Brain waves: Beta, Alpha, Theta and Delta…
Brain Waves: Beta, Alpha, Theta, Delta, what do they mean, and
when do we have them? When you’re awake and totally active, your brain waves
operate at a level called Beta where they mainly oscillate between 14 to
30 cycles per second. As your mind relaxes and disconnects somehow from the
external material world – like when you’re daydreaming or meditating, or
watching a movie – you enter a more focused, expanded state of awareness where
brain wave patterns are mainly composed of Alpha brain waves oscillating
at between 8 and 13 cycles per second. When relaxing even more, your mind
enters a region that correlates with a large relative quantity of brain wave
patterns of 4 to 7 cycles per second. This is the Theta zone of the
mind.
The Beta level corresponds to a focus of concentration by the mind upon the
outside or perceptually separated world, and the Alpha and Theta levels
correspond to a more internally focused, self-reflective state.
Each human being experiences the Theta level for a fleeting moment every night
before the mind dips down from the Beta level of awareness (awake state), to
the Delta state (brain waves of less than 4 cycles per second: deep
sleep), and passes rapidly through the Alpha and Theta states to enter the
profound sleep level, where consciousness of self is totally lost, and where
even dreams do not occur. (When dreaming, a sense of self is necessary and the
mind has to go back up to the Theta or Alpha state.)
Delta is the level of the mysterious universal mind. It is the level at which
the differentiated self (ego) expands to become undifferentiated and operates
outside of the confines of linear time/space.
Alpha, Theta and Delta (sleep) are defined as “altered states of
consciousness,” as opposed to Beta, which is considered to be a fully
conscious state. They are so called because it is necessary to alter one’s
state of consciousness from the fully awake state (Beta), to either Alpha,
Theta or Delta (sleep), which are all progressive states of expanded awareness
and thus are subject to less vibratory interference from the biological brain.
Beta is the so-called conscious level of mind. Alpha and Theta form the
subconscious regions of the mind’s operation, and Delta is the unconscious
region of thought activity. These states form the spectrum of mind operation.
Small children function mainly at the Theta, Alpha and Delta states of mind, as
do animals. Human adults operate mostly at Beta.