It was to my great pleasure and excitement to find the following information. Here is a resource to better understand how I use meditation and what I teach my clients. The following are excerpts from the article by Tom Kenyon; Teacher, Scientist, Sound Healer, Psychotherapist, Musician, Songwriter, Singer, Shaman, Author; off his website: http://tomkenyon.com/psychonavigation

Psycho-Navigation: Theory, Clinical Observations and Personal Insight

Psycho-navigation, simply stated, is the mental experience of moving through inner space (the perceived space of the mind). It can involve the movement backward or forward in time, and/or moving into different orientations of space other than is normally experienced. Sometimes psycho-navigations can involve shifting one’s sense of personal identity, thereby gaining abilities or insight not normally possessed by the individual. These states of mind or mental attention can also involve moving in or out of an experience in order to gain useful information. Psycho-navigation is a fascinating ability that seems to be inherent in human brain activity.

Research in psycho-neurology has demonstrated beyond a doubt that EEG activity in the alpha/theta range can stimulate a virtual cornucopia of non-ordinary phenomena—especially those conducive to psycho-navigation.

The reasons for this are rooted in our very neurophysiology. As brain activity slows down from the normal waking states of beta (12- 16HZ) into the more relaxed states of alpha (8-12HZ), there is a decrease in muscle tension, respiration, blood pressure and heart rate. There is also a decrease in stress hormones, like adrenaline. The entire physical organism relaxes, more or less, depending upon the depth of alpha and its duration.

Generally speaking, and based upon my own clinical observations as a psychotherapist over the last twenty-three years, I would say that alpha activity sustained for at least twenty minutes or so, generates the above mentioned relaxation effects for most people.

At various points in our sessions, clients would lose consciousness of the external environment, i.e. my office, and instead enter into a deep dream-like activity. I call these waking-dream states in that the person is indeed awake and often sitting, but the mental experience is very similar to a dream. Theoretically this is caused by an increase in theta activity (4-8HZ). Theta is a much slower brain state than alpha, and whereas alpha is characterized by a relaxed attention, theta leaves the person with an ever-decreasing awareness of the external environment. The inner mental realities of the individual become more vivid and in certain ranges of theta (usually the lower) the individual loses much of his or her conscious perceptual contact with the external world. This decreasing of external sensory-based awareness may simply be due to the fact that the next brain state down from Theta is Delta (0.5 – 4HZ).

In Delta, there is very little awareness of the external world. And in the lower ranges of Delta there is no awareness at all. The one notable exception to this, based on research in the area of mediation and sleep, has to do with meditators. It seems that experienced meditators often report a fourth state of consciousness, in which the body is experienced as asleep while the mind is aware of itself as the object of its own attention. …based upon my own experience, as well as that of other meditators I personally know—who, like me, use many diverse meditation practices—this fourth state of consciousness is an experiential reality. But let’s turn our attention back to theta, as this is the brain state responsible for the experience of psycho-navigation.

EEG Realities

First of all, whenever I say theta, alpha or whatever, I do not mean to imply that the entire brain is ever in this one energetic state. The terms alpha and theta are statistical markers. The brain is never in any single brain state (except perhaps during coma and, of course, death). But in an alive and normally functioning brain, there are numerous types of brain waves simultaneously being generated all over the place. Anyone who has seen an EEG Topographical Brain Map can see this clearly.

Euphemistically, some people say things like “you have entered alpha, or theta.” While such labels may serve a purpose for those using them, such statements are, neurologically incorrect.

…as we turn our attention to the mental phenomena of psycho-navigation, it is vital that we be grounded in our approach. We are not seeking some type of delusion here. Rather we are looking to develop an aspect of our own consciousness that allows us to think and perceive “outside the box.” And in my personal experience, nothing allows us to step outside the box as clearly as the mental act of psycho-navigation.

The Two Inter-locking Worlds of Theta

My ten years in brain research, under the auspices of Acoustic Brain Research, has created my personal conviction that theta waves create a dual-action within our neurophysiology. Theta activity both decreases our experience of the external environment, while opening the doors of perception into an inner world of sensory-based experience. It is as if the outer world disappears, and instead, a vivid and seemingly real inner world of attention opens before us.

Neurology, Personal History and Intent

Neurology

The first commonality in all psycho-navigational experiences, without exception, is the alteration of brain wave activity…. The use of sound and music as a means to alter brain state has a long history, as well as a scientifically documented basis….sound and music can and does alter brain state.

Personal History

Psycho-navigational experiences are strongly affected by personal history.

