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July/August 2009 Alternative Health
Brain Wave Vibration: The Secret of the Brain Stem

By Ilchi Lee

Ilchi Lee

Even as a small child, you witnessed the healing power of your brain stem at work. If you scraped your knee, you could watch day-by-day as your body repaired itself, eventually becoming a brand new patch of skin. This kind of phenomenon, although commonplace, is really quite miraculous.

But what does the brain stem have to do with all this? Your brain stem is a like a hidden conductor of the great symphony that makes up the intricate systems of your body. Without any conscious direction from you, it sends out messages to the body, telling your heart how fast to beat, commanding your white blood cells to spring into action, directing your digestive system to go to work, and coordinating a myriad of other bodily functions that continuously support your health and well-being.

The role of the brain stem is essentially to maintain your state of equilibrium. The body is designed to maintain a consistent state of health. You could say that any prolonged disease represents lack of equilibrium in the body.

The great majority of the diseases of modern society, as you probably already know, are the result of lifestyle rather than some outside influence. In a way, through the choices we habitually make, we get in the way of our brain stem, and it never really has the chance to do its job.

The part we have control over is the prefrontal cortex, the thinking part of the brain. To put it simply, people today think too much. The thinking brain is constantly sending messages that keep our bodies in a state of alarm, and they never have ample time to recover. The trick is to quiet the thinking mind and gain control over the content it produces so that the brain stem has a chance to coordinate the equilibrium that it exists to create.

Send a Love Letter to Your Cells

You may have been taught to believe that your genes determine what you will become. However, a whole new line of thinking is emerging from biological science.

As it turns out, the membrane that surrounds the cell may be more important than genes in determining your state of health. The cell membrane senses and responds to the surrounding environment. In other words, it is the brain of the cell, receiving and interpreting messages from the body. But who talks to your cells on behalf of your body, telling them how to act? It is the same element that talks to your organs - telling your heart to beat and your lungs to breathe. It is your brain.

Energy is the language spoken by your body. You probably already know that your brain sends bioelectric signals to your organs and muscles through the nerve pathways in your body. But did you ever consider how your brain talks to your cells?

Not long ago, biologists believed that the cell membrane was relatively inconsequential, that it simply functioned as a containment system to absorb chemical substances as needed. More recently, however, biologists have looked more carefully at how the cell membrane responds to its surrounding environment. Bruce Lipton, a biologist studying how the cell membrane works, claims that the cell interprets its environment not solely based on chemical information but also based on energetic information.

New discoveries about the cell membrane have led Lipton and other scientists to reconsider the ancient Asian concept of ki, which was one rejected as irrational. As it turns out, the energy emitted by your brain, your brain waves, may be crucial to the overall health of your cells.

Cellular health is critically important for your physical health because cells are the building blocks of your body. If your cells are not healthy, your body is like a building made of weak, disintegrated bricks.

Remember that all disease begins at the cellular level. All cancers, for example, begin with one mutated cell. When organs malfunction, this also begins at the cellular level. And the integrity of the cells that make up the artery walls plays a big role in cardiovascular disease.

Fortunately, healing also happens at the cellular level. Your body has an amazing ability to heal and grow itself, which is what Brain Wave Vibration is all about. Through it, you can learn to communicate positive, healing energy to your body.

Brain Wave Vibration training helps synchronize your brain waves with the natural healing power contained within every cell of your body. You can start by making sure that the content of your thoughts are positive. Many studies have shown the important role of emotions and attitude in determining long-term health. Positive thinking patterns are clearly a precursor to good health. In addition, they help facilitate proper flow of ki though the body, leading to a vital, fully developed sense of health and well-being.

Quantum physics has taught us that everything in the universe is ultimately energy, and Brain Wave Vibration will empower you to use your brain stem to emanate positive, supportive energy throughout your body and in your life.

The Head Nod Method

This is one of the most simple and convenient forms of Brain Wave Vibration. It can be done anytime during the day to refresh your brain, even sitting at a desk while working or studying. The Head Nod Method is designed to deliver vibrations directly to the brain stem for deep relaxation and release of tension.

1. Sit in a chair with your arms resting comfortably at your sides or in front of you on a desk. You may also sit on the floor in a half-lotus posture. When sitting in a chair, do not lean your back against the chair, but keep your back straight.
2. Close your eyes and breathe comfortably, relaxing your body completely.
3. Begin gently shaking your head from side to side. It is normal to hear some noise from the neck as you begin, but this will lessen with practice. Breathe fully, focusing especially on the exhalation.
4. Focus on your brain stem, located at the point where your head pivots left and right.
5. Visualize your brain stem and entire brain lighting up as your go deeper and deeper into the shaking motion. Your head may also go up and down or follow the shape of an infinity symbol as you go deeper into the motion.
6. After a few minutes, slowly return to external awareness, breathing in and exhaling fully.

Ilchi Lee, author of Brain Wave Vibration, is president of the Korea Institute of Brain Science and the International Brain Education Assn. He also is the founder of Dahn Yoga and the author of more than 30 books. Visit www.ilchi.com and www.brainwavevibration.com. Excerpted with permission by BEST Life Media at www.bestlifemedia.com.