by Andrew Pacholyk MS L.Ac
~ Peacefulmind.com
There is a rhythm to life. From the beat of our hearts to the beat of the streets, everything around us is set to it’s own timing. There is a natural tendency in nature towards harmony. This concept borrowed from physics, describes how two oscillating systems can lock into phase.
When something is not in sync, has dissonance or discord, we know it and can sense or feel it. This creates disharmony between two people or a person and their environment.
When our energies are in sync, this resonance is very apparent. For example, being near someone who is calm, often makes us calm. Being in someone’s home that is arranged beautifully, can create a sense of peace. Women who tend to live in close proximity to one another, often become in sync with their menstrual cycles. Couples in a relationship tend to start talking, acting and even looking like each other after time. These are all examples of entrainment.
Creating Harmony
Entrainment is an active process. By changing your rhythm and it’s frequency, this changes your vibration. Here are some great exercises and tips for creating harmony in your life NOW!
1. Deep breathing: Slow rhythmic breathing allows you to decrease your heart rate, respiration and therefore, slowing down brainwaves, and altering the overall state of your body. Find a comfortable seated position. Breathe in slowly through your nose for a count of 4. Hold your breath for a count of 4. Exhale slowly through your mouth for a count of 4. Pause for a count of 4 before starting the next inhale. Repeat this cycle for 5–10 minutes or until you feel calmer. The steady, rhythmic pattern helps entrain your body’s systems to a more relaxed state. This 4–4–4–4 pattern is sometimes called “box breathing” or “square breathing.” You can adjust the counts to find what’s most comfortable for you, as long as you maintain a consistent rhythm.
2. Humming: Humming with your own voice can improve health, greatly reduce stress, release negative emotions, strengthen your immune response, increase energy, and improve self-confidence. This allows you to tune into our own vibration and create peace. Humming can help synchronize breath patterns and heart rate. It can potentially influence brainwave patterns. Humming to music will unconsciously synchronize your rhythm with the song.
3. Meditation: Fold your hands in your lap and close your eyes, right where you are. Take a few slow deep breaths. Let go of the tension in your neck and shoulders. Focus on a word or phrase (mantra) — “I have time for everything today” or “Calming my spirit allows me more inner strength.” Just follow the rise and fall of your chest.
4. Musical Rhythms: music is one of the best ways to create harmony in your life. Find music, which suits the mood you wish to create. Slow and relaxing, sensual and romantic, fast and energetic. Music naturally entrains the mood of the soul.
5. Color Therapy: By concentrating on a particular color, it has the ability to raise or lower your energy. The higher up the color spectrum you go, the more calm — the lower you go on the color spectrum, the more energized. For example, need more energy? Start visualizing red light surrounding and pulsating throughout your body. Need to calm down? Then visualize blue light engulfing you, as it will slow down your heartrate. If we focus on a color, the brain can sense what your mind is trying to achieve and begins to change the frequency that resonates with that particular color.
6. Energy Cycles: The cycles in nature are important when doing any kind of entrainment work. These natural cycles interact with our endogenous (internal) biological clock, allowing us to anticipate and prepare for regular environmental changes. The study of these entrainment processes are crucial in chronobiology and have implications for fields like ecology, agriculture, and human health. Lunar cycles, tide cycles, seasonal cycles, and sleep cycles are perfect examples of this.
7. Understand Your Biorhythms: although considered a pseudoscientific theory, this concept suggests three main cycles that our lives are influenced by through rhythmic cycles. They include: The Physical Cycle (23 days): Affects strength, coordination, and physical well-being. The Emotional Cycle (28 days): Influences mood, feelings, and mental health. The Intellectual Cycle (33 days): Impacts memory, alertness, and analytical thinking.
8. Seasonal Healing: is one of the best ways to remind ourselves that it is time to evaluate our health. Our moods and bodies change as the seasons change. Our past cultures have learned how to harmonize their bodies with the world around them. Our bodies may naturally attune to seasonal changes in light, temperature, and environment. Consciously syncing activities and health practices with seasons could potentially optimize our wellbeing. Practices like seasonal eating, adjusting sleep patterns, or changing exercise routines can support this alignment.
9. Circadian Rhythm: This is our internal daily biological clock. This clock can be influenced by many different elements, such as light and darkness, time of day and temperature. The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) in the brain acts as the master circadian pacemaker and commonly effects sleep patterns, eating habits, hormone production, body temperature regulation, and cognitive performance. Disruptions to our entrainment cycle can come from jet lag, shift work, and certain sleep disorders, which can disrupt circadian rhythms, potentially leading to health issues.
10. Exercise: Exercise is what our body instinctively wants to do especially under stress: the fight or flight theory, and it works. Moving burns off some of the stress chemicals which tension produces. Therefore, a tired muscle is a relaxed muscle. Regular exercise builds stamina that can help anyone battle stress. Exercise can help entrain circadian rhythms, improving sleep patterns, and overall health. Rhythmic exercises (such as running, dance, yoga, tai chi, or cycling) can induce a state of entrainment, potentially leading to improved performance and stronger mental state. Even a brisk walk around the block can help you burn off some of the tension that you carrying around and sync your mind to the rhythm of entrainment.
Andrew Pacholyk MS LAc. is the author of Lead Us To A Place — your spiritual journey through life’s seasons.
