The links in this article are NOT part of the original article.  They are aids to help you select a CD that is most suited to your needs.

This article was published in Alternative& Complementary Therapies, June 2004.  Reprinted with permission by Monroe Products™.

The use of sound and music for healing has a long history.  In the 1950s Robert Monroe pioneered a new kind of sound technology.  This patented process used tones to create specific physiological states within the brain, and thus balance both hemispheres of the brain. Though the combination of tones, various states of healing, relaxation, concentration, focus and intuition may be attained.  The CDs produced at Monroe Products™ utilize this patented technology now knows as Hemi-Sync®.     Today, health care practitioners are finding significant new ways to assist their patients with this innovative sound technology.  Among them is Brain Dailey, M.D.

Brian Dailey, M.D., is a clinical instructor in ACM therapies at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry Rochester, NY) and is board certified in emergency medicine.  Dr. Dailey is an attending physician in emergency medicine at Rochester General Hospital.  Dr. Dailey is also a long-time practitioner of energy medicine, a Reiki Master and teacher, and uses crystal therapy and aromatherapy.  He lectures and conducts workshops throughout the United States and Canada on the application of these modalities.  Dr. Dailey is on the board of advisors at The Monroe Institute® (TMI) at Faber, Virginia, a member of their Professional Division, and a member of the Dolphin Energy Club (DEC), a group of remote healers.  He is actively involved in research of consciousness exploration as well as energetic and remote healing.

In 1990 Dr. Dailey experienced the Hemi-Sync® technology in a weekend workshop conducted by Dr. Joseph Gallenberger, a clinical psychotherapist, in Rochester, NY.  Impressed and intrigued with what he had experienced, Dr. Dailey subsequently attended may of the residential courses offered at The Monroe Institute.  Further interest led to a membership in the Professional Division of TMI, as well as a position on the advisory board.  Additional experience convinced him of the therapeutic value of Hemi-Sync® for his patients in the hospital, outpatient and home environments.

Russ Mason:  Please tell me how you use sound to help your patients heal.
Brain Dailey:  As a physician trained in both traditional and energetic medicine, I have found that sound may have a therapeutic effect for patients with a variety of illnesses, and that sound can be extremely effective in assisting healthy individuals with concentration, insight, intuition, creativity, and meditation.

R.M.:  Please explain about the sounds, specifically, and what they do.
B.D.:  Robert Monroe, founder of TMI, discover that specific sound patterns and frequencies have beneficial, identifiable, and measurable effects on an individual's capabilities.  For example, some combinations of frequencies enhance alertness; others may induce sleep, and still others evoke expanded states of consciousness.  From this research Hem-Sync® CDs were produced which may aid with relaxation and stress reduction; provide healing support for cancer treatment, surgery, hypertension, stroke, asthma, and many other applications.  I use Hemi-Sync® myself for insight, intuition, improving my own health, and helping to engender a deeper spiritual connection.  It has improved my intuitive insight into difficult-to-diagnose medical cases. It has vastly increased my abilities as an energy healer.  My patients have benefited as well.  For example, the Surgical Support Series has been shown to reduce the need for anesthesia in coronary artery bypass surgery1.  I encourage all my patients undergoing surgery to consider using the CDs, as listening can reduce their pain, their need for pain medication, allow them to awaken more quickly in recovery, and hasten discharge.

R.M.:  How did you discover The Monroe Institute and the Hemi-Sync® recordings?
B.D.:  I first learned about TMI because of my interest in remote viewing.  The military used remote viewing to psychically obtain information not available by ordinary physical senses, often with great success.  I found this intriguing, particularly the idea that remove viewing might be used as an aid in medical diagnosis.  The military had sent many of their remote viewers to TMI workshops because the workshops enhanced the remote viewer's performance. I also learned of people such as Barbara Brennan and Elisabeth Kűbler-Ross who had been to TMI, and I was intrigued with the work that TMI was doing in consciousness research.  TMI was a happening place!

