Reviews of Spiritual Products >> Muse

A Better Way to Meditate — Muse: The Brain Sensing Headband

Today, people have realized the importance of yoga and meditation. However, meditation requires a stable metal process that helps the relaxation of your body and achieving deeper states of consciousness.

To put your mind into such a stable state, you have to train it first, and meditation is the absolute best tool at your disposal for doing exactly that.

But, as any beginner in meditation can tell, it can be really hard to do that.

How often you have found yourself confused while meditating?

Am I doing it right? Am I making any progress ... or ... maybe I am just fooling myself?

I know that I have asked these questions a lot of times, especially at the beginning of my meditation practice.

And I started meditating way back, some 25 years ago. The technology we have today was not present then.

Boy, I wish I had some of the technological gadgets I am going to talk about in just a few seconds.

Meditating would have been a way much easier task. It would have saved me a lot of trouble.

Bear with me for just a little bit longer, and you will know what I'm talking about.

The power of the brain

Your body is your temple and your brain is a very essential component of it. With each activity you perform in your daily life, your brain constructs a sensing pattern.

These sensory routes act like a language of your brain. If you can become aware of this language, you can meditate the right way, and the end result will be a state of harmony, peace and balance.

So, understanding what the brain is emitting while you do something, means having a tremendous insight into its comprehensive state.

Where science steps in

Science has made its way into creating some of the most awe inspiring products that can be used by every human being.

With regard to meditation, there is a product that has gained success over a short period of time — Muse brain sensing head band.

Muse is a one of a kind wearable gadget available to the general public developed by InteraXon, Toronto based manufacturer.

The Muse "Brain Sensing" portable headband is specifically made for the task of perceiving the right states of your mind. When you do meditation, it is hard to tell how well you perform. Unless you have a brain sensing device of some kind.

The Muse EEG headset will allow you to do exactly that ... to see how well you perform at every meditation session.

The training sessions are flexible and depend on your daily routine.

How It Works: The real-time feedback

The real-time feedback feature lets you hear what is going on in your brain because the electrical impulses created in the mental state you are currently in are easily detected.

Hearing the activity of your brain means knowing the exact moment when you have reached a proper meditative state.

The feedback can be heard by connecting the Muse to a calm app just like you use a stethoscope to measure your heartbeat.

You can customize your practice according to different meditation environments, sessions, or exercises.

What is Inside the Box?

• Muse: the brain sensing headband
• Micro-USB Cable (for charging)
• Quick Start Guide
• A free application (Calm) is not included, but it can be downloaded for free from the internet.

The main features

• The Muse brain sensing headband’s design is very sleek and elaborate.
• The headband is assembled in a way that it looks like a pair of headphones but it is actually placed behind your ears.

• There are brain sensing sensors (a total of seven: 5 on the forehead and 2 rubber ear sensors) and they become active at touching. Make sure you adjust them to fit your head. They should all touch at once.
• The corresponding smartphone app called Calm translates your brain waves into wind sounds.
• It is small and portable, so no matter if you are working, at home doing chores or sitting at a peaceful place for meditation purposes, it can be carried anywhere.
• It has a charging slot behind it. So you can charge it before using it or carry the charger with you.
• The application (Calm) can be installed on any phone or tablet. However, it is a fairly large app to load. So, if your phone is an old or cheap one without enough CPU power, the app might not run.
• You can download Calm and use it on multiple devices.
• The battery life is very good around 4-5 hours, so you don't have to charge it so often.
• It comes in white and black color.

What does Muse actually measure?

In essence, Muse detects brain waves. Science knows of five types of brainwaves, and Muse detects them all:

1. Beta waves: produced by our normal brain activity related to thinking or problem solving.
2. Alpha waves: produced when we are really relaxed, when our activity shifts from the fast beta phase to a much gentler alpha phase.
3. Theta waves: occur when we go deeper into meditation, when intuition and other extrasensory activities are awaken.
4. Delta waves: appear in a dreamless sleep. If in this phase our consciousness is preserved we are very close to a Samadhi.
5. Gamma waves: related to a state of unison of conscious perception.

The benefits of using Muse

What's probably the best thing about this device is the experience you are getting with it. The real time feedback makes you instantly aware where you are. Even after you finish your meditation, you can continue to be aware of your inner states, your emotions and thoughts.

Using Muse regularly will increase your productivity and you will be able to face the day-to-day challenges more easily. By maintaining a healthy static state every day, you will be able to keep yourself motivated as well. It will elevate the levels of emotional intelligence and empathy, improving relationships with others.

Many yoga instructors have tried Muse and they have gotten exemplary results.

Moreover, this headband acts like a stress reliever which will help you concentrate while you are meditating or exercising.

Some of the other benefits you will get:

• Calmer mind.
• Increased focus and concentration.
• Positive mood.
• Reduced negative internal chatter.

Are there any downsides

• As much as the hardware is amazing, on the software side there is currently only one free app you can use. It would be nice to see more apps or games created for this device.
• The price. It seems a bit too expensive. If you can find a friend or a family member you can share it with and purchase it together, it might be more affordable.

• Some users report connection and calibration issues, like connecting the device to the application. In particular, the bluetooth pairing seems to be a problem for some users. Others have problems to connect the muse to certain smartphone models.
• Some users report problems trying to get it to sync, in particular with regards to the electrodes that are not picking up the EEG signal.
• The next one is not really a downside, just a reminder that if you have to use headphones it might not be possible. You will probably have to use earbuds for sound instead, as the headphones will probably interfere with the headband position.

Youtube video

Where to buy?

Apart from the manufacturer's website, you can find the Muse at the Amazon online store.

Conclusion

Is this device for you? The answer is yes, if you have hard time meditating and staying calm all the time. Even if you are not as much into meditation, you will increase your awareness throughout the day.

If you meditate like a monk, you might still want to consider buying it, if nothing else, then to have an objective indicator of how good you are.

On the downside, you might want to hold off your decision to buy this device until there is more software available.

If you are not into meditation at all, you might still want to consider this device. It could make you change your mind about meditation. (Just kidding... or wait, maybe there is some truth in that :))

The real reason is that the Muse could be a great gift. Do you have friends of family members that do yoga or meditation? Or people who go through difficult times, mental or emotional problems? Muse could be the right thing for all of them. It could literally help them transform their life.

If you are willing to invest certain amount of money, because of the enormous benefit you can get from it, your investment will be worth every dime you spent.

Your Comment:

Name
Email: (won't be published)

Website
Comments: