I have been compiling a few questions to ask about exercises supplementary to BFP.
First: I wonder if Martin or anyone else has tried out meditation CDs with special sounds on them that are supposed to enhance desired brain wave activity during meditation. Are these better than meditating on own? There’s also the third option of a meditation CD such as Andrew Weil’s, which guides your meditation but doesn’t have special “vibes” in the background, just a voice. Any difference–or am I better off just doing *free* meditation on my own (“free” in both senses, of course). Here is one of the “vibe” CDs that someone recommended to me. I have no idea whether it’s good or not; I haven’t tried it, but here’s the link. Would this (or something like it) make me better at BFP/better in general? http://www.immrama.org/insight/insight.html
Second: Does anyone do “processing speed” exercises along with BFP, and does this make him better at BFP, have synergistic effects with it for cognition in general, and so forth? At present, I use BFP exclusively, which has been good because I have been able to see all that it can do for me (so far!) without being uncertain which of my multiple activities was contributing most to my improvements. After gaining so much from BFP already (after 2.5 months approximately), I wonder whether I should try adding a second exercise to my mix, and the processing speech (e.g. rapid math problems) exercise (or maybe “verbal fluency” exercise?) sound like the most promising supplements though I’m only basing this on intuition and little web reading.
Third and finally: Do people typically get “stuck” around 4.0? I made improvements (small ones) every day almost up till I got close to 4.0. It took me a month to get from 3.90 to 4.05, my current PR. Most recently, a week has past since my 4.05, and the highest I can muster is 3.95, my previous PR. Maybe I have been overtraining? Even if I have been, I have seen major payoffs in my analytic reading ability, which have been *thrilling*, so I’m hardly in a doldrum over all. It’s just that my objective status (as opposed to subjective experience of thinking) hasn’t changed much in the last month.
I know this is a long post. Anyone who wants to respond even only to a small part of it, I welcome his advice!
Hello, Frank.
Excellent questions that I’m sure will be of general interest.
I’ve performed various experiments with meditation and background neuroprogramming noises. I have found free meditation and guided meditation to be the most helpful. Neuroprogramming didn’t seem to have much impact for me as far as Brain Fitness Pro was concerned. But I did find it somewhat rewarding outside the training – just a perception rather than something I measured.
Guided meditation has the benefit that it can help focus the mind when other distractions may creep in. When I’m particularly prone to distraction because I have a lot going on, I like the guided approach.
I would surmise that n=4 is not a hurdle in and of itself, but is just the level you’re working to break through right now. Past a certain point each new n-level creates this kind of hurdle. And the period of fairly rapid improvement comes at a different level for different people. (Usually happens after 40 to 50 sessions.)
So, from this point forward you will keep improving, but more slowly than before. If you keep training you’ll look back in a few months and realize that you’re now hitting up against a hurdle at n=5 or n=6.
(BUT, meditation, in my experience, can take you up a whole n-level after you first introduce it.)
Martin
Hello Frank,
About meditation sounds: I studied the Silva Mind Control course in Hungary where we mostly used the “alpha” brainwave sound. I felt that it helped me relax a lot more, although some people did not like it. If I had the alpha sound without recorded verbal guiding, I would definitely use that before the exercises or during the break.
Also, I had some experiment in the past that classic music, especially Mozart enhances math performance a bit. I have not experimented with that until the first 19 sessions, but it could be interesting if it helps or interferes with the sounds I have to listen to.
Zsolt