Conscious Relaxation vs Sleep Part 2

by Nina

Reflections of Trees by Brad Gibson

Oops! When I was doing research for my post on Savasana on Monday, I found some information I’d forgotten about regarding conscious relaxation vs. sleep (see original post here). I wrote the about how Dr. Herbert Bensen said that conscious relaxation differed than sleep for several reasons including:

4. Alpha waves (slow brain waves) increase in intensity and frequency during conscious relaxation, but are not commonly found during sleep. While scientists are not yet sure what these brain waves mean, this is yet another indication that sleep and conscious relaxation are very different states.

Actually science has progressed a bit since the book was published from which I got that information (The Relaxation Response). And what scientists have discovered about the alpha waves is pretty interesting. Dr. Roger Cole, a sleep researcher and long-time yoga teacher, says that during rest or meditation our brain waves may slow to the alpha rhythm (8-12 cycles per second), during which we remain quietly aware of ourselves and our surroundings, without a lot of self-directed mental processing. Sometimes they may slow even further to the theta rhythm (4-7 cycles per second), during which we may get a “floating” feeling, dreamlike mental imagery, and withdrawal from the outside world. Does either of these feelings sound familiar to you? I’ve been saying for a long time that I can feel the relaxation response kick in after about seven to eight minutes of practice. The best way I can describe it is to say things start to go darker, as if a dimmer switch deep inside me was gradually turning down toward off. Recently a friend of mine (who I didn’t even know had been practice yogic breathing for many, many years) overheard me say this, and interjected, “It’s the same for me. I feel the change after about seven or eight minutes.” Do any of you have similar observations? (And now you know why we recommend that you practice at least 10 minutes.)

To be sure, there is still much that is unknown about these unique states, but what it is known is that regular practice of conscious relaxation helps foster ongoing feelings of serenity, contentment, and even happiness. Do tell me about your own experiences.

(Whew! I feel better. Now I’m going to go fix the original post.)

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Menu Part 3 The Third List of Publications for Potential Posting

Here are some more interesting items for the Journal:

The Nature and Evolution of the Soft Contact Lens Industry in the United States

Early in my career at Arthur D. Little, I became involved with the soft contact lens industry. By the mid-1980's, I had completed over 150 assignments in this field. This writeup summarizes some of the work done and links to my expert report in a landmark Tax Court case that tells the history of the contact lens industry.


Before I began concentrating on ophthalmic and medical lasers, I spent much of my time working in the Arthur D. Little Product Technology laboratories on a myriad of interesting client-sponsored cases (and other interesting pursuits). I have decided to place a few of the more interesting on my web Journal, under the title “ADL Chronicles”. Here are a few:

ADL Chronicles – The EPCON Plastic Pencil

One of my early lab assignments was to develop the materials for the all plastic pencil that we developed for the Empire Pencil Company, a subsidiary (then) of Hasbro Toys. We developed a material and a co-extrusion process that went into commercial production. We obtained two patents on the materials and process that was assigned to Hasbro.

ADL Chronicles – Spin-cast Eyeglass Frames

Another lab-based assignment was to develop an epoxy-based eyeglass frame for Universal Optical, similar to, but getting around the patents held by the Optyl Company. We decided to use a spin casting system and had to invent both a compatible material and process for making the frames. We succeeded in the development (including obtaining a patent), but the process never went into commercial production.

ADL Chronicles -- The Disposable "Motionless Mixer"

This was a unique assignment – to develop a delivery system for two-part adhesives that would not require mixing by the user. We settled on using a prior ADL invention, the motionless mixer, but had to find a vendor that could make it disposable, instead of very expensive as was the original mixer. We did, and this product went on to become a commercial success, although it was not patentable.

ADL Chronicles – An Improved Firefighter’s Glove

Our first assignment was for NIOSH (the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health), to determine what the hazards were affecting the hands of firefighters during fighting fires. The followup assignment for NASA was to use that knowledge to develop a glove of space-age materials that would meet or exceed the criteria that we had uncovered in the first assignment.

We ended up developing (and patenting) several designs of improved firefighter’s gloves that were picked up and commercialized by glove manufacturers.

ADL Chronicles – An Erasable Ink Composition

In the early-1980's, the Gillette Corporation’s Papermate Division had developed and marketed an erasable ink pen. BIC, not wanting to be left out of the game, hired ADL to develop a composition for its use. And so we did, including obtaining a patent on our formulation.

ADL Chronicles – Of Silk Purses and Lead Balloons

And, one for fun. Following in Arthur Dehon Little’s tradition of his producing a “silk purse” from sows ears, the chemists and engineers of the Product Technology Section of ADL decided to hold a contest to see if we could produce a “lead balloon” that would fly! And so we did, and here’s the story behind the story.

VH1s OCD Project Reactions from Someone with OCD Part 2

VH1's OCD Project premiere with Dr. David Tolin was hard for me to watch. Not because of the shoe licking, but because Exposure and Response Prevention Therapy(ERP) is portrayed as something to be inflicted on people with OCD in a boot camp manner, with a dose of "all or nothing" thinking thrown in--ie. either fight your OCD or get out. If my therapist demanded I do exposures "for my own good" I would flee.

