The new science-grounded meditation class takes you on a journey through your brain-wave states.
Meditation meets science.
That’s the foundation of Headstrong: Reset, a new guided, neurology-grounded meditation class now available in select Clubs and in the EQX+ app. The offering takes you on a journey exploring various types of brain waves, small electrical currents that reflect your brain’s activity and can be measured by an electroencephalogram (EEG), says Michael Gervais, Headstrong Meditation creator, yoga teacher, and Equinox’s senior director of group fitness programming.
You might begin class in the beta state, when brain-wave frequency is high (13 to 20 Hertz) and you feel alert and able to concentrate. But throughout the day, “what you want is to get a really nice cycling through the different brain-wave states, and we get kind of stuck on that high end of it,” Gervais explains. “In this [class], you're moving more deliberately from beta through alpha and then arriving into the theta state.” In the alpha state, you feel a sense of “relaxed wakefulness” (think of how you feel while reading a book). In theta state, brain-wave frequency is low (4 to 8 Hertz), and you feel drowsy. You usually slip into this state right before sleep (associated with the delta state).
Theta state is the state of meditation, adds Gervais. Think of your brain like a knotted ball of yarn; while in theta state, that yarn is unwinding, with space opening in between the strands, but it’s not completely untangled just yet. This state allows for “physical healing and actual regeneration…and then it's also creativity,” he adds. “A lot of creative thinking actually happens in that theta state when you get into it. So a lot of times, people think of it as like the pathway to intuition.”
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Every person is different, but the theta state generally feels dream-like. You’re not quite asleep, but you’re not really awake, either, says Gervais. “It’s this in-between, very liminal state of just soft unraveling,” he says. “You kind of know [you’re in theta state] because you're really not thinking about it anymore. Your brain isn't actually, like, in the right gear to be able to really describe it, but you can [feel it].”
To gradually guide you from beta to theta state and back again, your Headstrong: Reset instructor will cue light movement, gentle physical postures, and breathwork; read a grounding script; and play relaxing music that’s designed to encourage theta brain waves.
In the digital class, you’ll experience binaural beats; when using headphones, you’ll hear two different frequencies — your right ear is served one tone (say, 400 Hertz), while your left is served another (say, 420 Hertz). This combination creates the phenomenon known as the binaural beat, in which you hear a third tone with a separate frequency (the difference between the two, so in this case, 20 Hertz), according to information published in PLoS One. It might feel like this sound is occurring in your head or between your ears. Some researchers theorize that this external stimulation could lead the brain to sync its wave frequency up with the binaural beat, though findings on the topic are currently inconclusive.
This meditative process for your mind and body is similar to pressing the “restart” button on your computer. “It doesn't have to stay out [of commission] for long, but everything gets a full reboot,” says Gervais. “And that's what it feels like to the brain.”
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After-care protocol is similar to that of a massage. The class can feel particularly beneficial if you spend some time soaking in the quiet after your session, then drifting off to sleep. But Gervais explains that’s not exactly necessary; the class ends by carefully bringing you back to beta state so you feel alert enough to dive back into your day. But because you, in a sense, rebooted yourself, whatever you do next — a work presentation, a training session with your COACH, a creative hobby — should feel more manageable, says Gervais.
Thanks to its healing nature, Gervais recommends the class to athletes and members who consistently test their physical limits. The more often you participate in this guided meditation, the easier it’ll be for you to independently bring yourself to those restorative brain states — and reap the healing benefits they have to offer, says Gervais.
Start your journey with Headstrong: Reset now in your Club or on-demand in the EQX+ app.