One day a synchronicity occurred.  A poster advertised TMI, and a local intensive weekend with Dr. Joseph Gallenberger in Rochester, NY.  The poster said that one could expand one's cognitive function with the use of sound. I attended the weekend intensive, and the experience just opened up, in a nearly explosive manner, my appetite for expanding my own awareness and intuition.  The weekend provided a wonderful introduction to TMI and Hemi-Sync®.  It was a tasty appetizer, leaving me hungry for the main entrée.

R.M.:  What, specifically, did they do in the weekend intensive?
B.D.:  We listened to Hemi-Sync® recordings which produced alpha and theta brain-wave states. These induced profound relaxation and well-being.  They also opened insight and intuition and I was amazed at the ease with which it worked.  Someone practicing meditation 20 years might achieve a hemispheric theta brain-wave state after several hours of meditation, and maintain it for five to 15 minutes.  We were learning to do it in mere minutes - and maintaining it for long periods of time.

R.M.:  Have any Buddhist meditators tried the Hemi-Sync® products?
B.D.:  Yes.  A 92-year-old monk went to TMI and, after experiencing it, returned to his temple with a large number of Hemi-Sync® exercises. He felt the younger monks could learn in one week - what had taken him years of meditative practice.

R.M.:  What happened next?
B.D.:  Shortly thereafter I went down to TMI in Virginia and took two six-day courses, Gateway Voyage® and Guidelines®, back to back.  It was a monumental growth period for me.

R.M.:  Why was that?
B.D.:  Each six-day residential course takes place in the Blue Ridge Mountains on the grounds of TMI, sharing meals and the experience with the others attending. There are numerous Hem-Sync® exercises that one experiences in a progressive manner, each expanding on the previous experience.  TMI attracts an incredibly interesting mix of people and healers.  More than half of the healing techniques I have learned have occurred while there.  Karen Malik, president of ISSSEEM, and a trainer at TMI, took time to introduce me to some crystal healing techniques that I now use every day.  It's one of the most enlightening experiences I have ever had and has made me a much more effective physician; not just in allopathic medicine, but in other healing arts, such as Reiki, Therapeutic Touch, Cranial Sacral Therapy, crystals, and aromatherapy. 

R.M.:  How long after taking these sessions did you being to apply what you had learned into your medical practice?
B.D.:  Immediately, I was applying it there at TMI as I learned it.  applying the techniques to my patients back home was a natural extension.  Using Hemi-Sync® in my practice brought immediate and tangible results for my patients.

R.M.:  How successful were the CDs in a clinical setting?
B.D.:  They can be enormously helpful.  Gretchen G. a lymphoma patient, liked to listen to Metamusic® in the waiting room before her chemotherapy.  Her oncologist commented one day on "how relaxed she appeared," in contrast to the other patients.  "It's the Metamusic®," she explained.  This is why it is useful in the reception areas of dental and medical offices.  In a hospital setting where there is a lot of ambient noise, I place headphones on the patient to enhance the relaxation and healing effect.  Kelly A. was in the surgical intensive care unit after a severe motor vehicle accident.  She had sustained a severe liver laceration with anemia (Hematocrit=27%), as well as a compression fracture of her first lumbar vertebra which had keep her bedridden for three days due to pain.  After her first Hemi-Sync® and Reiki session, she was able to get out of bed, and on the fifth day, after four treatments, her hematocrit had risen to a normal level of 36%, the equivalent of a transfusion of three units of blood (without the associated $1,500 dollar cost, or health risks associated with blood transfusion).  She did not receive any Epogen injections.