Leonard often says that if clients don't agree to the goal of learning to live with uncertainty, they are not going to want to do any exposures, and his job is work in partnership with clients to understand the nature of OCD and of the need to accept uncertainty. OCD isn't happy with 99.9% assurance that my health symptoms aren't dangerous. It wants 100% certainty, and this can make my life hellish. This is not to say that Leonard isn't frank. He'll tell me that I could worry about one symptom and then have a completely hidden disease kill me, but if a therapist feels their job is to push their clients off a cliff into dramatic exposures, this is inappropriate.

ERP is about starting with what you can and *will* do. What is the first step you can take to fight the OCD? I was often paralyzed with making perfect decisions. I started with a small exposure of choosing something by flipping a coin, at least once a day. Should I wear a green shirt or a blue one? Flip a coin. This created a wave of anxiety in me, but not so much that I was unwilling to do the exposure. Then I moved on to choosing something that didn't feel "perfect." If you find yourself thinking your therapist is crazy for suggesting certain exposures, you need to talk about it--and that in itself is an exposure, if you fear even verbalizing what you are really afraid of. If my therapist yelled at me, or goaded me into an exposure, I wouldn't get the benefit of treatment, because I don't respond well to this style. People with OCD have a range of temperaments, just like all humans.

The irony is that all things considered, if the participants in the OCD Project aren't scared off, and stay in therapy, and do the exposures and don't secretly do rituals to "undo" them, they will be better off than if they went to a traditional therapist who wants to talk about the reasons for the content of their fears. Arine's story is particularly poignant, with her fear of harming someone while driving, after her father and grandfather were killed in horrific car crashes, but making the link between this event in her life history and the manifestation of her OCD is not enough in and of itself to help her break free of the anxiety. There are many ways in which each of us can cause harm to our fellow beings, but to consistently eliminate all risk is both impossible and the attempt erodes our ability to do good in the world.

The Power of Svadhyaya Self Study Part 1

by Nina

Tama River in the Musashi Province by Hokusai

One of the most difficult times in my life—and in my marriage—was when Brad and I were fighting over our future. When our children were small, he wanted the four of us to move to New York City because he was interested in a possible academic position at a university there, and I wanted to stay in Berkeley so I could keep my own job—which felt like a special opportunity to me—stay near my family, and raise our children in a house with a garden rather than a small apartment. Without going into details about our arguments, I’ll just say that our desires for our future were so different that it felt like they were tearing us apart. And I became extremely stressed out and anxious. But here’s the thing: although Brad interviewed for the job he wanted, the university decided not to hire anyone for that position after all. So in the end, all the angst we went through was over nothing. I eventually realized that this was a pattern in our relationship—battling over things that hadn’t happened yet. I also realized I had a tendency to be anxious about possible future scenarios. So after that I came up the following motto for myself: Don’t Panic Too Soon. Believe it or not, just having this simple motto has been quite powerful, and I continue to invoke it to this day. 

When Ram wrote his post The Second Branch of Yoga: The Niyamas, we both realized that we don’t have very many articles on the individual niyamas on the blog. Yes, we have a few posts on santosha (Santosha: Happiness and Longevity and Yoga Philosophy: Contentment) but not much else. So I decided to look at the list of niyamas to see if there was one I felt I could write about. It was easy for me to choose because there is one particular niyama that I’ve found especially valuable in my daily life: svadhyaya. In his post, Ram said of svadhyaya:

“The path to self-realization is also through introspection and contemplation of our own life’s lessons. Introspecting about our emotions, thoughts, actions, and reactions helps us to learn about our own self and our true nature. When we reflect on our flaws and allow our mistakes to serve as learning lessons, we have the opportunity to grow.” 

In our journeys toward the equanimity that is yoga, we can all benefit from this study of the self. Ram explained that we do so by becoming a witness to our own selves. As a witness, you observe with detachment what’s happening within you—your sensations, thoughts, emotions, and feelings. The Sankrit word sākshī (saa-kshe), refers to the “pure awareness” that witnesses the world but does not get affected by it or involved with it. The term is made up of two parts. “Sa” means “with” and “aksha” means “senses or eyes.” So the sakshi is an awareness that can observe “with its own eyes.” Another meaning of the word aksha is “the center of a wheel.” As the wheel turns, its center remains still. So the witness mind remains steady while events turn around it. 

In meditation, your witness mind is essential. Your witness mind observes when your attention has wandered from the object of your meditation—and to what. Rather than floating down the stream of your thoughts, you sit on the shore and impartially observe from a distance (see What is Meditation?). But you can also use your witness mind during your asana practice by cultivating mindfulness (see What is Mindfulness?). To do this, step back and tune into the constant judging and reacting to inner and outer experiences that constantly stream through your mind. In your asana practice, it can be especially illuminating to use this technique when you practice challenging poses or poses you dislike.

Eventually you can use on your witness mind during any activity. In my post Mental Yoga: Thataashut I wrote about using my witness mind when I was trying to write a blog post while construction was going on outside my window. Observing my thought patterns helped me calm down and find some peace of mind even with people arguing outside and making the kind of invasive noise that only large machines are capable of. Observing your habits can help you change the way you react to stress (see Changing the Brain's Stressful Habits). And it can help you in general to change your patterns of reactivity (see Meditation and Brain Strength). All of this will help you cultivate equanimity in your daily life—not to mention fewer marital battles—and we can all use some of that.

That’s it for today. Svadhyaya actually has two different interpretations, and I was originally going to write about both of them in this post. But I’m starting to feel like I’ve gone on long enough, so I’ve decided to divide the subject into two separate posts. So stay tuned for another post this week on the second interpretation of svadhyaya: study of the scriptures.

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