How to Free Yourself Vibrationally
From our self identity to brain wave frequencies, why sticky behaviors keep us from cultivating a higher vibration.
*For your listening pleasure there is also an audio version of this article read by the author. It may include a few sidebars ;)
A Quick Update
So it’s been a minute huh? I’ve been spending the last few months updating my entire content library. I want my site to be somewhere you can always go for current info on frequency; articles don’t just go to an archive to die by becoming outdated.
My most current stuff is now some of my earliest articles. I’ve added new ideas and content, made things easier to understand, and sorted everything in to categories on my homepage.
So if you want to learn just about how vibration affects relationships- there’s a section for that, along with a bunch of others.
I’ll also be moving this to more of a monthly newsletter, and if you want more in between, explore my homepage and find a topic that interests you. There’s all kinds of candy waiting for you there.
Now we’ll commence this month’s article. Enjoy!
Part 1: Freeing Our Self Identity
The same way we keep our vibration from expanding by fixing our identity too strongly, we box in our mind when we hold it hostage in one frequency. This article is about vibrationally cutting yourself free.
To some extent we all probably trap ourselves with our identities. Who we want to be, and how we want to be perceived, keep us behaving in ways that become fixed over time. Once we get too many “I am” statements going, and build our confidence around them, it’s like taping ourselves in an Amazon box.
My need to be seen as a nice girl for a good chunk of my life kept me doing all kinds of things that kept my frequency small. With “I am a nice person” as a building block of my identity it kept me from speaking up, setting boundaries, getting angry, prioritizing myself, and making other people uncomfortable.
I chose to swallow my anger, be a pushover, and make myself uncomfortable instead. Awesome.
Later in life a huge chunk of my self worth was built on where I worked… and that made it hard to quit when the work was grueling and stripping me of my vitality. I chose exhaustion over losing a huge chunk of my confidence and identity.
My need to be seen as intelligent kept me participating in conversations as if people wouldn’t value me if I didn’t expand their mind. My identity limited how I connected with people. At the root was a fear of not adding value to those around me. Being kicked out of the tribe.
This is how our human desire to belong can keep us in inauthentic low vibration states. We grasp on to something about ourselves we feel good about, or that other people value, and we dig in. These decisions often happen early in life and just become part of “who we are.”
Yet, they are often at the expense of developing a more robust sense of self, and often aren’t even conscious decisions. In my case intelligence was likely just one of the first things I got props for- and so I ran with it.
I’ll probably never know which aspects of me I didn’t develop while I was busy being smart. (Although I’m highly suspicious hand/eye coordination is one of them.)
There’s not even anything wrong with going full tilt in one direction. We just want to be consciously aware of the identities we form for ourselves, and have a keen eye for if they could be limiting us, and our vibrational frequencies.
The Subtle Art of Dying Well
When we set up our identities to be somewhat inflexible- defined by how often we work out, what we eat, or certain personality traits, it fixes our life in place. Keeps us behaving in repetitive ways and having repetitive experiences. Yet, what our soul and vibration really need to expand are contrast, flexibility and novelty.
A robust vibration can be a bit easier to cultivate when we allow our identity to shift over time. Allowing different sides of us to bloom.
Some key parts of my self identity were unconsciously developed… in elementary school.
We want to be sure the version of ourselves we currently strive to embody wasn’t formed solely from a collection of traits we got attached to 5, 10 or 15+ years ago.
Finding a higher vibration encourages a modern self identity. It’s fun to have identity be a fluid and playful thing, versus something rigid we get stuck adhering to.
To take on new identities we have to let old identities wither; without feeling like we’re losing our sense of self. That’s hard.
Most of us find it easier to pick an identity and stick with it. Come up with a cluster of “I am” statements that are here to stay, and shove away the uncomfortable idea of dying to ourselves over and over again throughout our life.
Yet what if every time we allowed that rebirth cycle to happen we were polishing our diamond, enhancing our vibrational frequency?
“In the process of becoming free and expansive beings we will be dying all the time; dying gracefully… dying well.” ~Kaelum Gaynes, The Dirty Spirituality Podcast
Do We Even Need a Self Identity?
When we give up needing to define ourselves a certain way we give ourselves freedom. I sobbed for a long time after I left the job I’d accidentally let define so much of me. My wavering little self image underneath wasn’t ready to hold up the weight of my choice. I felt lost and insignificant.
Somewhere along the way I hadn’t constructed a very solid sense of self, and grabbed on to achievement instead.
Sitting in a field one day I had the thought, “Do I even need an identity? Was my identity just holding me in place like that dragonfly in amber in Jurassic Park?
After some puzzling I decided we don’t want to be so flexible with our identity we don’t keep a solid core of who we are on hand. There will always be traits we want to stick with us, but amplifying vibration also encourages self image flexibility.
