Eyes Open vs. Eyes Closed Training

As for training down beta and high beta, in my experience it matters quite a bit whether you are training eyes closed or eyes open. Also what kind of feedback you are giving can make a difference. Using contingent feedback (beeps or clicks) only when the client passes on all filters can result in a highly beta-oriented person “trying,” which often will increase fast activity. I often use eyes-closed protocols with musical (continuous) feedback, so the client never “passes” or “fails”. Since the music is slow and relaxing, and there is not visual feedback, the brain can relax and let go the beta.

When a client has significant fast temporal activity with eyes closed which drops off when eyes are opened, does it make sense to train it eyes-open? If that is a hypervigilance response from the amygdala to the experience of being cut off from warning signs (can’t see danger), then teaching the brain to let it go a little at a time can have a remarkable effect. I’m even doing some EC theta/beta ratio down-training with eyes closed. It’s a lot easier in the frontals that way and rarely do clients complain of being sleepy or tired after a session.

Bottom-line: it ain’t that complicated. You ask the client to keep his/her eyes closed, put on some headphones, find a sound environment the client likes and start the program. Many of my clients are adults, and they invariably ask, “what am I supposed to do?” I tell them, “It’s just music. Just listen to it. You don’t have to worry about it. But when you hear the bell, know that’s really good.” Of course, being adults and knowing that nothing is ever that simple, they spend a few minutes (sometimes longer) trying to figure out, “when I did this, did the sound go up or down?” But eventually they are seduced by the music, and they truly can’t figure out “how” they’re doing it, so they just stop trying and listen and the brain takes over from that noisy conscious mind. And they get better. Best of all, it’s not uncommon for folks to come back up after 20 minutes and say, “I really liked that music; can I get a copy of it?” They cannot believe their brain was the artist.