The Super Learning state is what the majority of children are within for the first 6 or 7 years of their lives, it is defined by a predominance of Theta brainwaves which accelerate learning ability. During this time they effectively suck in knowledge and learning in much the same way a sponge sucks up water. Their capacity for acquisition and retention is in many ways incredible, partly due to the fact that in later years during the time when they are at high school or university study can seem so challenging.
The Importance Of Theta For Cognitive Performance
Theta and the state of relaxation it yields has a strong impact on cognitive performance and your ability to both learn and recall information and knowledge. Relaxation is a vital step in cognitive effectiveness full stop. Stress, in any of its various psychological forms, has an impact on your ability to study and produce quality results within tests. When stressed people move into the higher brainwave frequencies of beta or gamma, and cortisol is released which has been shown to have a negative impact on cognitive function.
Why Stress And Cortisol Are Detrimental To Cognitive Function
Cortisol is naturally produced by the body as a response to stressful situations. Run time back a few hundred years or so and the kind of stressful situations you would encounter would be largely physically stressful, challenging or dangerous. Those are the situations that Cortisol is meant to help with.
When Cortisol is released into the blood stream it helps to release higher levels of blood sugar that give you an energy boost so that you can get out of dangerous situations and back to a place of safety. Modern life has become stressful for different reasons, with the focus shifting to more mental and emotional triggers for stress.
This is an issue in a number of ways, the two chief ones being that the excess blood sugar triggers higher insulin levels and can adversely affect your help as you never burn the sugar off so it turns to fat. Though also, and a very key point here, Cortisol inhibits cognitive and neurological function, thus degrading your ability to perform at high level mentally. So dealing with stress and releasing it is very important.
Being Relaxed Helps You To Learn
When you are free of stress, when you are at ease, when you feel calm and at peace, you have a greater ability to function on a mental and emotional level. You become more positive and your ability to solve problems and think in creative ways is elevated.
Alpha Is Good
Alpha brainwaves are where you experience the first sensations of relaxation, they are also characterised by feelings of positivity, wellbeing and elevating levels of self-esteem. The sensation you feel is similar to that of a light trance, and you come to accept things and rationalise them within your mind with greater ease than usual, in that most people are usually in the brainwave frequency range of Beta that is.
Alpha is thus of course a good state to be in if you are wishing to study, get your head around new concepts, work through complex problems and acquire knowledge, though for getting a deeper installation of information from study time, whether you are at school, university, doing professional study, learning a language, or studying for pleasure, Theta has more to offer you and can bring that deeper understanding and greater retention that you seek. So whilst both Beta and Alpha can be good for study and concentration, it is worth remembering that there is more to accessing “Super Learning” than those two things.
Theta Brainwaves Accelerate Learning Ability
The brainwave frequencies in the 4 – 8 Hertz range are where you find Theta, and where you find a balance of relaxation and a state where your mind is open to absorbing knowledge and information that can put you on the fast track study wise.
Brainwaves Frequencies In The Early Years Of Life
Through until around the age of 7 most children spend the majority of their time in the 4 – 8 Hz range, which is one of the reasons that many believe they learn so quickly and absorb new information and knowledge like sponges. As experiences shift, and they interact with environments differently the patterns shift and they move into the higher frequency ranges of Alpha, Beta and Gamma and also begin to experience elevated levels of stress.
It is the pressure to perform and expectations of others, and at times from within, that brings that pressure and with pressure of course comes stress. When there is little to no pressure, and we are free to just learn and practice we can do so with greater ease.
Isn't A Little Pressure Good?
Many believe that a certain level of pressure is good, and that some stress helps. One of the justifications given for this is that it focuses the mind and elevates the desire to perform as a result. The definite effect is that of releasing Cortisol which immediately causes issues, and over the long term can cause even worse issues.
Inspiration
The reality is that people perform best when they are inspired to do so.
