During the last few decades, Western Universities have become interested in the various techniques of deep relaxation and the effects it has on the body. During a deeply relaxed state, the heart rate slows down, there is a lowering in blood pressure, a decrease in oxygen consumption, a reduction in the blood lactate (high levels are associated with anxiety), and last but not least, the electrical activity of the brain changes. In recent years it was discovered that the brain has the ability to change its vibrations and in doing so, changes behaviour as well as involuntary functions of internal organs.

The largest part of the brain is called the cerebral cortex and it comprises about 80% of the brain. It is concerned with our conceptual thinking and motor functions. It houses a number of lobes with overlapping thinking, sensory and memory tasks. For our purpose we need to be aware of the two cerebral hemispheres (almost like two separate brains), connected to each other by the corpus callosum (an intricate web of fibres). These hemispheres are largely responsible for different intellectual functions.

The left hemisphere controls the right side of the body and specializes in processing logical, mathematical and analytical information.

The right hemisphere controls the left side of the body and specializes in processing visual, sensory and emotional information.

It is important to realize that the two hemispheres interact, with the result that not all logical functions are processed by the left-hemisphere and not all creative functions are processed by the right-hemisphere.

Electrical activity of the brain can be measured and seen on an electroencephalogram (EEG). Electrodes, attached to a recording device, are placed on a person's scalp to record the brain's electrical activity. These electrodes are not sensitive enough to detect individual action potentials, but can detect the simultaneous action potentials in large numbers of neurons. As a result, the EEG displays wavelike patterns known as brain waves.

CLASSIFICATION OF BRAIN WAVES:

K COMPLEX