R.M.:  What is it that the Hemi-Sync® recordings actually do for the individual who experiences them?
B.D.:  Hemi-Sync® is short for Hemispheric Synchronization.  Sounds embedded on the CD result in a "binaural beat" produced by the brainstem.  Through a frequency following response this results in both hemispheres becoming synchronized into a "whole-brain state."  This whole-brain state allows us to simultaneously access both the creativity and intuitive insight of the right brain, with the analytic insight of the left brain.  Many cognitive states that facilitate healing, manifestation, and problem solving may be facilitated, depending on the specific frequency patterns that are used.  Different frequencies will produce different effects.  Theta and delta frequencies will help with relaxation and sleep.  Beta frequencies will increase mental clarity, concentration and produce a laser like focus, which students find useful for studying, and children with ADD/ADHD find helpful with concentration.

R.M.:  Please explain how this sound technology can assist cancer patients.
B.D.:  We have found anecdotally that Hemi Sync® frequencies, along with the positive guided imagery on the CDs, can improve side effects of cancer therapies, such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy.  It may improve neutropenia, anemia, reduce or eliminate nausea and vomiting, and improve over all well-being.  All it takes is 45 minutes, and a portable CD player with headphones.  We are currently developing protocols to do formal studies of the Cancer Support Series.

R.M.:  Please explain the concept of "reframing" in the Cancer Support Series.
B.D.:  As we know, the mind has a tremendous influence on healing.  Many of the Hemi-Sync® products may enhance or "reframe" traditional viewpoints, such as in the Cancer Support Series.  Many people, particularly those with a holistic view, consider chemotherapy to be a poison.  Chemotherapy may have many potential side effects, such as nausea/vomiting, diarrhea, hair loss, anemia, and neutropenia.  If a patient believes they are going to be pumped full of poison, how will that effect their healing response?  I don not want my subconscious mind, let along my conscious mind, to think such negative thoughts.  Therefore, on the Cancer Support Series CD for chemotherapy (which I helped to develop), in our guided imagery we refer to the chemotherapy treatment as a "Love Potion".  We refer to chemotherapy as a love potion because it is used to make the person well, not ill; and that needs to be understood, appreciated and embraced.  Can you appreciate and feel the difference between taking a love potion to make you well , and a poison?

R.M.:  How do the patients react to these sound recordings?
B.D.:  Jackie G. was a wonderful mother, 34 weeks pregnant, who, while showering one Sunday afternoon, discovered a lump.  It turned out to be a highly malignant breast cancer.  I asked to participate in Jackie's care.  She was very open to the Reiki and crystals, and really enjoyed the Hemi-Sync® recordings.  She used Metamusic® for relaxation.  She used another series of recordings to assist with nursing and childbirth, for her delivery.  "The sounds really helped reduce the discomfort of my labor."  Jackie gave birth to a beautiful baby boy after a one-hour-twenty-minute labor; no episiotomy, and no repair.  She used the Surgical Support Series for her seven hour surgery, which she sailed through with little need for pain medication postoperatively.  Jackie also used Chemotherapy Companion to reduce the side effects of her chemotherapy.  The Positive Immunity Series helped to improve her immune function and well-being. Jackie and I had a wonderful dinner one moth ago with her family to celebrate her baby's second birthday, and Jackie's wellness.  What a joyful experience that was!

R.M.:  Can you give me an example of other cancer patients who were helped by the use of these recordings?
B.D.:  Yes.  The first person to use Chemotherapy Companion was Gretchen G., who was 21 when she was diagnosed with lymphoma.  She was only able to complete four of her scheduled 12 chemotherapies, because she had such pronounced nausea and vomiting, in addition to complete hair loss.  One year later while living in Amherst, MA., her tumor had quadrupled in size. Her doctor had suggested that she and I talk, and she agreed to come to Rochester, NY for evaluation and treatment.  She was initially extremely reluctant to undergo the chemotherapy her oncologist recommended, based on her prior experience and her holistic beliefs.  We discussed her misgivings, with the understanding that this chemotherapy was to make her well, and she liked the idea of infusing a "love potion." rather than something toxic.  When she had a severe episode of nausea and vomiting with her first episode of chemotherapy, we put on Chemotherapy Companion, and 45 minutes later she awoke feeling "awesome" and ate lunch.

