SWOLA 150

SWOLA 150

Threshold 1 Intro to Focus 12 - Hemi-Sync - Gateway Experience

I haven't had time to post in a few weeks, but I'm still doing my daily meditation and my main focus is the The Gateway Tapes.  I've been stuck on this specific tape since my last blog entry.  I finally feel like I have a grasp on going from Focus 10 to Focus 12, I just really have to be in the correct mindset to get there.

On this tape you advance to Focus 10, where your body is in a sleep state but you mind is fully awake, and then you go to Focus 12.  For me Focus 12 starts to feel like an "out of body" experience.  After you reach Focus 10, you're instructed to reach out even further from yourself, and that's where you will find Focus 12.  When I reach Focus 12 I usually feel like I'm floating above myself, and I have had some interesting visuals as well.

I've been a little more busy than usual busy past couple weeks, so I ended up still working in time for my daily meditation, but I didn't feel like I would be in the correct mindset to go onto the next tape.  I regularly did exercises getting to Focus 10, but I feel like I still need the correct setting to get to Focus 12.

My goal for tomorrow is to do this recording again.  I'll have the morning to myself on Thursday, so I feel like I'll be able to get the most out of the recording.

SWOLA 148

Forgot to post this last week...

SWOLA 149

#SWOLA149

I used the Sonicake Matribox for this recording.  I haven't really had time to sit down with it yet to dial it in, but I think it has potential.  I recorded the guitar and bass tracks with it for this SWOLA.  I also used it as an audio interface instead of my Focusrite interface just to see how it would turn out.

It's not a bad piece of gear for the price.  I mainly picked it up so I can play around with it at work on my lunch break.  I still prefer the overall sound of my OrangeAmps amps and speaker cabs recorded with a real mic, but this got the job done.

SWOLA 147

Discovery 6 Free Flow 10 - Hemi-Sync - Gateway Experience

Back on track with my posts.  

I did this Gateway Tape yesterday and  today.  This tape is a "Free Flow" exercise.  You are basically setting yourself up to get yourself to Focus 10 and then the goal is to get whatever you personally need to out of the exercise.  This one always seems to be more self reflecting for me.  At one point I was asking myself, "why am I doing this?"  I found that at this point in my life I'm mainly doing a lot of self reflection, and I'm just trying to figure out how to make the easier parts of life that appear to be complicated easy again.

I feel like as people we tend to make simple things complicated, and we need to stop overcomplicating life.  This has actually been my approach in Jiu-Jitsu lately and it has really elevated my game and how I approach things.  I have been catching people in the most ridiculously simple submissions lately.  I only use the word "simple" because I'm taking a much more simple way of looking at fighting and submissions.  This point of view is something I've been sharing with my students and it seems to be working for them as well.

OK, back to the meditation.  I did my meditation sitting on my meditation bench this morning.  I felt like I was too sleepy to lay down and not fall asleep after getting up at 4:30am, teaching a Jiu Jitsu class at 5:00am, and then working out.  I did my meditation on my meditation bench around 8:00am this morning.

I feel like I'm getting better at relaxing in a seated position than I use to be.  I can finally get my body to relax on the bench and get more out of the exercise.

Today was interesting.  One of the things I really wanted to get out of the exercise was getting my body to the Focus 10 sleep state while keeping my conscience fully awake.  I was able to get to that state in a seated position, and this is something I usually have a hard time doing.  At one point I couldn't really feel my body.  It was kind of like when your foot falls asleep and you stand on it.  You can see your foot, but you can't really feel it and it's very hard to walk on.  While I was sitting there trying my best to just let my mind go, and at the same time stay in the moment, I realized that I couldn't feel my arms and my hands.  I had no idea what position my hands were in.  I didn't know if they were folded, resting on my knees, or anywhere else.  Then I tried to focus on them without opening my eyes to visually check on them, but I had no idea what position they were in,.. and I became totally fine and fascinated with that idea.  I just was such a relaxed state that I couldn't physically feel anything.

The meditation felt like it was going on for hours.  At one point I wondered if I had fallen asleep and missed work.  I decided that I would just wait it out, and eventually the tape came to an end, I opened my eyes, and then stood up.

I really enjoyed the mindfulness aspect of this exercise.  It really allowed me to dig deep on some of  my inner thoughts.

Tomorrow I'll only have time for a short 15 min meditation before work, so I will have to wait until Sunday to do the next tape.  I have a couple apps that I like to use for meditation.  One is an app from the Monroe Institute called Expand.  It has a lot of different meditations and I believe most of them use Hemi-Sync platform and utilize stereo headphones.

until next time...

Discovery 5 - Exploration, Sleep - Hemi-Sync - Gateway Experience

I haven't posted on The Gateway tapes in a few days.  I've been away from my computer and a little busy.  I also really wanted to spend more time on the last tape.  Going in and really focusing on what my fears are, letting go of them, and then trying to figure out the cause of them was defiantly a eye opening and mentally fatiguing process.  I honestly had a hard time doing this processes while listing to the tape, but the more I did it the "easier" it became.  It also caused me to think about these things during my normal day.  So far this was (is) the most difficult tape for me.  I found that I really needed to find a quiet place while nobody was at home to get the best results.  I also had to get into a headspace where I was comfortable being vulnerable for the process to feel like it was the most successful for me.  I probably did this tape for 4 days in a row.

Tonight I'm doing the tape that focuses on sleep and dreams.  I've done it a few times already, but I'm looking forward to really diving into it and paying more attention to the process.

until next time