

After nearly two years of Holosync I paused my use of it. The reason was that I was very keen to try out the Brain EV system due to the amazing claims by the creators of the program. In order to report on something that I thought could be of great value and benefit I decided to try it out for myself. Here are the results.

“Why?” You may ask. Is there a problem? Is Holosync not working? Have I found something better? Am I giving up meditation?

Ok, ok, let’s slow down a bit here and be clear that I have no problems with Holosync and I am certainly not giving up on meditation. I have decided, for reporting purposes and as a personal research exercise to try another meditation program. That program is:

The Brain Evolution System

I came across Brain EV, as it is often referred to some time ago and I was intrigued by the information on their website, which was very extensive. However, at the time I just was not prepared to interrupt my Holosync meditation for the sake of something new and unproven, despite the credibility of the information on the site.

It is pointless to use more than one brainwave-entrainment, meditation tool at once, so it was out of the question to have a Holosync session and a Brain EV session every day. Besides that may actually have had an adverse affect on me, at least an overwhelming amount of stimulation I should imagine and I meditate to gain the benefits of meditation, not to sabotage them!

So after finishing Awakening Level 2 near the end of May and having Awakening level 3 ready and waiting in its box I decided that it was time to give the Brain EV an assessment and I started on June 1st 2009.

It’s a solid plan: The Brain EV program lasts for 6 months, which consists of 6 CDs, 1 month each, progressing to the next one in the series. That’s it. It is a 6-month long program, so I figured I could give the Brain EV a thorough assessment and return to Holosync, which, if I complete the entire program will last another 6 or 7 years.

So now I have been meditating using Brain EV for 1 month and I am now on CD number 2 called Lucid Echoes. The first CD is called Transcendence and this is what I have to report:

Sleep? What a Waste of Time!
Ha ha! Just a light-hearted little outburst, but this reflects one of the most noticeable effects since using this product. I seem to require much, much less sleep. I don’t know if this is simply a reaction or if it is a benefit, but apart from a couple of evenings, when I actually wanted to sleep, but found it difficult, it has been the most productive and effective, sleepless time over this last month that I’ve ever had.

In short, I had a huge amount of stuff to do to complete a vital stage in my latest project: Mind Over Matter – Heart Over Mind and I spent at least 16 hours a day for well over a week working on this. Not only that, but these hours were focused, productive and efficient hours. I think I got done what I would normally have taken about 3 weeks to do. It took me just 10 days!

The meditation sessions are 30 minutes each and during that 30 minutes I am put into a deep meditative state that feels very different to Holosync, not better, just different. In fact after just that 30-minute session I have invariably felt as refreshed as having had a good nights sleep. I normally meditate in the early afternoon – siesta time and it’s a great way of breaking up the day. I have two working days in a day and I feel much less guilty about having days off from doing any work, because I have got so much more done on most days than I would normally.

Going by the information on the Brain EV website these benefits should remain permanent.

My conclusion at this stage is that I will be in great shape to continue with Holosync Awakening Level 3 after this.

24th May 2009

Did you hear the one about the Zen monk who goes to the hotdog stand? He asks the vendor "Make me one with everything".

First of all I apologize for the corny joke, but I heard that one from Bill Harris, the director of Centerpointe Research Institute and the creator of Holosync. Well he didn’t tell me personally, but I read it. This is one thing I very much like about the work of Bill Harris and Centerpointe.

It demonstrates an outlook that relaxes me and gives me confidence. To know that I am using a product that is not only effective, but is also one that gives me a welcome feeling and one which doesn’t demand I take too seriously. Apply discipline and commitment, yes, but not to identify myself with at the cost of any sense of fun. Meditation can be seen as a really serious practice and of course it is an important one, but is anything really serious when all judgments and labels are suspended?

So it is at this point that my entry in the diary is a little thin on the ground as far as progress with the meditation is concerned because I have not been practicing for nearly a month. Without going into the details or making excuses I involuntarily paused the Holosync sessions, but I feel really cool with that. I am back on the case and on the final CD of Awakening Level 2. Awakening 3 is already in my possession and in about 2 months I will be on the next level.

As far as progress goes I believe that this break has given me some space to really see the benefits of what I have been disciplined in doing since August 2007 and I feel really good about the fact that I didn’t hit a down or a slump because I wasn’t meditating. This means that my meditation is not a crutch and it means that the effects of the program have longevity, being in effect long after any practice is finished. I suspect that the claims from Centerpointe are true that the effects are permanent and once your brain has grown in terms of it’s ability to handle higher thresholds of stimulus it doesn’t fall back.

