INDUCED MEDITATION

Dan Cohen, MD

What is Induced Meditation?

Induced Meditation is a form of meditation unto itself and can also be used to deepen any meditative practice. Induced Meditation was developed to help people (including myself) reliably achieve deep, meaningful meditative states much more quickly.

It does so by:

  1. quieting the brain through habituation / inhibition of the brain’s vigilance mechanism (switching off the ego / lower mind to quiet the mind)
  2. directly stimulating greater presence of the higher mind (magnetically stimulating the human energy system).
When brainwaves throughout the brain are in the theta range, the person may also be in light sleep (Stages I and mainly Stage II), but other transient EEG phenomena are also present (sleep spindles and K-complexes in Stage II). Stage I is typically only a brief transitional stage. Light meditative states are accompanied by alpha waves in the EEG (the brain is on idle), while deeper meditative states are typically associated with theta waves, without spindles and K-complexes.

Sleep puts the lower mind or ego to sleep and produces rest, rejuvenation and dreams, but sleep is not meditation.

The brain does not have to be asleep, in order for the lower mind or ego to be quieted. However, the closer the EEG resembles Stage II sleep (but without spindles and K-complexes) the greater the likelihood is that the ego will be quiet. The problem with this approach is that most people may simply fall asleep and stay asleep in the state of generalized theta activity. Meditation requires that the ego still be awake and aware, yet quiet and passively observing.

There’s Much More to Meditation than the State of the Brain and Brainwaves

We’ll get to the higher mind soon, but there’s still more to understand about the lower mind. The health of our ego is more important than the state of our brainwaves.

The Ego is our friend and protector, not our enemy.

The ego serves a number of very useful functions. The main function of the ego is to keep us alive in body. First and foremost, it is in charge of our safety and security, our very survival. How does it satisfy this responsibility? Our brain remains vigilant to signs of danger. It is constantly, consciously and subconsciously, scanning the environment for potential threats. It principally uses our senses of sight, hearing and touch to monitor our surroundings.

In complex societies the Ego tasks itself with even greater responsibility.

Unfortunately, many of us live in complex societies with social norms and levels of status, which create additional stressors. Our ego often interprets these factors as fear-based threats to our safety and security. Will I lose my house if I lose my job? Will I be perceived as successful if I don’t drive the right car or wear the right clothes? Must my beliefs, feelings and behaviors match those of my friends, peers and superiors? When our ego encumbers itself with these additional fear-based concerns, we begin to feel as though our ego is our enemy. We may become frustrated with ourselves because deeper down we may recognize that these superficial fears are unnecessary and entirely of our making.

Why do we begin to resent our ego? Because we must expend a lot of energy in our attempt to control everything in our environment in order to service these additional fears. We become fearful that we cannot live up to the perceived expectations of others that we have adopted. These more superficial fears actually reinforce our deepest subconscious fears that most people don’t even realize they have – I’m not good enough / I’m unworthy / I’m unlovable. Most of us have adopted these beliefs at a very young age, simply due to not having all of our needs met, when we were very young.

Control is the antithesis of meditation.

Our ego always tries to protect us from re-experiencing these deeper fears and beliefs. This is why the ego is so controlling. It does everything in its power to avoid realizing or even considering our deepest fears. Unfortunately, this defensive posture results in us maintaining a state of high vigilance, as well as constantly ruminating over all of our superficial fears, slights and other egotistical considerations. Collectively, this creates our brain / lower mind noise, which interferes with developing a meditative state.

A deep, meaningful meditative state is one that is essentially without ego. One must let go of our egoic concerns and reduce our hyper-vigilant state in order to allow for the development of a meditative state of being, not thinking. When working with clients I observe them closely when I use the word surrender in regards to surrendering control, instead of the phrase, letting go of control. Many of my clients will often bristle at that word – surrender – because they have been trying to control everything they can for so long. As such they equate surrender with defeat, which is understandable from their ego’s standpoint, yet surrender is what they must do in order to develop a deep meditative state.

The Early Days of Induced Meditation Experimentation and the Lower Mind

I began working on Induced Meditation in 1997. A couple of us purchased a very expensive roomful of equipment that generated a lot of sound (music) and some vibration. With my neurologist’s hat on, I reasoned that if we used music that had enough constancy to it, with enough low frequency content that could be felt, we could potentially have an impact on the brain and thus, the lower mind.

As mentioned previously, our brain’s vigilance mechanism involves scanning the environment using our senses of sight, hearing and touch. When the brain’s primary cortical regions associated with hearing and touch receive a relatively constant stimulus, those areas become habituated or accustomed to the stimulus, as it is deemed non-threatening and therefore, there is no reason to pay attention to it. To conserve resources, the brain inhibits those cortical regions. During a session with music induced sound and vibration, we also closed our eyes, so our brain wasn’t able to scan visually. As a result, the brain’s vigilance mechanism (vision, hearing and touch) was essentially switched off.