To be a magnetic human is to be a deliciously unique combination of traits and qualities. Our fear of not belonging can lead us to double down on somewhat bland, but very acceptable personality traits… like being nice.
Most everyone likes someone who’s nice. Yet, if we build our identity around easier, more palatable versions of ourselves, instead of more robust and complex versions- we’re limiting ourselves and our vibration.
Who would you need to be this year to raise your vibration? I bet I’d be intrigued by a spicier version of you.
Part 2: Freeing Our Brain
Now I’m going to take a hard right, and go really micro with this concept. When we are stuck behaving in certain patterns… our brain is also stuck behaving in certain patterns. Certain brain wave frequencies to be specific.
We want to transition gracefully between periods of our life in the macro, and if we can refine our ability to transition between brain wave frequencies in the micro- well, now we’re almost super human.
This is flow at its finest, and with flow comes a higher vibration.
Most human have habits that keep them stuck in beta. It has often been described as the, “Get sh*t done” state of mind, and most of our jobs demand its reasoning, calculating, thinking, speaking and learning.
For most of us, vibrational growth will come from avoiding the beta frequency.
Brain waves help determine what hormones and neurochemicals our body produces, so they’re a big deal. Especially since many of these creations make us happy and calm.
If we primarily live in a way that chains our brain to one frequency, we miss out on balancing hormones and neurochemicals released during other frequencies.
Excess time in beta leads to anxiety, stress, insomnia, and overthinking. Sound about right for the pace of society? I don’t think I need to tell you getting stuck in this frequency isn’t your highest vibration state.
Yet, my self identity that placed so much emphasis on work performance and intelligence was keeping me almost solidly in beta.
Strengthening vibration is often about kicking up to gamma for mental flow, or down to alpha for creative flow. Hint: both take relaxation.
I poured over tons of research papers to figure out what shifts the vibrational frequencies of your brain, and which neurochemicals and hormones are produced in each state (shown in the frequency chart below). Enjoy!
Getting to Gamma
Gamma is peak mental performance; information is linking across all areas of the brain. It’s approaching tasks that take heightened levels of focus and processing with a calm mind. Peak performers tend to have higher levels of gamma brainwaves.
If you want to raise your vibration for peak performance amplify your gamma by spending time in the sun, taking an omega 3 supplement, doing brain exercises, feeling compassion, meditating, and reading for enjoyment. (Look at you on your way to gamma now!)
Beta: Society’s Default Brain Wave
There’s nothing innately wrong with beta. We’re alert, solving problems, having conversations, and learning new things. Fabulous. Our brain just gets highly annoyed with too much beta- and throws a tantrum of stress, cortisol and tense muscles to get our attention. Not surprisingly, beta waves increase with caffeine. We do many intellectual tasks in beta that could be achieved at a higher level in gamma or alpha if we could chill out a bit.
Achieving Alpha
As Tony Robbins states, “There is no problem that can’t be solved in alpha.” Alpha is a relaxing contemplative state, with potential for peak creative flow at the intersection with theta.
We land here after a blissful meditation, moment of gratitude, finding forgiveness, or the rest period after a high intensity workout. (That moment in yoga when you start thinking about your grocery list during savasana is what it feels like to slip from alpha back to beta.)
Transporting to Theta
Welcome to the land of the monk, the experienced meditator. If you’ve ever zoned out while you were driving you know what theta feels like. The 7.83 Hz zone on the edge of alpha is a main resting frequency for the Schumann resonance, earth’s heartbeat.
Grounding helps us resonate with this frequency, as does shamanic drumming, and deep inhales and exhales held for counts of 4 at the top and bottom of the breath. You can even pop a probiotic; B. Longum strain 1714 lowers anxiety and helps usher us to theta.
Deepening into Delta
Delta is deep sleep and healing. The very edge of theta before delta is seen as another sweet spot for creativity, but more of the lucid dream variety. Both Thomas Edison and Salvador Dali were known for napping with objects in their hands that would drop when they fell asleep. This waking on the cusp of delta allowed them to harvest unique ideas found in this state.
Getting to delta is often about what we avoid. As Dave Asprey notes, “Blue light is the junk food of the light world.” If we want to slow down our brain waves we want to block blue light. Exposure to pesticides and air pollution also mess with delta activity.
A Relaxing Conclusion
What I find most inspiring about all of this is that when we allow ourselves to step back and relax we actually increase our chances of working in a peak state like gamma or alpha. Yet, so many of us fear slowing down will negatively impact our productivity.
So go play with your identity knowing there are so many things to love about you that likely haven’t even been discovered. Relax and find yourself in a more productive brain wave frequency. Give yourself the permission you’ve always deeply known you deserve.
Now I invite you to bookmark the new homepage and explore it when you’re ready for more. XOXO.