Last post we ended with this deep insight:
This is a good summary of WHAT I HAVE LEARNT IN LIFE SO FAR: I am surrounded by talented allies (and everything’s ActuallyOK)
When I started to let this concept into my consciousness, it drew up in me a renewed sense of HONOUR and RESPECT for those around me. When I sat in conversation with G in the mode of ‘looking out for talents’, I fell in awe at his insightfulness, thoughtfulness and depth. That idea of making an inventory of the talents and skills of our loved ones is epic, actually. When we are looking out for the talents of the other person, we are so very much less in the (exhausting) thinking state of “Me! Me! Me!”. In fact, it becomes perfectly satisfactory just to sit still quietly and behold the gems in the other. What a relief!
Let’s read.
-69- The master soldiers have a saying: I dare not be the host but prefer to be the guest. I dare not advance an inch but prefer to retreat a foot. This is called marching without moving, rolling up a sleeve without baring an arm, capturing a foe without a battlefront, arming yourself without weapons. There is no disaster greater than attacking and finding no enemy. Doing so will cost you your treasure. Thus it is that when opposing forces meet, victory will go to those who take no delight in the situation. (The Tao Te Ching 69)
I’m taking away the idea of ‘marching without moving‘ here. This speaks well to my tendency to push, to innovate, to progress. And it tires me so. I really know that it’s time to stop, consolidate and be prepared to ‘rinse and repeat’ some very simple patterns in my life. Including within my work. No more ‘bespoking’ – just real adaptability within structures I know well.
Good. Now, listen…
…..Med….
Arising: ‘I am appreciating all achievement – there is no lack.’ Tell me about this.
First of all. We like to see you stop, settle, listen, breathe, wait… Do you notice what happens?
I drop into the parasympathetic state. It’s so relaxing it feels like a trance.
Alpha brain waves perhaps?
*Has a look*: https://brainworksneurotherapy.com/what-are-brainwaves. Yes!
It’s the shift from Beta to Alpha! Oh my…
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.
If I read this every day for a month and really absorbed it, my life would be changed. That ‘excitability’ I’ve been speaking of – it’s hi-beta. And I use hi-beta to power through complex tasks. Hi-beta (or even low gamma?), I sense is my default ‘doing state’. Hence my sense of all-or-nothing working, and often (though much improved now) my dread of getting going with work – because it involved running a mental marathon.
Presumably, with alpha waves, I access my wisdom. I know I’ve become less alpha wavey in my Dialogues since letting go of the notebooks and typing here. In the past, settling in to alpha, through reading and meditating, and then writing our Dialogue was how it went, and how I accessed not only your/my wisdom, but how I tapped into alpha state daily. Can I really Dialogue with a laptop?
Of course. The learning here is about settling into alpha before embarking on any intellectual work. With alpha brainwaves, you have access to greater wisdom. An example of your greater wisdom is being in the mindset of ‘I am appreciating all achievement – there is no lack.’
This brings to mind my dear late cousin, an artist. I can imagine her settling before a blank canvas in the alpha state, and taking delight and appreciation in the first stroke of the paint brush. That is how I would like to start my days.
Your alpha state is truly the state of ‘Now-liness’.
Like holiness?
Indeed. In the the state of Now-liness, all wisdom is available, and all abundance is present. There is no lack in the present moment.
Let me get up to speed on brain waves again…
Ok, so it’s about the flow state! Yes, I recall this stuff now. Look…
“The ‘Flow Zone‘ sits around the border of Alpha and Theta.” (https://brett-peters.com/flow-state)
Aha…! And this…
Anything can be solved in an alpha state.
— Tony Robbins (via Brett Peters)
Brett Peters shares this video:
What particularly stands out in this video is author, Steven Kotler, talking about the process of getting into flow as being:
Struggle – Release – Flow
I recognise the struggle and release… it’s so uncomfortable… and yet when I’m in I can ‘do anything’ = process v quickly. BUT I wonder if I am shifting in to hi-beta, rather than alpha…………… Let me find out about Steven Kotler. Maybe he’s my next ‘Peak’ dude.
In the video, this is what he recommends:
- “Get minimal feedback for flow… Get a feedback buddy… Shrink down your feedback cycles as much as possible.” On his staff, he has an editor who will read over his writing every 2/3 days and give feedback (specifically on if it’s boring/confusing/arrogant). This fast feedback keeps him in flow for writing.
- (Get masses of exercise and then) do box-breathing at 7 seconds per box side, because when you are out of breath after your 7 second exhale/hold you get an amygdala response which you can then train your mind to sit through without kicking off. “Learning to focus through the panic is how you achieve flow… You’re doubly down-regulating the nervous system through box-breathing.
- Creativity feeds flow, through amplified pattern recognition. Reading 25-50 pages per day, in a book on a non-fiction topic you are curious about, enhances your pattern recognition, and increases/preloads your capacity for creativity.
In summary:
- Shorten feedback cycles
- Box-breathe at 7 seconds
- Read a real book each day
This has been so good and so useful. I’d better get going for the day..! What shall I take with me? There’s been loads: talent-spotting, marching without moving, appreciating all achievement, shifting in to alpha state, getting into flow.
‘Slow down, you move too fast…’ is the mantra of your mid-life, right? So now is the time to relax; let it all come to you. Ok? The receptive mode is peaceful, dear friend. Relax, receive, rest.
I am in the receptive mode?
Almost. Your brain is still too spiked…
I am relaxing into the receptive mode?
There we go.
I am relaxing into the receptive mode (alpha state flow)