Bio-Feedback
This is a mind-body technique, which aims to establish conscious control over normally unconscious physical processes. The basic technique is to hook up electrical sensors to display visually some body function or parameter which it is desirable to bring under more conscious control. When people are able to see measures of some body parameter, e.g. heart rate, temperature in the hands, acidity of the stomach, or tension of head muscles, they are able to learn to control muscles, organs, and functions which traditionally have been thought to be under unconscious control only. This allows the moderation of a number of physical ailments. Some researchers caution, however, that adjusting a single body parameter out of context may have unknown consequences. It is also suggested that it would be best to combine this technique with other psychological techniques that serve to change a subjects life style [Y&P].
This is a means, however of reaching some people who might shy away from less "technological" techniques, and teach them that they can have mental control over their bodies. It may serve as a gate to increased mind-body communication, and open up access to areas of the mind beyond the conscious. It also requires a certain amount of surrender, non-effort, or non-attachment, which is a key to many other mental and psychic techniques, and a goal in it self of many spiritual techniques.
There are some indications that experienced yoga practitioners can also control so-called "involuntary" processes. But the evidence is mixed, perhaps in part because finding truly qualified subjects is difficult. Successful conscious control over physcial processes, does generally entail a calm state of mind, which can be measured as being a mainly alpha waves, signaling an expanded state of consciousness.
In some cases bio-feedback has been used directly to teach subjects to reduce the wavelengths of their brain waves and enter higher states of consciousness.
In learning to do things with the body, from rock climbing, to
tennis, to woodcarving, or making tofu, the ultimate goal is to
move the conscious mind out
of the way and to work from the
intuitive. The interesting question here is the relationship of
the intuitive to the conscious mind and physical body. In general when
one is learning to do something (at least as an adult) it is done piece
by piece by the conscious mind. Even something like
tai chi, you first learn the form and then work with the internal
aspects. However, this learning process involves the body, and the
memory of it is more in the body than in the
mind (or is there a difference?). When the art has been mastered and
the actions flow of their own accord, guided by the intuition, the
body memory, and the "feel" of the action, what level is this coming
from? Has one worked through the rational
manomaya to the atimanas? Or has
it been a programing of the kamamaya
by the manomaya? Or is it a process of linking the atimanas directly
to through to the kamamaya which controls the body? i.e. a bringing
of a higher level of mind fully into the body?
Finally how does all this relate to the learning of a child?
Steiner talks about the three main learning processes that occur
before the consciousness (self-consciousness) forms. These are
learning to balance the body and walk upright (physcial nervous
system), learning to talk and use words (the structure of the
brain) which is learned from other humans, and development of
rational thought (also the structure of the brain). These are
all performed by the spirit at a higher level when we are very
young, before we are fully conscious. It makes use of a more
direct connection to our higher mind which carries over from
past lives. This connection is much reduced after the age of
about 3.[SG]
In terms of the kosas the lower
levels of mind do not exist after death. Therefore once the spirit
comes into a new body it must
reform the physical and rational minds in the new body.
This process starts with the growth of the body, then the physical
mind and finally the rational mind, in the womb and then through
the first few years of life.
Experiences of persons with paralyzed limbs suggest that their
memories of the limb, and of working
with it are sometimes also lost. This might suggest distributed body
memory, where access to the memories related to the limb is lost
along with the physical nervous
connection that allows sensation and control.[SFF] The fact that
the earliest perceptions of an infant are of its body, and its
first main task is to learn to orient and move its body, would make
the body-image a logical starting place and reference point for the
development of more complex self-images and world models, and for
the interpretation of perceptions. If this
is the case then the finite self, is intimately bound up with its
body, and the awareness it has of that body. This in turn is used
to provide a reference, and thence meaning, to all perceptions. It
is the body that allows us to perceive space, and thus time. When
we lose the body in deep meditation
we naturally lose also the sense of space and time.
The initial sensations of the body etc. are experienced, and
organized, and then used to "understand" or organized the following
ones. Thus the self-image is rapidly developed in the infant (or
perhaps even in the womb?). This forms its body consciousness, from
which grows awareness, understanding, and consciousness of other
aspects of the self and the external world. [SFF] This is the
process of reforming the lower kosas as mentioned above.
An infant first signifies an asymmetry (handedness) in its body
image about the age of four months. This is roughly the time at which
it is beginning to understand external objects.
Paralyzed patients who will deny that the limb is a part of them,
suggesting that it belongs to the doctor. They may also deny that they
are in fact paralyzed, and believe that they are moving a limb when
asked to do so, even though it has not in fact moved, or the other one
has moved. Touching it (eyes closed) they can recognize it as theirs,
or when it is viewed in a mirror, but when looking directly at it there
is a mental conflict. Changes in the perceived relationship of the
limb to one's body depend, not on specific
memories, but the way these are referenced to the self. In
other cases they may be able to move a limb, if requested to do so,
but will not move it on their own, apparently as they cannot locate
it, and profess that they are in fact paralyzed. In this case, as
well, the patient would accept that someone else's arm was his. [SFF]
A great illustration of the role of body reference is the example
of patients (with left-side visual neglect), who when asked to describe
a city square when imagining themselves at a certain spot, would only
recall the buildings etc. to their right. However, if asked to describe
the left side of the square they could do so quite well. This suggests
separation of visual and verbal senses of "left" and "right", and that
the visual problem was in relating objects to their left side, not in
the loss of any specific memory. Restructuring of their visual space
led to a restructuring of memories in relation to it.[SFF]
In persons who have lost physical function due to brain damage, it is often noted that they are
not even aware of the loss. This is particularly true when due to
injury, or time, the memories related
to the function also fade or disappear. The functionality no
longer exists in their body-image either. [AM]
In persons who become blind, there is a loss of the visual
body-image and with it memories that are related to that image. The
person describes a sense of dissolving. Eventually the external body
image is replaced with an internal one, based solely on internal
body sensations, and a new consciousness forms in relation to this
new body image. The blind person's experience is mainly in terms
of body memory, of how things feel in the
body, rather than visual memory. The
clearest of these memories are of actions that were repeated many
times, rather than single events. [SFF]
Physcial Learning
Body Image
