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Observations After a RigaBrain Brain Training Session

My task was to observe my feelings for 2–3 weeks and keep a diary, so I could consciously track the changes happening to me. My mind was busy with various speculations about the method. What if it simply works through the placebo effect? 21 days is the generally accepted period after which an action begun or a change in lifestyle becomes a habit.

After the RigaBrain brain training session, my task was to observe my feelings for 2–3 weeks: how do I react in stressful situations? What time and how do I wake up in the mornings? Have my eating habits changed? How has my attitude towards life, other people, and events changed? How does the body feel? Is there a healthy sense of detachment noticeable after the training? And so on. These are some of the questions included in one of the handout materials I was able to take away after the session.

Image from www.ninainspired.com

Pēteris also added that it is advisable to keep a diary, so I could consciously track the changes happening to me. I have been doing so, and it will be public. Before anyone draws conclusions about the method, let me immediately emphasise that these are subjective feelings and individual reactions that another person may not experience, or may experience differently.

Day 1

I wake up in the morning an hour before the alarm, with a severe headache. It does not go away throughout the day, and is accompanied by nausea. Eating anything is out of the question. Concentrating at work is difficult. The only thought is - sleep, sleep, sleep...

I cancel the evening appointment and go home. I refrain from taking any painkillers. I go to the RigaBrain website to read what to do about headaches after the session. Well! I am supposed to meditate - that is not exactly my strong suit.

The moment I put my head on the pillow, I very clearly hear a click in my head. I feel lighter and fall asleep. I sleep for 12 hours straight.

Day 2

I wake up; the headache has passed. The working day passes calmly. I am even in an elevated mood (to some extent because my head no longer hurts and I can think clearly). I drink lots of water. An irresistible craving for kefir arises. I have no desire whatsoever for sweets (which is unusual for me).

Towards evening, the heaviness in my head returns along with the desire to sleep. I go to bed at 22:00, whereas my usual time is 00:30–1:00.

Day 3

I wake up again an hour before the alarm. Weakness in the morning. I summon willpower, drag myself into the shower, brew coffee, get in the car and go to work. Every now and then, waves of heat wash over me and my forehead breaks into a sweat. All the symptoms resemble what happens when the body is fighting a virus and trying to stabilise all its functions. The only thought - how long will this go on?

At work, energy to function does eventually appear. Mood is good. An appetite arises at lunchtime. I cast a longing eye at kefir. Hmm, I wonder whether it was mentioned alongside alcohol, kvass and medications as something to avoid?! I re-read the instructions in the evening. No, at least it is not written in the printed handout.

Day 4

Everything seems to have stabilised. The headache is gone, but my head could be clearer. No surge of energy is felt either. After work, I visit Saules Salons for a cinnamon scrub massage and seaweed wrap treatment. Towards evening, the usual tiredness, though this time I go to bed much later (close to my usual time) - around midnight.

My mind is busy with various speculations about the method. What if it simply works through the placebo effect? 3 weeks, or 21 days, is the generally accepted period after which an action begun or a change in lifestyle becomes a habit.

Day 5

Despite it being a day off, I wake up at 8:00 and get up. I spend the time working at the computer. I am aware that I should move more, but the old reluctance to "waste" time kicks in again, preventing me from simply going for a walk around the neighbourhood or along the sea. Hmm, that's not good.

For the fifth day in a row I observe a certain diet - I abstain completely from sweets, replacing them with fruit, berries and oat porridge made with water and a spoonful of blackcurrant jam in the mornings; I give up all forms of alcohol (including my favourite red wines); I try to drink lots of water (at every available opportunity).

In the afternoon, though, I do manage to get moving - and quite thoroughly. We decide to take a longer walk from Vecbuļļi to Daugavgrīva. A very pleasant walk along a picturesque seashore with a grove of fallen pines and a sandy beach. Highly recommended!

You can get to the starting point by bus 36 or by car, and then head out by the mouth of the Lielupe into the sea. Continue along the shore almost to the western breakwater. According to the Endomondo app on my smartphone, we walked 8.06 km at an average speed of 4.79 km/h, which took 1 hour 41 minutes. Total calories burned: just 558.

In the evening I rest, read a book, feel good.

Day 6

I am up shortly after 8:00, even though I could sleep until noon. I write in the morning; in the afternoon I lie down for a two-hour nap. A less active day. I feel good. A persistent thought arises that I can do anything, that everything I start will succeed. My thoughts dwell on the future.

