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The complexity of the brain is astounding. Different parts of the brain communicate with the entire body to create a live, streaming flow of consciousness. These facts are commonly known and understood.

However, few people understand even the most basic biological mechanisms and processes which manifest through this magnificent organ. This is unfortunate, because even a rudimentary understanding of the brain can create new levels of self-awareness which hold potential for immense self-improvement.

The brain is composed of countless individual, electro-chemically active cells. These cells communicate to one another through pulses electricity which are triggered by tremendously complex chemical mechanisms. Such cells run throughout the entire body to create the central nervous system.

Due to the wide variety of tasks the human body faces, different parts of the brain are responsible for different activities. Some serve to regulate simple bodily processes, while others serve to create emotions such as fear, love, desire, anger, and gratitude. Others still are responsible for one's ability to complete motor tasks, focus on abstract concepts, feel physical sensations, or listen to an impassioned string of profanities spewed from the mouth of an excited teenager (hopefully this happens most frequently in competitive debate tournaments).

Although the entire nervous system - including the brain - is interconnected, the different organs within the brain are distinguished from one another by the strength of the connections between their individual cells (as well as the diverse physiological characteristics of the cells themselves). Since these cells are all responsible for the same set of tasks, over time they learn to work together to complete them in a synchronized manner.

Our everyday experiences teach us that clear, effective communication creates fluid, smooth interactions with other people. Such synergy allows effective collaboration which can be utilized to accomplish increasingly challenging and elaborate tasks. Similarly, when the different parts of the brain speak to one another, they are able to function in unison and solve puzzles with which they are faced.

Just like people, cells communicate in a variety of ways. While some people have strong rhetorical skills, many express themselves through music and artwork. Influential inferences may be drawn from particular movements, postures, and gestures. Clearly, it is advantageous to utilize all of these tools during the practice of effective communication, emphasizing one or the other depending on the situation with which we are faced. Furthermore, the most spectacular accomplishments are achieved in the presence of effective communication between large numbers of individual people. Electrophysiological cells work the same way: When these cells are interconnected, lively, and participating in similar forms of expression, problems are easily resolved, tasks are easily accomplished, and clear states of conscious awareness are experienced.

Messages are sent through the brain when groups of cells fire electrical pulses in unison. Depending on what is being said, cells pulsate at a variety of rates:

• Beta brain waves occur at the highest frequency (meaning that the cells are firing the most quickly). Beta brain wave activity is seen during periods of intense focus and concentration. Certainly, the aforementioned debater craves prolonged periods of intense beta activity. Regular beta activity creates the critical thinking skills, an improved ability to focus, the capability to solve complex problems, and increased social awareness and comfort.
  
• Alpha activity is just slower than beta. Alpha activity is seen when the body is relaxed and unstressed - perhaps while a person watches television or walks along a beach, and certainly during the practice of effortless forms of meditation such as Transcendental Meditation. Benefits of regular alpha activity include feelings of well being, increased creativity, improved problem solving skills, quicker reflexes, increased educational ability, aptitude for self-introspection, and the strengthening of the immune system.
  
• Theta brainwaves are next. They are experienced during freeway driving, long jogs, and during relaxing, simple tasks such as hairbrushing or cooking. Benefits of regular theta activity include an increased ability to relax, the development of awareness of emotions, and an increased aptitude for learning.
  
• Finally, the slowest brainwaves are delta brainwaves. Delta activity is seen during sleeping. Deep, restful sleep is critical for health and awareness.

Remember, cells participate in acts of communication by pulsating in unison. For example, in order for information input from your eyes to be used to help guide the movements of your body, large numbers of cells across the nervous system work together. Naturally, more sophisticated activities require greater levels of coherence between more organized groups of cells.

When, then, do we observe spectacular coherence? One of the most well documented and noteworthy experiences of coherence happens during the practice of Transcendental Meditation. "Global" or widespread coherence across many parts of the brain is seen in the alpha frequency ranges at statistically significant levels as compared to eyes closed rest.

Transcendental Meditation is unique because of it's ability to involve the frontal lobe within such a large coherent network. This is exciting because the frontal lobe is largely responsible for critical thinking, long term memory, planning, and moral judgement. Furthermore, alpha coherence in the frontal lobe is not reported to be seen during other forms of meditation. As alpha activity becomes increasingly coherent, an individual's performance on spacial and memory tasks improve, creativity expands, and reflexes sharpen - all this on top of the benefits associated with simple alpha activity.

Interestingly, as a meditator gains experience over the years, the brainwave coherence seen during the practice of Transcendental Meditation begins to remain throughout all states of consciousness - including sleeping. This creates not only a unique experience of day-to-day activities, but establishes a phenomenal described as "witnessing sleep" in which the meditator becomes aware of the act of sleeping while asleep. Although such an experience is tough to describe, research shows that alpha coherence is maintained throughout the night in some long term meditators. These individuals also describe their experiences of witnessing in similar ways.

Musicians may wonder what all this has to do with timekeeping. When a group of artists decide to play a composition (or improvise), they agree upon certain structural necessities before they play. The most foundational issue is agreeing where the time is - that is, deciding on a tempo at which to play. When multiple musicians share awareness of a particular subdivision of time, they may play music harmonically. A beautiful form of language is expressed when clear communication is present between the artists. Again, the most basic element is the decision upon where the beat lies; everything else is built on top of this foundation. If the time is not well established, things are fragmented and the music cannot flow.

Can we not learn this simple lesson from music? Much like the members of an orchestra, when the cells within our body are synchronized, we can expect our actions to reflect this structure.

To exemplify this concept, let's take a close look at the playing of Russ Miller, one of the most accomplished and successful drummers in recent history.

We can see the relaxed confidence in Miller's approach. His precise motions create a smooth, natural, and flowing feel appropriate for the style of music. The technical skill displayed does not distract from the texture of the song. Rather, a very small portion of Miller's vast phrasing vocabulary is expressed through the instruments and into the microphones.

The lesson isn't that you need to go out and learn how to meditate (although that certainly isn't a bad idea). The point is that learning how to control the state of awareness one is in is immeasurably advantageous. Becoming aware of this awareness is the first step.

Balancing Brainwaves: A Lesson in Timekeeping by Sheldon Paul Kreger is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
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