Today was a little different from my normal gamma brainwave biofeedback session. We did one neurofeedback screen — the hardest one — after the usual opening HRV ones. But then my trainer removed my temp and heart rate sensors, I opened my novel-in-progress, she started up a screen with music off, and I began revising…
Blog
Gamma Brain Biofeedback: How Do I Do on a “Bad Day”?
Today was a “bad day” brain biofeedback session. My trainer wanted to see how my brain (and heart) would do on a bad day, that is, a day I don’t come straight from home but after an appointment, walking around, and lots of TTC time. Plus just being out for much of the day. Well,…
Gamma Brainwave Biofeedback: Chatty Time
I used to see a psychologist in the first years after my brain injury. For the last half hour of each appointment, I would lie back in a zero gravity chair, a neurofeedback unit similar to my at-home AVE unit, hooked up to me, shades over eyes, headphones over ears. I never knew what brainwaves…
Gamma Brainwave Biofeedback: First Good HRV Screen
My last brain biofeedback session may've been a washout, but as I mentioned in my blog post, I achieved a huge milestone, one I had thought impossible: my HRV looks like a real one. HRV stands for heart rate variability. Basically, as you inhale, your heart rate rises, and as you exhale, your heart rate…
Gamma Brainwave Biofeedback: Fatigue Catches Up
When your brain doesn't want to work, it doesn't want to work. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. First off, we've had several days in a row of brain-draining high heat. And then with brain injury, doing too much has a habit of catching up to you. Just because my brain shows welcome levels of…
Gamma Brainwave Biofeedback: Videos Nix Thinking
I learnt something new today through experience, not just being told it's so. It began when during my brain biofeedback, we moved from the bowling neurofeedback screen to one with a logo on it. “What's that?” I asked my brain biofeedback trainer. “It's a video screen of a snowboarder,” was the reply. She was going…
Gamma Brainwave Biofeedback: A Better Day
Today was much better. My muscle tension (EMG) was way down from yesterday and even down from last week. If it began to bounce back up to the 2.0 mark during one of the biofeedback screens, I’d remind myself to straighten my neck, and for the most part, that worked to drop it closer to…
Review: Light Thickens
Light Thickens by Ngaio Marsh My rating: 3 of 5 stars I read most of Marsh’s books a long, long time ago. So this was a reread. I seem to recall enjoying her books more than I do now. This is one for theatre buffs or Macbeth fans. The mystery is transparent. The whole thing…
Review: Odd Hours
Odd Hours by Dean Koontz My rating: 4 of 5 stars I don’t like horror. I don’t like horror movies, horror books, things that go creepy crawly in the night or black daytime, aiming for your life and limbs. Yet I like the Odd Thomas series. I don’t know why… I read this book awhile…