Holliston company creates and sells meditation programs
Long before starting his Holliston-based meditation company last year, Roger Dubois had been interested in meditation.
His wife, Siew Seng Yap-Dubois, who was born in Malaysia, introduced him to this eastern discipline 10 years ago, and he found its techniques, promising such health benefits as stress reduction, intriguing.
He also found it very difficult.
One wouldn't think that would be the case. For example, meditation, at its most basic, wants its practitioners to focus on the immediate present. "Some meditators call it being in the now,'' says Dubois. "If you're able to focus on the now and forget everything else, your brain waves over time will slow down. That leads to a release of stress and buildups in your body, which is very beneficial.
"It sounds very simple to do. 'Focus just on the present.' The reality is it's not simple. You try to think about the now and the next thing you know your brain is thinking about what you're having for dinner or your next business meeting.''
Dubois' difficulties with meditation led to frustration and too much frustration can lead to - oh, the irony - stress.
But Dubois found a solution, and it just happened to be in his original field of study - audio production. The French native holds a degree from Boston's Berklee College of Music.
Dubois read an article about brain wave entrainment, the practice of synchronizing one's brain waves to a desired frequency. This can be achieved through binaural beats, an auditory trick of the brain achieved by playing two slightly different frequencies, one in each ear, using stereo headphones. This causes the brain to "hear'' a third frequency - the binaural beat. Brain waves over a period of time will synchronize themselves to that beat and once that takes place they'll gradually slow down, according to Dubois. Slow down the pace of brain waves and stress slows down as well, he adds.
"I found the article truly interesting,'' says the Holliston resident. "I started doing research and I realized there was a direct correlation between (brain wave entrainment) and meditation.
"It put the idea in my mind: `If you could combine (the two), you'd have something that could help me.' My initial intention was just for myself. Maybe this way I could meditate better.
"There were some brain wave entrainment programs out there to buy just for that purpose - to help you meditate. I bought a few and did more research. Some were quite good. Some were not as good, but none of them really helped you with a guided track to focus on certain topics.''
So Dubois set about to do just that. He made his own programs. Friends who were into meditation listened to them. "They found them very helpful and beneficial,'' he says. "That gave me the idea - 'Maybe I should make them available to other people.' "
So he did, starting AudioMedit.com, an online distributor of guided meditation audio programs. These programs, which Dubois creates himself, have been available online since January and so far 150 have been sold.
The ever-expanding library currently contains 10 programs, ranging from such topics as heart disease, wealth, housing, school and work. It's these different topics that separate AudioMedit's program from others on the market, according to Dubois.
"There are some meditation programs and a lot of meditation CDs out there,'' he says. "What all of them have in common is you put headphones on and listen to them and they provide a good, relaxing environment for meditation. And in some cases they have a guided voice track that kind of instructs you and guides you through a meditation, but they're usually not centered around a specific topic.
With a AudioMedit program, "there's a script that helps individuals focus on the topic,'' Dubois continues. "They can ask themselves questions so they can actually start to really think about their behaviors ... and eventually the program helps them start making better choices and thinking more positively about what they want as opposed to what they don't want.''
In addition to the aforementioned brain wave entrainment component, AudioMedit's programs provide a relaxed meditative environment as well, according to Dubois.
Each half-hour program costs $15. A free 15-minute companion program accompanies the first purchase. It explains the technology, how the product works and how the customer should use it.
"Some of my friends wanted me to charge more since people have no problem paying $40 or $50 for an hour meditation session with a teacher as part of a group,'' says Dubois. "This is a business and I want it grow, but I wanted to keep the price down.''
Customer feedback has been excellent, according to Dubois, who also works as a consultant in the hospitality industry. "They find them very effective and very pleasurable. They say the scripts are very well-written and right on point. A lot of research goes into each program.''
He notes that his wife reads all the scripts to make sure they're right on point.
Dubois points out that AudioMedit also offers a customized program. "That way you can request what specifically you're looking for,'' he says.
He adds that meditation isn't just about relaxing the mind in order to reduce stress. It can also be used to train the mind to keep thoughts focused on achieving a goal.
"Success comes from within,'' wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson, no stranger to meditation, "not from without.''
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AUDIOMEDIT.COM Founder and creative director: Roger Dubois Employees: One Industry: Self-help and meditation Company background: Based in Holliston, AudioMedit.com is an online distributor of guided meditation audio programs. Its Web site is www.audiomedit.com.
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(Do you know of a small business the Daily News should profile? Contact Bob Tremblay at btremblay@cnc.com or 508-626-4409.)