Brain Entrainment, Meditation, and… Tennis?

There are two kinds of religions: old-fashioned religion and what is now the emerging religion. Old-fashioned religion is a religion that involves a set of beliefs, or dogmas, that you buy into in order to be saved and in order to be part of the “inner group.” The new kind of religion that is emerging is a religion or a spirituality that focuses on the transformation of the self and the transformation of one’s identity from lower levels of understanding and development to higher ones. When we’re transforming ourselves, we’re also transforming the world around us.

One of the things that unites the team here at iAwake Technologies is our spirituality and our emphasis on personal growth. It’s important to me that we don’t just talk about the technology and the meditation techniques, but that we actually do them. So, we’re walking our talk.

In my case, it’s not just good ethics to walk your talk, but it’s also a survival thing. I was extremely depressed—at death’s door/suicidal—for many years, and now I’m not. I am so grateful for that. Since I’ve been doing this practice of brainwave entrainment enhanced meditation, my world has changed radically: in terms of connections, in terms of accomplishment, in terms of spiritual deepening, in terms of maturing, forgiveness of myself, forgiveness of others—in so many ways. And my tennis game.

I was talking to a friend recently who was telling me he now has a teacher who is teaching him tennis. He had never played tennis before, but he’s using tennis as a spiritual practice to practice being present. I said, “That’s fantastic!” because I think tennis is a really great game. I had stopped playing about five years ago and have now picked it up again. I play with my wife, Pam, and it’s lots of fun.

After five years of absence, I found I was playing better than I’ve ever played. I’m 56 years old, and I really think the reason my game has improved so much is because of the meditation practice I’ve been doing for all this time—this radical, transformative, evolutionary practice of putting on headphones, getting quiet, and sinking into my inner depths, where I surrender, relax my ego structures, and dig down to my deepest self.

Not only am I going through levels of dysfunction and trauma, which seems to loosen the knots of my conditioning and ego stuff, but also my brain is transforming. Whatever I am are doing, whether it’s writing or playing music, or talking, or whatever it might be, if my brain is functioning at a higher level, everything I do functions at a higher level. It’s really extraordinary.

So, I just wanted to tell everybody about tennis—or this would apply to whatever sport you’re engaged in. If you’re not engaged in any sport, I suggest that you try it, because it’s important, too. It’s not enough to read books about spirituality; you actually have to engage your body in rigorous physical exercise, where you sweat and push yourself to your 9 or your 10 for brief periods of time every day. It causes a rearranging of your brain chemistry and your body reacts very well to that.

Also, believe it or not, brainwave entrainment technology is a really good aid to working out. For a few months now, we have been developing a program called NeuroStrength. This has been in collaboration with Shawn Phillips, who has written a bunch of books, is a great teacher, an inspirer of physical exercise, and who emphasizes the importance of awareness, consciousness, and mindfulness as a vital part of working out. Shawn is a model of spiritual, mindful, rigorous, focused, intense exercise and we became friends when I included his model in my book, Integral Recovery, as a part of the recovery treatment program I use and teach to others.

With NeuroStrength (just released in February 2013), when you put in your ear buds or your headphones, you have great energy, can really focus and concentrate, and you can push yourself beyond your comfort zone into a transformational exercise zone. It is exciting. I am really looking forward to getting this product out, because I’ve been using brain entrainment technology in my workouts for over 7 years, and now other people can use this product and go, “Wow, this is great!” They will not only want to continue with their physical exercise, but also begin to do more of the interior practice, which is such a necessary part of Integral health and getting on the evolutionary fast track.

Remember, if you establish your practices, they, in turn, will establish you.

Desert art work by David Holladay of Boulder, Utah.

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Adapted from iAwake Technologies’ free, weekly teleconference call on January 2, 2013.

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John Dupuy is the CEO of iAwake Technologies and the founder of Integral Recovery, a holistic addiction treatment approach inspired by Ken Wilber’s Integral Model. As a pioneer in the use of brainwave entrainment in therapy and personal development, John has dedicated his life to helping others deepen their spiritual practice and transform their lives.

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