Profound physical relaxation and emotional calm are nice, but…

My response to this stimulation was to become rather drowsy and very relaxed. After 2 months of regular use (2 sessions per day, each lasting about an hour), I learned to fall asleep very quickly during the beginning of the session and then I awoke and would remain wakeful, during the rest of the session. It was as if I fell asleep and then awoke mentally, while my body remained asleep. We tested 33 subjects, 13 sessions each, and they had similar responses and became very relaxed.

Was this meditation? I think not, at least not in a complete sense. There’s no doubt that I was profoundly relaxed and my mind was quieter. My blood pressure, which had been creeping up slowly over the past several years, was now very low. That was a nice benefit resulting from reduced stress as I had learned to relax so profoundly. I could very quickly during the day, reproduce a similar state of physical relaxation. I was also more emotionally calm, not only during my sessions, but in general.

The changes that I experienced definitely reflect some of the benefits that people achieve with meditation, but there was much lacking. Although I was experiencing fewer negative emotional states, I was not experiencing more positive emotional states or deeper positive emotions. I had been hoping to more deeply experience love. I didn’t and I didn’t feel any greater compassion, forgiveness, gratitude or any other positive emotions that I had hoped to experience more deeply.

On the metaphysical front, it was a total bust! I experienced absolutely nothing new and different.  We had made some progress on this project, but there was a lot of work left to do.

What are Your Beliefs about an Energetic Self?

Do you believe you are also an energetic being? Is that energetic being primary or secondary? In other words, is it what you primarily are or is it an emanation of your physical being? Is this energetic self what accounts for out-of-body or near death experiences, where consciousness is experienced outside of the body? Does this or can this energetic self somehow interact with your brain and lower mind?

Theoretical considerations about an energetic self are interesting, but can stimulating this energy achieve practical results?

In 1976, on a Saturday morning, my wife, just 10 days after missing her menstrual cycle, ran a home pregnancy test. It was positive. We decided to sit with the news for a while and tell nobody until we were absolutely sure. A couple of hours later a friend of the family came to visit. She was considered to be psychic and in our experience, she seemed pretty accurate. We opened the door and she immediately looked at my wife, then gazed down at her abdomen and exclaimed, “New life, congratulations.” How did she know? What did she see?

I believe some people have psychic abilities. In speaking with a number of people who exhibit these abilities, they claim to perceive an energy system that flows throughout and around the physical body. Observational experience allows them to recognize more than can be recognized by perceiving the physical body alone. What else could be done to practically benefit from knowledge of this energy system?

Can Induced Meditation Induce Greater Interplay between the Energetic and Physical?

My main interest was to develop myself in a manner, such that I could realize and manifest greater personal development, including experiencing more positive emotions. When we began experimenting with music and vibration we also began experimenting with magnetics.

My reasoning was that our energetic self had to somehow communicate with our physical brain. By this time in my life I had experienced a couple of powerful unexplainable events. I didn’t think by any stretch of the imagination that I was gifted in this way, but I had experienced the transfer of information about the future into my then present state of mind in a very clear and dramatic manner. Somehow, that information registered in my brain and lower mind.

Our brain generates an electromagnetic field. It was my belief that somehow, our energetic self was able to communicate electromagnetically. I didn’t believe that our energetic self, was electromagnetic, just that it could somehow interface with the brain electromagnetically. I reasoned that if it could do that, then we could possibly stimulate it with magnetic energy.

Our early experiments beginning in 1997 were crude and amateurish. However, by 2010 we were making real progress. How did we know? Fortunately, I was working with 3 completely independent observers who could perceive the energetic self – the vertical power current or Hara line, chakras, auras, as they’re called in various traditions.

Over time the appearance of the energetic self changed, using our system. The appearance shifted as shown below.

The auric bodies in the middle and rightmost pictures are drawn simplistically to avoid obscuring the detail beneath it. The auric bodies were omitted entirely in the leftmost picture for the same reason. The vertical power current (white vertical line running just in front of the spine and extending infinitely) is frayed, fragmented and curved in the leftmost picture, normal in the middle picture and expanded in the rightmost picture. The fluffy white material within the confines of the body is meant to represent the degree of integration of the astral body with the physical body – limited integration in the leftmost picture, normal in the right and expanded in the rightmost picture.
These changes were accompanied by real life changes too, including far greater experience and manifestation of positive emotions and a deepening of my connectedness to everything.

I have written about this transition in greater detail in the book, “Addicted To My Ego.” https://www.amazon.com/Addicted-my-Ego-Dan-Cohen/dp/0977757749 

“Addicted To My Ego” is a useful tool to better understand one’s ego. Most of us have aspects of our egos that are in need of further refinement.

What is the Higher Mind?