I still think I would be further ahead with my progress if I hadn’t taken the break, but this evidence is valuable to me and I hope to anyone reading this who is thinking about embarking on the Holosync program or just starting out. My conclusion is that it’s worth it folks. I still stand by the fact that this is the one product that has consistently been helping me to gain the increases in personal power to create my life by design. It just seems to run in the background although the results definitely take center stage.

Edited October 2009. Whilst I believe Holosync is a great tool – after my experience so far with the Brain Evolution System I would recommend that if you are considering a meditation program then start with that because it is only 6 months in duration bringing with it very noticeable results. Holosync is several years commitment if you choose to continue it, whereas Brain EV is a 6-month commitment, which considering the results I have experienced is more for your money too. I will however be continuing my Holosync meditation in 2010 with Awakening Level 3

12th April 2009

This is a quick update, as much as anything to make an assessment of any progress made since the last entry.

Again, as I have mentioned in the past I don’t feel any profound shift or major breakthrough, but this is healthy I think because I know that growth is still occurring, whilst I remain totally grounded and functional in a practical sense.

However over the last month I have become more clear about a lot of things, especially about what I need to focus on within myself to accomplished certain things. In fact I feel like this is one of the most important realizations so far for me. I have found that at times when I am unclear about what I could be doing next I am less frustrated by that fact, instead using my undecided time as quiet time to look inside and assess my design for life.

The result has given me plenty of insights to put into a new book I am writing, designed to inspire the reader (and listener – it comes with music) to shift their focus on the creative process in achieving their own desires and intentions.

The meditation continues.

2nd March 2009

It is nearly time to move onto Awakening Level 2 CD 3. The meditation sessions are starting to feel less intense and although I have actually lost count of the number of weeks I have been on CD2 I feel like it is time to move up.

What is interesting though is what I have discovered over the last few weeks. For that time I have been meditating early in the morning upon waking and I have, lazily if I’m honest, been lying down whilst listening to the CD. However, whilst I have fallen asleep for sure on occasion during this time I am unsure if I have been sleeping or in some kind of other altered state. About 4 days ago I put on the headphones, laid back down on the bed and began The Dive. What felt like just a few seconds later I was listening to the fade out of the end of The Immersion soundtrack. For those of you who are unfamiliar this means that the entire hour’s meditation had elapsed.

It would be easy for me to say "Oh I must have fallen asleep", but it didn’t feel like that. First of all I became aware of the fading out of the soundtrack, rather than waking up after the CD had finished. I also felt extremely alert and energized. Not the way I ever feel the moment I wake up. So did I fall asleep or was I truly awake whilst experiencing a Delta brainwave state?

I don’t really know for sure and I don’t really think I need to know. What I do know is that it was a powerful feeling and it set me up for a most excellent day. I think that answers my question really. It was an extraordinary day, so something had shifted in me regardless. Time had literally dissolved.

Another point I want to acknowledge is that during the last few weeks meditating lying down, which is something that Centerpointe suggest may not really be as effective as sitting upright I have found that generally the way I feel and what I could allude to as the progress I am making is no different to me. Holosync for me has been subtle nearly all the way until a breaking point comes and then it seems the dam bursts. It’s as if there is no progress at all and then suddenly all the pent up progress is unleashed in one moment. I doubt it really is like that, but it does feel like that at times.

If that is the way my system deals with Holosync then that’s OK with me. As is always best to remember. Whatever happens, it’s going OK.

Wherever you are on your Holosync journey, be well and feel free to share.

Enjoy!

I can hardly believe it is February already. I know this gets said often, but I’m sure this year is already moving faster than any other. 2008 went by in a flash too, but I know that is because it was a huge year for me and when you are so busy with so many new experiences and starting a new life, time means nothing really, just a reference point for looking back over past events.

So what has been going on in the last month with the Holosync meditation is that I moved onto to CD number 2 of Awakening Level 2 and there is not much more to report really. I sense that I am not currently at a level close to breaking through to a new threshold of stimulus that my brain is used to withstanding, although as I have found in the past you can’t second guess this process. What feels like just going through the motions or cruising along at a comfortable speed doesn’t mean anything.

It is important to realize that when things change or evolve, they happen in an instant because there is only now, they happen now. Of course things gradually develop to a point of breaking, flipping, switching, however you want to describe it and that is the essence of change. 99% of change, of manifestation in fact is complete before you can see any evidence of it and then when that last 1% follows, the changes, at least in a tangible sense happen instantly. I suppose that is, in a way saying something similar to the old saying "No news is good news". Most old sayings and cliches are actually rooted in some profound truth that has slowly been forgotten or buried through cynicism or familiarity.

