Hi Roseanna,
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Originally Posted by
roseanna
Hi,
After reading them my husband like me chose the Procyon. He said its technical capabilities and the color technology were more powerful than the MindSpa, which he thought was a lightweight product in comparison. He was impressed with the GanzFrames and the USB port and the advanced external control, even the pre-programmed sessions seemed much more interesting. The MindSpa pre-programmed sessions all seemed very simple and they had half as many.
Good choice! The Mindspa was created by an ex-employee of Mindplace (who managed to get himself fired). He certainly is not what he appears to be and personally, I wouldn't believe any research (or documentation) associated with the Mindspa or the company it comes from - as the validity is as questionable as the integrity of the Mindspa's creator.
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When I first purchased the Proteus it was to use simply for altered states of awareness.
Did you achieve your goal? When you say "altered states of awareness" what in particular did you have in mind? An altered state of consciousness can be anything from a slight trance to a change in mood to visions.
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For my new light and sound machine I am going to use it primarily for:
Altered states of awareness – this time I also intend to use it for creating my own sessions, something I have not yet tried with the Proteus
For stress – to relax me when I am stressed
To help me relax into sleep.
You can can achieve these goals with both machines. :-) On the Procyon, you may find it easier to modify one of the existing programs than start from scratch. You can name it something else so that you have the original program as well.
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I am not looking for a medical cure or immediate solution for stress or any sleep problems and I am well aware that the Procyon does not cure these things. Nor would I expect any machine to cure sleep or stress problems. However, the MindSpa manual goes into detail about the best way to use it for maximum benefit for stress and sleep. They have a page in their manual called progressive relaxation alpha training. Is there anyway I can use this kind of training with the Procyon? For stress they recommend using the progressive relaxation system over a period of four to eight weeks.
You can do this kind of training with the Procyon as the Procyon produces all the frequencies that the Mindspa does plus some. The Procyon can produce frequencies up to 75hz, which no other machine on the market (as far as I know) can.
Stress reduction is a fairly simple task. The reason it has been suggested to do this over a number of weeks is that it takes repetition to condition the brain. The more you expose your brain to Alpha frequencies, the easier it will be for your brain to achieve these frequencies on its own.
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Can I program the Procyon to do something like progressive alpha training?
What do you mean by "progressive"?
What you want to expose your brain to is the full range of Alpha frequencies which is 8 to 11hz. The Procyon comes programmed with a few programs that do this. You may get good results without having to write your own program and/or you can tweak one of the existing programs.
On your Proteus, programs 33 & 34 are pure Alpha programs.
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In the MindSpa manual they also discuss Circadian Rhythm and how to use the blue led glasses for Circadian Balance (the body clock). I’m not sure about this but they say that research has discovered that this specific blue wavelength plays a major role in aligning and resetting the body clock. Is this true?
The only research that I have come across (so far) is that blue led is better for eliciting slow frequencies (such as Theta) so it may work okay. Blue is best for boosting alpha waves. "...recent research shows that blue light inhibits melatonin production, making it unsuitable for use as a sleep-inducing color" (source: email from Robert Austin). What I have come across in research is that 15 minutes in a theta state can help reset the potassium/sodium levels in the brain - which relieves mental fatigue.
So, you can design a program that uses the blue leds for alpha boosting but you don't want to use this program before bed because of the melatonin thing. BTW, serotonin is converted to melatonin once it gets dark so you want to sleep in a darkened room or use those eye cover thingys. Also, if you are under stress, your serotonin levels will be lowered which means you will have less to convert into serotonin - hence the sleeping difficulties that go with stress. You may want to increase your intake of amino acids and B vitamins.
Do you work shift work? Is that why you are concerned about your circadian rhythm? Or is there something else, such as extensive traveling through time zone changes that you have undergone?
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Just to say I am completely happy with the Procyon manual, it is very informative. I was also interested in some of the information provided in the MindSpa manual about brainwaves and progressive relaxation and Circadian Rhythm but unfortunately we did not think that the machine was as clever as the procyon and they are both almost exactly the same price, which surprised my husband. He thought the MindSpa would be cheaper until I told him the price.
Your husband is a very wise man. :icon_salut:
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If anyone has written anything on how best use the procyon for relaxation or sleep please let me know.
The best programs for sleep are: P23 - 27. The major difference between these programs is the length of time they run.
For stress reduction, you want to choose an alpha and/or alpha theta program - and there are quite a lot to choose from on the Procyon. P35, 39. Programs 10,11, 16 & 17 may also be quite relaxing. Then again, perhaps you'll find P 15 - 22 more relaxing.
Stress can be debilitating. It is the precursor for so many illnesses. It's great that you want to get a handle on it!
If you want more advise on stress reduction, let me know. I don't want to write a bunch of stuff here in case you already know what to do and are just gathering the tools.
M.