Ardith F. had a severe episode of nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea with chemotherapy two weeks earlier.  After listening to Chemotherapy Companion during her next chemo treatment, and eating lunch during her infusion, she later remarked "I feel better than when I came in."  Susan S. took the concept of the REBAL (Resonant Energy Balloon) from a CD and used it in a new way.  "They explain for you to inhale, and as you exhale, to visualize a balloon or cocoon of white light surrounding and protecting you.  I had a bad allergic reaction - hives, itching, difficult breathing - to my first chemotherapy.  At the second chemo, they reduced the dose of my chemotherapy and gave me intravenous anti-allergy medications (Prednisone, Benadryl) and I had a less severe reaction.  Prior to my third chemotherapy, I though to "pop my REBAL."  I had no reaction to that particular therapy, and they were able to resume full strength chemotherapy and eliminate my pretreatment allergy medication after that."

The mind is a powerful healing adjunct.  I am constantly amazed how much our patients have to teach us.  From Sue I learned to have all my patients "pop a REBAL" before any procedure they receive.

R.M.:  You mentioned crystals as healing aids.  Would you please explain your use of crystals, and how they relate to your practice of energy medicine?
B.D.:  Each crystal has a frequency of vibration.  Quartz crystals vibrate at 60 cycles per second, which is why quartz is used as a timing mechanism in quartz watches.  If you take two tuning forks that are tuned to a "C" of 128Hz, held next to each other, and strike one so that it vibrates, the other will start vibrating because of the principle of resonance.  Crystals may be used to store energy, and stimulate the human body by the principle of resonance, or "vibrational medicine2."   Healing may be done without crystals, but I truly enjoy their feel and energy, as do many of my patients.  Crystals will amplify energy, and can be used to direct or focuses healing energies.  Crystals may be placed on specific charkas as an aid in amplifying healing energy.

Mitch Gaynor, M.D., has described the use of quartz crystal bowls to produce sound useful in healing cancer.  We use quartz crystal bowls along with Hemi-Sync® in our Reiki circles. It elevates the energy of the entire room, as well as the energy of all the people present.

R.M.:  Many allopathic physicians and ACM practitioners are striving to bridge the gap which exists between conventional and alternative medicine.  You seem to be doing this now.
B.D.:  I look forward to the day when we no longer consider them "conventional" and "alternative" medicine, but can appreciate that we have therapies of any modality will help the patient. I believe the placebo effect is a very real energetic effect that we have been unable to properly measure and characterize.  We are on the cusp of the next great adventure - how energy medicine and human consciousness can affect healing, and how consciously we may use these energies to make us well. 

R.M.:  What sparked this integrative view for you?  That is, using a combination of protocols, such as Reiki, crystals and the Hemi-Sync® CDs.
B.D.:  My father was a great influence. When I was four years old, my father taught me how to grow crystals, which I now use in healing.  My mother had conventional medical training in nursing, but in addition, she was a great touch healer.  If we skinned our knee, she "would rub it and make it better."  If it was really serious, she would "kiss it and make it better."  And it always made us feel better.  I was too young to understand that it was energy medicine, but I learned that you could make people feel better through touch, that it was a normal part of life.

R.M.:  What is the Dolphin Energy Club?
B.D.:  The Dolphin Energy Club (DEC) has a membership of 203 healers, coordinated by TMI, who attempt to heal and assist others from a distance using guided imagery.  Hemi-Sync®, and energetic healing.  We ask recipients to record their impressions and results.  It is clear that some people perceive benefits from remote healing.  In the research lab at TMI, they did EEG brain mapping of healers while they did healing.  A remarkable consistent brain map was found amongst many healers, and a Hemi-Sync® tape produced to induce this brain-wave state.  New member of DEC receive the DEC Hemi-Sync® tape that is of benefit to all members, but particularly those with an interest, but no previous experience in remote healing.  It is a wonderful gift to participate in DEC.