So to report more on topic with Holosync. I am finding myself intrigued now as to what will come next. What kind of "rough patch" will I hit next and when? Maybe there won’t be one. I am finding myself more of a watcher of what is happening rather than being affected by it. I am starting to actually have fun now whenever I find myself getting into any situation where I am focusing on what I don’t want. It’s a bit like watching a comedy where the character faces all this stress and misfortune, small things that are really a big deal to the character, but hilariously funny to the viewers. I am taking on the role of the viewer much more. In fact I would say that the ratio has tipped in favor of the viewer.

That’s progress. Probably more than I realize actually.

13th January 2009

Well things have moved on quite a lot since the last entry. I have been through a lot in the last month and it is nearly all amazingly good stuff too.

I have seen so much of how I personally create my own reality and the situations in my day to day that I really can’t go back to sleep. The biggest lesson I learned was just after the turn of the new year. I started running on a local playing field (a very bumpy and uneven one) in order to raise my fitness levels from mid December and things were going well. I was really enjoying myself, running in the mornings before the sun got too hot and none of the feelings of having to endure it (normally a sign that the good intentions will not last).

Physical, Mental: Is there really a difference?

What happened though on 5th January was that I was stopped in my tracks with the most unbelievably intense sciatic nerve pain. I knew what it was because it was similar to the pain I had 15 years ago when I developed a lower back injury. It turns out, after confirmation from an expert that running was possibly the stupidest thing I could have chosen to do, knowing that my back is not 100% and the crazy thing is that I know all this stuff. I have been so well disciplined in taking the best care of my back over the last few years that I have had hardly any problems with it, so why did I decide to give my back the most severe beating possible?

Not forgetting that from late September to the end of November 2008 I suffered 4 separate ear infections, all about 2 weeks or so apart after not having such a condition since I was a kid. I did start to think by the third occurrence that I was being given some kind of message about something and after studying some fantastic new material on the subject of how we create our lives and how we activate the Law of Attraction unconsciously I got it. It took 4 ear infections and beat up spine for me to see something and from that perspective I am really glad all of this happened because the result is that I have broken into a new level or growth and it feels awesome!

Back on Topic – Holosync

OK, in case you have lost the point of this post and what it has to do with Holosync meditation, here is the clarifier. I believe this is all about the ego and it’s fight to the status quo. After looking back over the last few months I saw something about the path I am on and my physical reaction to growth and change.

By becoming more aware of and adept at the practice of focusing on what I want, appreciating and living in the moment, watching Myself from the witness perspective in order to discover how I create what I normally get in life I have discovered that if there is one thing that used to guarantee taking my focus away from what I want and putting it right on what I didn’t want, making me angry and resulting in my being totally out of alignment with all my goals and desires it is when I have trouble with my back. It has taken all of my energy in the past complaining about it, feeling sorry for myself and wishing it would go away. Any problems with my ears I have found out is also a big contender for stopping me in my tracks because as a musician, songwriter and producer, my ears are absolutely necessary for me to work.

With this realization I thought about the possibility that I am on the edge of a breakthrough. I can definitely feel that I am about to break a new threshold and seeing as my ego is not comfortable with that and the fact that mentally I am falling for less and less of the ego’s mind tricks, is it playing dirty now and using my body, something which it knows normally has an affect? Well I do see it that way because for the first time in my life I have managed to be almost as productive and definitely about 1000% or more positive and happy during some of the most excruciating pain than I ever experienced before in my life, almost to the point that I can just see all of this as a cynical ploy for my ego to try and keep my investment in it the same… or more!

Many things have played their part in what I see as tremendous growth in the last year and especially the huge leap in the last month, despite the physical battering. However I think whilst all of these parts (the things I read, the conversations I have with certain friends, the things I study and what I focus on) I think the catalyst is Holosync.

Actually No… I don’t think, I know that the catalyst is Holosync. I am sure of this now that despite the fact that it is different for everyone etc. etc. Holosync cannot be underestimated. My life is totally different to when I started it. I have become so many things I always wanted to be. Now it is not that Holosync "changed" me. I changed myself, but Holosync has enabled me to develop the "muscle" of my mental focus and perspective and that, my friends is where it all starts.

So without New Year resolutions and with instead, life choices I wish you all the most excellent 2009 and beyond.