It should come as no surprise at this point. The higher mind, in my opinion, is our energetic self. Most of us self-identify with our ego, but is that truly what we are? I think not. I believe we actually are our energetic self. However, the ego blocks or at least filters the output of the higher mind. The filters are our beliefs and fears, our conditioning.

After one becomes a more successful meditator, she or he begins to shift their self-identity. They don’t necessarily do this simply because they are shifting their beliefs. They do this because they are regularly experiencing and manifesting more of their energetic self. When one integrates more with their energetic self during normal life, the mind is quiet and they not only observe what is happening around them, but they become acutely aware of what is happening inside their own brain. They become aware of their thoughts and conditioning as though they are watching a movie about someone. They soon realize that they themselves are not their thoughts and those thoughts are nothing more than their ego at work. This is very liberating.

Even nicer, when living this way, they can experience their positive emotions much more strongly. Tears of love and joy are abundant. Relationships shift dramatically for the better and life holds much more meaning.

Over time, one learns that existing in a state of being is far more pleasant, rewarding and productive than living in states of thinking and doing all of the time. When one’s feeling nature becomes more developed, instead of thinking, one just knows. Knowing is a felt sense that is not derived from thought. All in all, living from this perspective is far more enjoyable and rewarding.

 

The Technology of Induced Meditation

In 2013 we productized the technology. Initially we sold the SolTec™ Lounge to only healthcare practitioners. We were interested in getting their feedback as they worked with patients and clients. Hundreds of units were sold to these practitioners and then to their patients and clients, who purchased units for home use, so they could do sessions on a more regular basis.

The SolTec Lounge consists of a comfortable, manually recline-able, seating platform containing an amplifier and transducers that produce sound (music), vibration and magnetic stimulation. Multi-layered music is provided, although any music can be used. We recommend music that has sufficient bass to produce a reasonable amount of vibration.

When using the SolTec Lounge, if you have been or are currently engaged in either a meditative or bio-feedback practice, DO NOT apply the mental steps or processes that you have used or use to induce meditation or relaxation. Instead, when you do a session with the SolTec Lounge, simply allow the technology to do the work and follow the instructions below.

Instructions for use:

  1. Allow yourself to drift off to sleep. Don’t worry, the changing music that you both hear and feel will keep you awake, but we do want you to profoundly relax. This process will quiet the ego / lower mind.
  2. Whenever a thought comes into your mind, direct your attention to your body and feel the vibrations throughout all of your body. This will allow the thought to dissipate and then simply drift off once again. The magnetic stimulation will also produce greater energetic presence, which will further reduce thought intrusion. In addition, over time, you may be able to feel a fine vibration throughout your body that we believe is associated with greater integration with the energetic self. This step will further enhance your feeling nature.
  3. After you can regularly develop a deep meditative state, simply allow whatever develops to happen without intention or manipulation.

The Medical Benefits of Meditation

The SolTec Lounge is not a medical device, therefore we do not make any medical claims.

During the past 50 years there has been a growing interest in meditation and the resultant medical benefits. Meditation has been shown to produce benefits in medical studies related to certain conditions and in regards to certain medical symptoms.

If interested, please visit the website of the National Institute of Health, which has summarized some of the research findings on meditation related to health at https://nccih.nih.gov/health/meditation/overview.htm#hed2.

They also suggest that persons interested in starting a meditative practice should speak with their health care providers before starting a meditative practice, and make their meditation instructor aware of their condition.

In Summary

Induced meditation is both a form of meditative practice and a tool to further any meditative practice as well as your personal development. The SolTec Lounge is an invaluable technology to induce a deep and meaningful meditative state quickly and easily.

Feel free to Make an Appointment to join one of our small group conversations.

About the Author

Dr. Dan Cohen is a Neurologist, inventor and author. He co-founded Round River Research Corp. in 1997 to study the psycho-energetic effects of synchronized sounds, vibrations and magnetic fields. He is the inventor of the SolTec Lounge, designed to rapidly induce profound states of relaxation/stress reduction and meditation, the testing of which began in 2013. This technology directly stimulates the human energetic self facilitating greater manifestation and experience.

Previously, Dr. Cohen co-founded and managed CNS Inc. until it was acquired by GlaxoSmithKline in 2006. CNS, a developer and marketer of hi-tech medical products (brainwave monitors and sleep disorders diagnostic equipment) was best known for its consumer products, the Breathe Right® nasal strip and the FiberChoice™ chewable fiber supplement.

He holds numerous patents related to EEG signal processing, physiologic analysis algorithms and additional utility patents related to synchronized sound, vibration and magnetic fields and their effect on the body and mind. He also has authored the books, Addicted To My Ego and co-authored Claim Your Basic Rights, Create a Practical Partnership with Your Soul and Claim Your Basic Rights, Embody Your Soul with Jennifer Palmquist.

Dr. Cohen received a Bachelor of Science degree from Penn State University and received his MD from Temple Medical School with high distinction. He trained in Neurology at the University of Minnesota and is a Diplomat of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.