R.M.:  Although ACM protocols have been slowly entering standard medical practice, many allopathic practitioners, and insurance companies such as HMOs, remain unconvinced.  What do you say to them?
B.D.: Delores Krieger, Ph.D., R.N., has shown that Therapeutic touch can increase hemoglobin blood levels in patients. This may be helpful for dialysis and cancer patients who may be anemic (low red blood cells) or neutropenic (low white blood cells that help fight infection) as a result of their illness or therapy. Fortunately, Epogen and Neupogen injections may be given to these patients to help improve their blood counts, at approximately $800 for both injections.  Some of our patients using energetic techniques have been able to decrease the frequency of these injections, and in rare instances, have been able to stop them all together.  This can result in significant cost savings. Ironically, if you want the insurance industry to cover a specific therapy, you need to show them how it sass them money, not just improves patient care.  Reiki therapy is now partially reimbursed or discounted by HMOs in Rochester, N.Y. 

R.M.:  How do your medical colleagues react to your use of energetic techniques?
B.D.:  My colleagues have been very supportive as they learn about these therapies.  Rochester General Hospital had an ACM teaching day for their Internal Medicine residents.  We had five Reiki tables along with Hemi-Sync® recordings; and we had 50 physicians participate - giving treatments as well as receiving them.  The chief resident had chronic hp pain which had caused her to stop running, her favorite exercise.  She called four days later excited that after a 15-minute treatment, she had no pain, and had resumed running!  She now works in private practice and has referred patents to me.

R.M.:  Considering the variety of products, there are probably several that a health care practitioner could use to enhance their patient's...
B.D.:  (interrupting) Absolutely! Look at it this way:  it's less than $20 for the chemotherapy CD.  How many drugs do you know that can treat a cancer patient that cost $20 and are reusable?

R.M.:  And, in this case, you recommend that the patient uses headphones for maximum effect.
B.D.:  Speakers placed on either side of the head will work fine, but I especially prefer headphones for the first few listening experiences, as it screens out ambient noise and enhances the experience.  The frequencies are like training wheel on a bicycle, after a few times, you can induce the experience at will.

R.M.:  Would you please clarify that?  You can do that without a CD playing?
B.D.:  Yes, because once your brain becomes acclimated to the subtle synchronization energies, you can do it on your own.  Many of the Hemi-Sync® exercises have encodings, or anchors, that are used during the exercise, so that you can recreate the effect later without the CD.  In Chemotherapy Companion, if you become nauseous or vomit, you would inhale, and as you exhale, think "Plus-stomach clam".  It induces the wonderfully pleasant experience they had earlier, and reduces nausea/vomiting. There are signals to reduce pain, etc.  It is also interesting that Hemi-Sync® is just as effective at low listening levels.

R.M.:  Is there ay down-side to the Hemi-Sync® CDs, or adverse affect which you have observed?
B.D.: I have never observed an adverse or untoward affect.  Unlike some medications, sound is not physically addicting.  It doesn't interfere with, and is a wonderful adjunct to, traditional therapies.  For the practitioner, Hemi-Sync® is an additional tool easily used.  I tell patients that in the worse case scenario, "you might feel better".  My personal experience is that it has helped me and my patients greatly.

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1.  Kliempt P, et al. Hemispheric synchronization during anesthesia:  a double blind randomized trial using audiotape for intra-operative nociception control.  Anesthesia, 1999 54: 769-773

2.  Gerber R. Vibrational Medicine:  the #1 book of subtle energy therapies.  Bear and Company, 2001.  ISBN-879181-58-4

Disclosure:  Dr. Brian Daily is a member of the Professional Division, the Dolphin Energy Club, and is on the Board of Advisors of The Monroe Institute.  He received no income form TMI, and receives no income from the sale of their products.