8th December 2008

I haven’t updated for a while and that is because I have felt pretty detached for a while. I just haven’t had anything to report on with regard to the Holosync program. I slacked off for a few days, but apart from that I have kept up the sessions and been ticking along as normal, but as is the case with Holosync, at least for me, there comes a point where I see something new or from a different perspective and that always seems like a sign to put an entry in the Holosync diary.

After returning to Level 2, disc 1 after going back to Level 1, disc 4 for a month I hit a bit of a slump. I assumed that the meditation was having quite a strong effect, so I stayed with it and tried my best to let everything be OK. Well after rising up again and feeling more productive (you can read about that on my music blog if you are interested) I noticed something very profound just the other day.

In the past, even with a vast improvement in my overall temperament since starting Holosync I have been, seemingly at the mercy of angry outbursts over small trivial things. When I say angry I mean, uttering expletives when I drop something; even if nothing is broken as a result, impatience with my computer like not being able to get the USB plug into the hole within 1 second or something (normally gets followed by a few expletives and a big sigh, like "Why does this always happen to me?"). Just general stuff like that, so you can imagine the response to getting stuck in traffic, misplacing my wallet when I am in a hurry to go out etc…

The other day I was experiencing some of these "problems"; actually it was with my computer as I struggled to connect a USB plug. I found myself calmly persevering for a good 10 seconds or so before it finally fitting in throughout which time I kept very cool and no change in my internal feeling or mood and as the plug went in I had this realization of what had happened, or rather what had not happened. It was like hearing a voice saying "You know Rob would have got really angry by now" and that made me smile.

Holosync is like that for me. It feels like nothing is happening for weeks, even months and then I notice something and I realize that I have come such a long way in that time. Other things that I experienced in that time come back to my memory and present themselves as "A-ha" moments as their lesson is exposed and this is the whole point of Holosync, indeed any method of meditation. What it does is raise your awareness. With an increase in awareness you become more and more able to view your life as an observer instead of being so identified with the lead character that your vision of what is really happening is impaired.

Holosync scores again. Some say that Holosync is too long and drawn out and there are other alternatives that take only a few months, but all I know is that you can’t rush greatness and from what I can tell, the result of meditation is a revealing of your greatness. What I also can tell is that there is so much "stuff" buried, wrapped around parts, clogging up the system that releasing your full potential takes more than a few months. Meditation is not a race and your prize at the end of it is incomparable to that of anyone else’s.

I hope this helps.

Rob

Current Situation

No… The title of this post is not a mistake. I actually went back back to Awakening Level 1 CD4 and decided to stay on that for at least a month, so since the beginning of October I have been back at the end of the previous level.

After reading the latest support letter I began to realize that I probably wasn’t ready to move onto Awakening Level 2. I had been on Level 1 for the required amount of time, but it was the recommended minimum period and maybe I just wasn’t ready, so after emailing Centerpointe support to ask if going back was recommended or not after using Level 2 for over 3 weeks and receiving confirmation that I could do that if I wanted to I decided that I would and in fact I have found CD4 of Level 1 is still feeling fairly strong.

It is very likely I will move back onto Level 2 in November, but I might still continue where I am for one more month to make sure. You see I think I may have been a little bit in a hurry to move on because that would mean I must be "Getting better", when the reality is that I am just who I am, no matter what. I have noticed how I do often feel the need to be somewhere else, at the next stage or up a few rungs on the ladder generally in life instead of appreciating the moment I am in and finding the treasure that is there, so I realize that not progressing quickly through the levels is fine.

In fact that awareness of one of my automatic ways of being and thinking has come about mainly, I believe, through use of Holosync in the first place.

Well apart from that I don’t really feel any major shifts in consciousness or really feel any different than I did since the last entry, but I think that’s the point with Holosync. Some people compare it with other audio-meditation programs and decide that Holosync is too slow, not effective enough or doesn’t make them feel "happy" like the others or "out of their body"…

It’s incredible to think that this is what some people seem to think is the goal of meditation. If I want to feel light-headed I think it’s easier to drink a couple of beers (yes it only takes a couple with me, sometimes one!). Meditation, the way I see it is an exercise to bring together in more synergy, the left and right hemispheres of the brain, resulting in a more balanced state of being and brain function. What manifests from this is as a by product is lower stress levels, feeling generally happier, better ability to focus more effectively in order to channel your energy toward achievement and fulfillment.

Meditation is not a race and approaching it as a way to erase all your problems is just missing the point. Holosync and similar products that have appeared since do accelerate the growth process of the brain though meditation, but the real point is that meditation cannot be hurried. It should be a part of your life instead of something to get through and complete, so you can then start your life properly. Your life is going on now and meditation is useful for connecting you with what is really running the show. Use it, savour it and don’t rush through it. that’s what I’ve learned over the last month or so.