Pressure is used by many as a method to force performance, it is very much the “stick” approach rather than the “carrot” which invariably produces better results. People always perform better when they feel inspired to do so. When there is a natural drive to do something far less effort and energy are required versus the amount required when a person feels they have to do something they either have no wish to do or downright wish not to do.
Pressure gives you less opportunity to achieve peak levels as there is always a component of the mind which is focus on something else. When actively interested in what you are doing, and doing it by choice and out of a true and real desire to do or learn, then you are far more likely to achieve a higher degree of your peak ability than other wise.
How Theta Can Help With This
Theta brainwaves aid with more than just studying, cognitive ability and relaxation, they aid you in achieving greater inspiration as well.
When you are in the 4 – 8 Hz range you achieve a deeper rapport with yourself on an unconscious level. As a part of that you work with your core self in a deeper way. Your intuition and ability to work with inner wisdom become elevated in this range too, these things blend and accentuate this effect and your ability to learn too.
As your intuition becomes more elevated, and your ability to work with inner wisdom raises too, you find greater ways within which you can apply what you are studying to your own life and how these things can benefit you in the future, thus raising your level of inspiration to study naturally. On top of this your intuition and inner wisdom can sense ways of working through problems and using knowledge and information that studying in Beta and Alpha may never have become apparent.
Getting Into The Brainwave Range Of Theta
One of the best ways to get into this brainwave frequency range is through meditation. Something which has a massive number of plus points and discovering the full extent of the benefits of meditation is well worth your while.
Meditation helps with stress, focus, memory, psychological and physical health and much much more. Whilst it is relatively easy to get into, and far simpler than most people think, it does require a certain level of practice in order to achieve access to the deeper levels and states, of which Theta is one. Starting off with just a few minutes a day, practising with guided meditations, and building up your practice from there help, though still it will take a certain degree of practice to go deep and carry the effects through into your waking state. So is there an easier way to access this state whilst in an eyes open awoken state? Yes, there is indeed.
Theta Wave Music Getting Into State With Greater Ease
The use of brainwave entrainment, in this case Theta Wave Music, is an excellent way to aid yourself in getting into the beneficial Super Learning state. The music works through having special sound forms embedded within it that entrain your brainwaves to the desired frequencies.
There are three types of sonic entrainment in use, Binaural beats, Isochronic tones and Monaural beats. Binaural beats work well in the upper ranges of Gamma and Beta, with a marginal level of use in the Alpha range where Isochronic tones are particularly good. Monaural beats are most effective in the Delta range and cross over with Isochronic tones to be very effective in the 4 – 8 Hz Theta brainwave range.
Choose Your Brainwave Entrainment Tracks Carefully
There are a lot of Theta Wave tracks that are optimised for meditation, deep relaxation, stress relief and lucid dreaming, and few that have been optimised for studying. As such many have been created to aid with coming to a deeper point of stillness and calm, slowing everything down and going into a deep trance, something which could be counterproductive to your study efforts.
When you are picking out tracks to listen to when studying ensure you check through a sample of them at the very least. Ideally they will have music that keeps you in a focused and awake state, whilst your mind can drift into the deeper ranges and absorb what you are working on. The SurgingLife “Super Learning – Music For Studying” was developed to do exactly that.
Super Learning And Your Ability To Achieve Good Results
Programs around the world have proven time and again the benefits of meditation for students, part of this comes down to the calmness and sense of ease that students attain, along with increased self-esteem and focal ability, and a part of it also comes from the students elevated ability to access the deeper brainwave frequencies that include Theta.
Whether you choose to use meditation as a route to accessing the beneficial 4 – 8 Hz range or opt for the quicker route of using brainwave entrainment and Theta Wave music optimised to accelerate learning and enhance studying is up to you. In many ways it is recommended to do both. Meditation builds into a practice which alongside improving your ability to study brings benefit to your life in a very holistic way, especially in the long term. Whilst using music with Theta Isochronic tones and Monaural beats can aid you in the here and now to get into the Super Learning state too.