…splitting of identity in psycho-navigation is quite common. When people undergoing a psycho-navigation move outside of themselves to go forward or backward in time, they often see or experience themselves as both in time and out-of-time. This simply doesn’t make sense to someone in normal waking brain state. But to someone in an altered state of mind, characterized by strong increases in theta activity, such abilities are self-evident. They don’t have to be explained. They are directly experienced, even if they violate previous personal ideas about the nature of time and space.

Intent

Experiences in psycho-navigation are generated out of an interaction between altered brain state, personal history and intent….When [clients] enter psycho-navigational experience, it [is] in the context of healing.

It is this setting of intention that is crucial for psycho-navigational experiences to occur. They don’t just usually happen. Something triggers them.

One of my premises is that psycho-navigation is an inherent ability of the human mind. All that is required is a stimulus and the right environment.

The Three Elements of Successful Psycho-navigation

Personal history takes care of itself in psycho-navigation. It is the filter and the information-pool through which and from which all experiences are created. So there is no need to deal with it directly. It is just part of the tapestry that comprises mental experience—especially during psycho-navigations.

The other three elements need your attention, however, because they are the means by which you generate, consciously or unconsciously, the experiences of psycho-navigation.

The three crucial elements for anyone attempting psycho-navigation are:

1) a means to alter brain wave activity so that it enters the lower ranges of alpha and theta activity

2) a clear intent on what is to be explored, i.e. a particular problem, a memory, a dream, etc.

3) a proven methodology

Methodology

If you are seriously interested in psycho-navigation, I would say to explore as many ways of producing it as possible. The more techniques you have tucked in your back pocket, so to speak, the more effective you will be. When you find a pathway, don’t rest on your laurels. Find new ones.

Having said that, I will offer a few simple principles that will help you get started. The first of these is the first crucial element I mentioned earlier—changing brain state. If you are an experienced meditator, you already do this whenever you enter the meditative state. What may be different here, is that stillness is not the final destination. Inner silence is just the entryway, the threshold into another different kind of mental state.

Another very effective way to alter brain wave activity is through specific forms of music and/or sound patterns…. it needs to be music without words and with a pattern or rhythm that is continuous, slow and unchanging. This type of music is not entertaining in the usual sense. Rather it is entraining, in that it is a means to an end, a way to slow down brain wave activity.

You can alter your brain wave activity to enter the ideal brain state for psycho-navigation through meditation…

Intention

Assuming that you have chosen a method to alter brain state, you will now need to be clear on your intention. Psycho-navigation is a fantastic mental tool, and although you can just explore inner space to see what happens, you can also be practical. You can use psycho-navigation as a means to gain information and insight about virtually anything. Just set your intention before beginning and much of the phenomena that arise will be related to your intent.

Rituals of the Mind

Psycho-navigations involve moving through perceived inner space. And just as when moving through physical space, you need to have a system of keeping track of where you are….

The fundamental marker for traveling through inner space is a threshold of some kind. This mental image delineates normally perceived space from the non-ordinary space of psycho-navigation. When you cross the threshold, you enter another world, one filled with magic and immense possibilities. Perceived space is more fluid here. Time is malleable, and one can move forward or backward, or even up and out of perceived time altogether. You can also go back into the memory of a past event and experience it from different perspectives. This gaining of perspective provides information that may not be available to you when you are stuck in a two-dimensional time-line.

You can even go forward in time and experience various possible time-lines, all of which are expressions of future possibilities and probabilities.

As you enter more deeply into this inner space of the mind, you can experience extraordinary transformations of personal identity….and then go off into other worlds.

These types of explorations can be very powerful in that you can bring information and new ways of being back to your normal sense of personal identity.

The Threshold is essentially a mind ritual. It is a signal to your unconscious mind that you are choosing to move into a new mental space, an inner realm where the laws of time and space are not what they are in normally perceived reality. Indeed, it is this alteration of perceived time and space that is the weft and weave that allows psycho-navigations to take place to begin with.

Below are two types of thresholds. They are a simple means to enter psycho-navigational space, but there are hundreds of ways to do this. I offer these two because they are relatively simple to construct in the imagination, and are quite useful for beginners. In future additions to this article, I will present more complex methods.

Sensory Modalities and the Creation of Thresholds

…each human being creates the experience of inner space through his or her primary sensory modality. This means that if you a visualizer, you will see the thresholds and what’s on the other side. If you are a feeler (kinesthetic), you might not see anything at all in your mind’s eye. Rather, you will tend to have feeling sensations about the threshold. If you hear an inner voice describing your experiences, then you are auditory, and you may not see or feel anything. You might just hear a voice describing the threshold and the worlds that dwell on the other side. It is also quite possible to experience a combination of any or all of these modalities. A fourth possibility is to perceive the threshold through none of the senses, but rather through direct mental revelation or gnosis. This is a kind of knowing. You simply know what the threshold is, what it looks like and what lies on the other side. In pure gnosis, there is no direct sensory information.