Day 7

Rain all day. Overcast and grey. Whether because of this or some other factor, after work I feel very tired, sleep is coming; coffee with milk helps. I go to bed around midnight.

Day 8

I wake up well-rested. My birthday passes without a glass of champagne or a slice of cake, but I feel no discomfort from that. I am satisfied with my resolve to give up sweets and alcohol.

I am starting to think that the effect after the RigaBrain training is no longer manifesting. I would not say my memory has improved or that there are any physical sensations - perhaps only that I have become more self-confident.

Day 9

Rain again. I spend the first half of the day at a Swedbank Business Network morning contact event, which stretches to almost 14:00. I came alone, but feel quite comfortable. Introductions come easily; I maintain conversation. The topic and speakers are also quite interesting.

Hmm, perhaps I have become calmer. I react to various mishaps more composedly. For example, today I stopped at a red light, and a man got out of the car behind me, knocked on my window and told me my front tyre was completely flat. I pulled over - well, it was somewhat soft, but still drivable. So I calmly and without stress made it to the Statoil air pump and a man who would inflate the tyre.

Day 10

After work at the computer, my eyes feel as if they're full of sand - but that's not the first time. Lots of new information, lots of communication, but too little movement in daily life. In the evening a strong craving for sauerkraut arises.

I received an invitation from Larisa to the next wine friends' club gathering. Eh, not this time.

Day 11

I don't seem to notice any changes for the better - when typing quickly I make typos; sometimes I forget a word in English even though I know it well; in stressful situations I tend to rush what I am saying. I dislike all of this.

Today I visited a tattoo studio to get a design done on my shoulder. I made the decision very easily, with no doubts at all, just a slight fear of pain - but nothing approaching panic.

Breakfast - oat porridge made with water and a spoonful of lingonberry jam, and coffee with milk. Lunch - freshly squeezed orange juice and salmon on dark bread. Dinner - half a hot-smoked sea bass, one yellow tomato, a handful of grapes and water.

Day 12

A day of physical fatigue, despite it being a day off.

Day 13

I slept unusually long (until 10:00), compared to the previous 12 days.

Today we enjoy spicy Indian food at the Indian Raja restaurant. Just right for such a damp spring day - the spice warms from the inside.

Day 14

Today Pēteris from RigaBrain got in touch to ask whether I had managed to observe anything and/or become aware of any results during the post-training period or at present, and whether I had any comments or questions. This prompted me to re-read the diary I had written over two weeks and reflect on what changes I had noticed.

What has changed: eating habits (cravings for certain specific foods, giving up sweets); I have started drinking lots of water; my body has begun very clearly signalling when overload sets in, with an almost irresistible desire to go to sleep; a peculiar, global sense has arisen that nothing is impossible (everything I start will succeed, everyone I address will listen, everything I decide I will carry out) - a kind of "brakes-off" syndrome; my reaction to difficult or problematic situations - no panic sets in.

What has not changed: memory has not improved (hard to recall surnames, names, foreign words, words in foreign languages); attention to small details (typos in texts still bother me); emotional sensitivity.

Comment from RigaBrain:
"Regarding all your observations, I can say - yes, they may be connected to the brain training. Similar observations have been reported by other visitors as well.

Evaluating our conversation, the session results and your observations, I can say that this tool is suited to your growth, which you can continue to use for your own benefit, as you choose, according to your possibilities and abilities.

As for further sessions - for as long as positive observations continue, we don't think about further sessions; when the results start to diminish, we do everything possible to help you get back on track by your own efforts; if that doesn't work, we can assist again. Or alternatively, if you wish to develop further."

I decide to continue observing myself until Day 21 and to refrain from alcohol and fermented drinks during Easter as well.

Conclusion:

I don't regret trying this method - both to satisfy my own curiosity and to change my habits. Whether the changes listed above happened thanks to the RigaBrain training, I still cannot say with 100% certainty, but they have happened, and I am satisfied with that. Can I recommend RigaBrain to someone? Hard to say, because each person must themselves be ready for any changes, which must be worked on independently, with fairly consistent adherence to the commitment to change one's daily habits.

In my view, the most important thing is not even the method through which you achieve it, but arriving at the realisation or inner conviction that you, and only you, have the right and the freedom to decide about your own life, body and feelings.