What is Biofeedback?

This technique helps you to read your own body and its signals and warnings, so that you can regulate your own health with this knowledge.

Whenever we have taken our temperature or stepped on some scales, this is basic biofeedback at work. Of course, doctors use all manner of equipment to monitor and assess our health concerns.

Our bodies are amazing feats of engineering, both physical and mental.  The very act of picking up a pencil, which we do automatically, without “thinking” about it, involves the pulsing and flexing of various muscles, an increase in heart rate to speed blood flow, and instant coordination of messages from eye to hand and back. These all take place “unconsciously” and you do not need to focus on any one part of it for it to happen.

However, these automatic responses can be disrupted if you have suffered physical injury or damage caused by excessive stress. This is when biofeedback can help you identify the problems and know your own body, inside and out.

How does it work?

By the use sensitive electronic instruments to detect subtle changes in muscle tension or heart rate, perspiration, skin temperature, or other physiological activities, we can achieve Biofeedback  The information that is recorded can be “fed back” and then make us aware of these changing bodily processes. By observing your own body and its nuances, using this process of “biofeedback” as a tool, you can identify what needs to be relaxed or changed.

How to practice this technique:

Although this technique can enable you to self-heal and self-monitor, it does require some additional skills and tools.

• Biofeedback is best done with the help of a professional.  It is important to choose a biofeedback therapist who is certified with the Biofeedback Certification of America, or the Behavioural Institute. Make sure they have equipment with displays that make sense to you and can easy to understand.
• Home biofeedback equipment is offered by a number of companies and some of the systems are more than adequate. Try www.thoughttechnology.com for training instruments for use at home.
• Using biofeedback devices can train the individual to have control over things like muscle tension, blood pressure, heart rate and response to stress.
• The most common training involves the use of an Electromyogram, or EMG, to monitor muscle tension.  By watching the results fed back, you can establish where the problem is and learn to control it, eventually reaching the point that you can achieve complete control over the whole muscular system.
• Other devices include the GSR2 which can monitor skin responses such as sweating. By learning how the skin responds under stress, you will be able to train yourself to control your feelings and automatic response.
• Brain monitoring is done with an EEG machine and this equipment does not come cheap.

Tips and caveats:

The EEG (Electroencephalography) machine is used for monitoring brain waves linked to different mental states, such as sleeping, calm, stressed etc. However, this equipment is very expensive and technical, so the user will need to be fully trained in its use.  It is the least common form of biofeedback for those reasons.

Useful Links:        

http://www.biofeedbacktherapy.net/