Current Situation

I have been using Awakening Level Two CD 1 for one month now. It really doesn’t seem as long as that. It really feels like I only started this CD about week or two ago.

So far this level is noticeably stronger than the last CD of Awakening Level One; so much so in fact that I am beginning to wonder if I was ready to progress onto this level. Maybe I should have continued on level one for a few more weeks or so. In any event, here I am and at least this is evidence that Holosync does actually work.

This morning I noticed patterns in front of my eyes (my eyes were closed of course, so I suppose you could call it the mind’s eye). These patterns were kaleidoscopic in nature, mostly vivid blue with black contrasts and a little like mushroom clouds. I don’t know what that is exactly and I don’t really care too much. Although the last few weeks have seen me nodding off several times, so far the meditation sessions have been very peaceful and calm and closer to preconceptions of what meditation actually is.

Whether that is a good thing or not is irrelevant though because my intention with Holosync is to use it to help me grow as a human being rather than just have some nice, dreamy experiences. In fact I get very excited these days when I hit what I would have previously described as a low point because I know it is part of the process growth in my awareness of myself and how I create my reality.

Now here is my insight for the last month:

I received Awakening Level One support letter #3 later than usual, because I had already moved onto Level two, however, what I read answered some of my deeper questions and made me realize what has been happening for the last month or so.

I have had bouts of feeling very uncomfortable. I would describe them loosely as a feeling of fear, anxiety and of despair. Fear of not succeeding in my life, fear of losing what I want to keep hold of. I suppose all the feelings of attachment and self-concern. The first of these episodes was around the beginning of July and I was walking around with a dark cloud over my head for nearly a week. I felt lost, like I was losing myself and I didn’t know what to do about it. However I did have the ware with all to eventually look at this from a distance and decide to observe it and to believe that this was all happening because I am growing out of an old way of being for the better. It culminated in me writing a few songs of some quality I believe, which was a great outcome.

Then with my enthusiasm and energy restored I got back on track again and got creative having loads of new ideas about what I wanted out of life and how to create it. Then it happened again a couple of weeks later and it felt a little more intense, only this time I immediately spotted it and took the same standpoint that I had adopted before, only this time the episode lasted only a couple of days. This was in part due to the support letter arriving at the exact same time that I was experiencing this little ‘slump’ again. The support letter being late was perfect timing in fact.

The letter explained what I had suspected and whilst those periods when I feel that way are uncomfortable to say the least, I now relish them because I know that is a sign of growth and every time I grow past a certain threshold I am aware of so much more of my life and the possibilities. Oh… and guess what? The result of the last encounter with the dark cloud was another couple of quality songs, that lift the spirit.

Testament to the fact that everything is perfectly in place for you at all times. It really is.

Here is an excerpt from that support letter from Bill Harris (edited to be more concise):

I went through a period, where I woke up one morning and noticed that the old familiar "me" wasn’t there any more. I thought. "I don’t know who I am. My old conception of who I am doesn’t make sense anymore." I’ll tell you, it was a weird feeling. I felt adrift, without a paddle. I had nothing to hang onto. It was quite uncomfortable.

A few weeks later, something shifted and once again I knew who I was — only it was completely different than before, something I never could have or would have imagined. I liked it better.

Then, a few weeks later, the chaos began again. Again, I lost my sense of who I was, and again it was uncomfortable. But, again, several weeks later I had another breakthrough, another reorganization at a higher level. Again, I had a totally new idea of who I was, and also, once again, it was unlike anything I could have imagined.

This happened five or six times over an eight-month period. Each time it happened, I have to say I didn’t like it. I liked the breakthrough, when it came, but I didn’t like the way I felt leading up to the breakthrough at all. Finally, though, the light bulb went on and I said to myself, "This is going to keep happening! My sense of who I am is evolving and changing, and as it changes I keep trying to hang on to my old way of being. By resisting these changes, I’m making this a lot more difficult for myself."

Once I got that the interim chaos I was experiencing was part of the growth process, and that temporarily losing that solid sense of self was okay, it never bothered me again. When it happened, I would just note that another shift was in the works, and I’d begin to wonder what it was going to be like this time!

So it’s possible that from time to time you may feel a bit lost, as if things don’t make sense any more, or feel uncomfortable in other ways. This is the time to trust the process. Things will make sense again, and the new way of making sense of things will be much better, and much more effective, than the old way.

Bill Harris