Meditation Tape 9 : Parasympathetic Nervous System Alignment
Meditation 9 was initially designed for my partner, Claryssa Webb. She is an accomplished multi-instrumentalist with perfect pitch...the kind of perfect pitch that if you kick a garbage can, she’ll say “that’s mostly a Db”. So the usual approach of using a difference of 1 - 10 Hz to generate a subharmonic binaural beat would not work. Instead of her tuning the notes inside her mind with her own perception, the slight frequency difference was far too much for her ears. It simply sounded too out of tune, and that distraction impeded any meditation. She explicitly said, “the smallest interval I want to hear is a 3rd”.
Well, there’s no way to generate a binaural beat in the desired frequency range with a 3rd. The notes, in every octave, are just too far apart. However, a 3rd is not the smallest interval in every voicing. If I use a major 7th chord in 3rd inversion, I’d end up with a semitone between the 7th and the root. So that became the strategy. I lowered an Ab major 7th chord to reduce the frequency difference between 7th and root even further. This gives us a primary binaural beat of 5.84 Hz, right in the Theta range associated with relaxation, light sleep, and a meditative state of mind. These brain waves are also present during moments of creativity.
So the target focus note is quite different for this meditation tape, as there are literally no out of tune notes for you to bend with your mind. For this one, you are not meant to resolve the two pitches, but feel them at the same time. The focus for this meditation is harmony.
Target Focus Note: Ab Major 7 Chord in 3rd inversion.
I initially intended this for Claryssa, but while suffering a migraine the latest mix of meditation 9 came on my headphones. I felt settled immediately. The urge to puke started to dull and I just put my head on the floor, closed my eyes, and slowed my breathing. I started falling asleep for moments before a new wave of pain would wake me up. But I was on the mend. This was the mix I settled on; I felt there was no better test. This is now my most used track for pain relief and relaxation.