There's been lots of questions about what sessions work for what purposes and I understand that because of FDA restrictions on what can and can't be said about therapeutic application, MindPlace and its associates cannot provide straight answers.
I'm in New Zealand where no such restrictions apply, and I am not in any way affiliated with MindPlace or its associates, except as a very satisfied Procyon user. I also use other BWE applications from other sources.
What I'm wanting to do here is give an overview of what I have come to expect to work, based on the successes my wife and I have enjoyed. I could write a book on the reasons why she and I may not be typical, so please understand that what works fo me may not work for you, however, my results are consistent with much of the plentiful research on BWE. You may also deduce that we are both quite nuts and have personal access to a wide range of issues to address I have a strong technical background and believe I have been reasonably perceptive and objective in assessing 'successes', although I will not deny wishful thinking/placebo effect - I do want to get better!
As these results apply to any BWE source, I won't use specific session names, just reference to frequency bands. There are documents detailing how these bands relate to Procyon and Proteus sessions, so it shouldn't be too hard to work out which session to use. Marisa is also really good at suggesting which session to use for a particular frequency range.
Headache - alpha
Anxiety - mid-low alpha
Depression - SMR/beta
Stress/Tension - high theta/alpha/SMR
Addiction/OCD - alpha/theta
Random aches and pains (fibromyalgia) - very-low-delta or gamma
Insomnia - theta/delta
Restlessness - low-alpha/theta
Agitation - theta
Drowsiness - beta
Lack of concentration/ADD - SMR/low-beta
General malaise - SMR
Boredom - high theta or low beta
Lack of creativity - high alpha/low beta
As a general principle, choosing a frequency within a band depends on whether you want a more relaxed or more activated state - alert relaxed would be high alpha, while calm relaxed would be low alpha. I've found that a few percent either way makes very little difference, and my response does vary day-to-day and with my overall physical and psychological state.
Trying more of something in which I am not deficient often causes me irritation or discomfort - i.e. a depression session if I'm not depressed may well make me feel worse, or delta when I'm neither sleepy or in a state to pursue deep meditation will just irritate me. I also find that if I get into a state that is unsuitable for what I then have to do, I can experience some distress - i.e. a long theta session followed immediately by complex technical tasks is not good for me. These negative effects are always quick to pass and I am absolutely confident in the safety of trial-and-error. I would advise extreme caution in driving or operating machinery after low alpha/theta or delta sessions.
In some cases I have had best results with long periods of continuous tone, others I benefits fom ramping and shifting - generally if I want 'activation' a more dynamic session is better. Sometimes different left/right hemisphere stimulation has been better, but this gets a bit more complicated than I really want to get into here, and in reality, is probably more 'ideal' than necessary.
I have not been able to authenticate any specific frequencies, such as Schumann Resonance or the Resonant Frequency of the LSD Molecule - they work just like any other neighbouring frequency within their band.
An interesting thing happens with high beta and gamma, in that rather than becoming more activating, it tends to become calming again. My assumption on this is that the beat is so fast that it merges into a soothing drone.
I hope this is helpful, but feel free to take all I have said with a grain of salt. Above all else, have fun, experiment, and enjoy this wonderful technology!
Cheers,
Craig
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