It is vital to understand this. Psycho-navigation is not a visualization. You don’t need to see anything. If you do, fine. But if you don’t, don’t worry about it. Go with the sense that seems most natural to you.

Crossing the Threshold

Imagine yourself moving through a door or a portal. As you do so, you mentally tell yourself that you are crossing over from your everyday world into another world.

If you have set your intention, i.e. what you wish to explore, this other world will reflect or hold images and information about your expressed desire. It is that simple. Once you cross over the threshold, you follow your intuition and move in the directions that call you. From here, you just go with the flow. Allow yourself to experience what arises before you in this other space.

The Up and Down Staircase

This is a fascinating threshold because it accomplishes two things simultaneously. First, it delineates the line between ordinary perceived space and the extraordinary space of psycho-navigation. This is the primary function of all thresholds. Secondly, however, this particular method also sets the direction of movement.

You imagine yourself moving up or down a flight of stairs. If you want to be artistic about it, you can imagine a spiral staircase or some other fanciful form. The important thing is to either move up or down.

Your unconscious mind interprets this direction of movement as a directive or command to move into that type of inner space. Moving down will activate the unconscious mind to reveal what it holds—memories and primal psychological forces.

Moving upward activates what is sometimes called the super-conscious or higher mind. This is the realm of light, angels, and elevating perception.

Indigenous shamans often refer to these two worlds as the Underworld and the Celestial World.

Putting It Altogether

Before you begin to psycho-navigate, I suggest you set your intention. Decide what you wish to retrieve in terms of information or insight. I also suggest you keep a Psycho-navigation Journal close by. After you finish each session, write down some notes to jog your memory when you read over them again. This type of journal can be invaluable since much of the content and imagery that reveals itself to you in psycho-navigations will be related to your intention. It is best to write down the essence of your experiences shortly after you come out of them. This is because psycho-navigations are generated out of altered states of consciousness—very much like dreams. And like dreams, details can easily be forgotten.

This is due to the fact that certain types of memory are tied to specific mental and emotional states. When you are psycho-navigating, you are in a very precise nesting of neurological events and their resulting states of mind. When you exit those states of mind, the memories of those experiences become less vivid and crucial information that seemed self-apparent quickly becomes lost.

In a typical psycho-navigation session, you will most likely sit up. It is certainly possible to psycho-navigate lying down, but as your brain waves slow down, there may be a temptation to go to sleep. While this type of sleep and the dreams they generate are, no doubt, interesting, they are not psycho-navigations. Psycho-navigations are not free falls into altered states of mind, but rather they are controlled and self-directed journeys into the inner spaces of consciousness itself.

Alter your brain state. You want to increase alpha and theta activity. This is the neurological foundation for all psycho-navigation regardless of the form or the tradition it comes from. So make sure you are using a method that produces and sustains this type of alpha/theta increase. For most persons, especially beginners, this probably means using psycho-acoustic music created for the sole purpose of increasing this type of neurological activity.

As you feel yourself slip into the more relaxed states of mind and body that are typical of increased alpha and theta activity, imagine one of the thresholds. Move across the threshold and begin to explore what you find in the space beyond the portal.

Space is the final frontier. And not just outer space, but inner space as well. Psycho-navigation, to borrow a phrase from Aldous Huxley, quickly opens the doors of perception. Through these inner portals of the mind, new worlds of paradox and magic await you. There are treasures here—new insights, new ways of being and new ways of viewing yourself and the world. Although the vistas that will open before you can be breathtaking and awe-inspiring, it is what you do with what you have discovered that matters most. And so it is, I believe, that those of us who take up the act of psycho-navigation may face our greatest challenge—here in that odd land between the everyday world that we live in and the non-ordinary and extraordinary worlds that exist within us.

There is both wonder and danger in the spaces that open before you through the act of psycho-navigation. The wonder will be self-evident; the danger is more hidden.

It is simply due to the fact that for some of us, the inner worlds of being are more desirable than the outer world of everyday life with all of its inherent complications and challenges. This may be especially true as we enter a new planetary and collective period of greater uncertainty and conflict. And yet it is here in the foundry of life-experience that knowledge is gained and wisdom is forged. Thus, to use psycho-navigation as an escape from reality would indeed be unfortunate. It is, I think, a most wondrous thing to build a bridge between our inner worlds of being and the outer world of life. Both worlds are enriched when there is a free flow of commerce between them. And the world we all live in is sorely in need of this new form of currency.

© 2007 Tom Kenyon. All rights reserved. www.tomkenyon.com
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