Journey to Wild Divine

= Overview =

Journey to Wild Divine is a biofeedback video game system promoting stress management and overall wellness through the use of breathing, meditation and relaxation exercises. The graphics and interface resemble Myst. Many users refer to [http://www.wilddivine.com Journey to Wild Divine] with the terms "program" or, as called on the [http://www.wilddivine.com Wild Divine] website, "biofeedback software", to avoid using the term "game" as it is not so much a game but rather an entertaining training tool for mind and body health.

Company History

[http://www.wilddivine.com Journey to Wild Divine] is published by the [http://www.wilddivine.com Journey to Wild Divine] which was founded in 2001 by Kurt R. Smith and Corwin Bell. The Wild Divine Project’s mission is, “To deliver an affordable, engaging, and effective self-care technology to the health & wellness community.”

Kurt Smith, PhD. is a research scientist specializing in biomedical engineering. A serial entrepreneur, Smith started six medical device startup companies, two of which are now owned by [http://www.medtronic.com Medtronic] , the largest medical technology company in the world. After his tenure with [http://www.medtronic.com Medtronic] , he began to pursue a passion, “To provide integrative healing tools and services to people in an effective way?”

Corwin Bell, a game designer, was studying at [http://www.evergreen.edu Evergreen College] in Olympia, Washington when he realized that computer animation was a format that he could use to manifest his ideas and images. After receiving a Masters degree in Communications, Bell moved on to work in the movie industry where he did set design and cinematography but he did not find the projects meaningful. Consequently, Bell turned to working on children’s software, including The Pagemaster for Turner Interactive and Super Safe Kids, a CD tool that teaches awareness of abduction issues in a fun, animated environment. He also became an instructor at the Art Institute of Colorado.

Smith and Bell met and began exchanging ideas while rock climbing in Boulder Canyon, Colorado when Bell told Smith about an idea he had to combine a computer game with biofeedback in order to help people. They proceeded with this entertainment-based model intended to benefit people by providing both preventive and integrative care.

Other experts who assisted in the development of Journey to Wild Divine’s products include Jean Houston, a pioneer researcher in human development and extending human capacities, and Nawang Khechog, a former Buddhist monk, who’s studied with the Dalai Lama and is one of Tibet’s foremost world music composers and musicians. From the start, Liana Mattulich, M.D., a highly experienced biofeedback expert in Denver, Colorado helped the project see completion. Other experts consulted on the project were Dr. Bob Whitehouse and Sunny Turner.

Products

The first program in the series, [http://www.wilddivine.com/products/stress-relief-products The Journey To Wild Divine: The Passage] , comes with a USB-based biofeedback reader. The device attaches to three fingers, and measures heart rate variability and skin conductance level. Heart rate variability measures the amount of variability between heart beats, which has been reported to be associated with various pathologic conditions. Skin conductance level indicates the amount of perspiration on the skin surface, which is a measure of stress in the body.

In [http://www.wilddivine.com/products/stress-relief-products The Journey To Wild Divine: The Passage] , users navigate through a series of adventures in a video-game type interface.

The user must adjust these levels in his their body to move through the game. The purpose is to develop meditation skills and to gain greater control of unconscious bodily processes by observing and reacting to the changes in the game's various activities, which reflect the body's current state.

The second title in this series is the [http://www.wilddivine.com/products/stress-relief-products The Journey To Wild Divine: Wisdom Quest] . Wisdom Quest also utilizes the same proprietary Iom biofeedback hardware. It retains the same game format while building on the adventure/game format.

The newest title, [http://www.wilddivine.com/products/stress-relief-products Healing Rhythms] , is a 15-Step program of deep breathing and meditation, along with the Iom biofeedback hardware. In this program experts in the field of health and wellness including medical doctors Andrew Weil, Deepak Chopra and Dean Ornish guide the user through 15 separate lessons designed to teach stress management in an easy to use format with no navigation required.

Current research suggests that stress management can be beneficial to individuals with a variety of physical and mental ailments including [http://www.aapb.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageID=3365 high blood pressure] and [http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/93798.php Raynaud’s] disease, according to the [http://www.aapb.org Association of Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback] . Research by [http://www.eeginfo.com/research EEG info Research] has also shown it to be effective for helping individuals with [http://www.eeginfo.com/research ADD/ADHD, PTSD, autism and chronic pain] .

Alternatives

Several companies make other in-home, biofeedback stress management devices. These include: [http://www.heartmath.com HeartMath] , which produces a portable biofeedback device that emits LED display and sounds: [http://www.stresserasor.com Stresserasor] which is an FDA-regulated portable feedback device; and [http://www.resperate.com Resperate] which is an FDA-regulated portable device designed to lower blood pressure.

Other non-biofeedback alternatives used in stress-reduction include meditation, deep breathing, and yoga.

External links

* [http://www.wilddivine.com/ The Wild Divine]