The Journey to Wild Divine Biofeedback Software & Hardware for PC & Mac: The Passage

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Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
Welcome to The Journey to Wild Divine, the first in a series of ?Inner-Active? computer adventures to combine the science of biofeedback with a beautiful, enchanting and entertaining multimedia experience. The Journey to Wild Divine is an enchanting adventure for mind, body and spirit that links special biofeedback equipment with your computer to create a truly enlightening and entertaining multi-media experience. Adventure through a mythical world of towering palaces, sacred temples, sumptuous gardens and wise mentors where you are challenged to deepen your self-awareness with every step you take. The innovative hardware platform measures skin conductance level (SCL) and heart rate variability through the three "Magic Ring" sensors gently attached to your fingers. The measurements are registered through the "Light Stone" and fed back to you through biofeedback "events" on the screen. Characters within The Journey help you learn to control your body's reactions. By increasing, decreasing or synchronizing body rhythms, through techniques the characters will teach you techniques like the "Heart Breath" - you'll quickly learn to master the "events" and progress in the game. The knowledge you gain will help enhance your personal growth and well-being. On your quest, you will master a whole new purpose and discover a whole new direction. The lessons you learn will become your own unique tools to be used outside the game - at any time, in any place and in any situation. Through The Journey to Wild Divine, you will be given the opportunity to reach a level of awareness you might not have thought possible. There are many secrets still to be told, and there are many stories that have yet to unfold. Free your mind as you begin this passage to discovery. Skills learned from playing The Journey can become priceless tools to be used in every day life. Package includes Game ("The Passage") software for Mac and Windows, Hardware, USB cable, Deepak Chopra & "Soul Flight" CDs.

Amazon.com Product Description
The Journey to Wild Divine is the first "inner-active" computer adventure that combines ancient breathing and meditation with modern biofeedback technology for total mind-body wellness. Progress through the realm using the power of your thoughts, feelings, breath and awareness. The Journey to Wild Divine is not just a game, it's a tool to reduce stress and improve physical and mental health.

The unique biofeedback hardware in The Journey to Wild Divine helps you learn to balance your physical and emotional responses to life.

The "LightStone" and biofeedback finger sensors are the link between you and The Journey to Wild Divine.

Wearing three finger sensors that track your body's heart rate variability and skin conductance, you move through enchanting and mystical landscapes using the power of your thoughts, feelings, breath and awareness. Wise mentors guide you throughout the realm, empowering you with yoga, breathing and meditation skills needed to complete over 40 biofeedback 'energy' events. Build stairways with your breath, open doors with meditation, juggle balls with your laughter, and so much more. The Journey makes biofeedback, a popular method of alternative healthcare, easily accessible and empowers you to take mind-body wellness, literally into your own hands.

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Balancing health, wellness, and technology to enhance your life, The Journey to Wild Divine is a stunning and life-changing computer program that teaches breathing, meditation and relaxation techniques for great living. Using proprietary biofeedback technology, The Journey to Wild Divine provides instant, visual feedback that reflects the state of your mind and body. Learn practical skills that teach you how to self-regulate your responses, whether in everyday situations or stressful events.

Wise mentors will guide you through The Journey's dramatic and breath-taking scenes. Practice your new skills by juggling balls with your laughter, building stairways with your breath and opening doors with meditation. The visual impact of each activity will leave long-lasting impressions that you can recall again and again to bring what you are learning into your daily experience.

Zen Archery requires a steady mind. You'll know you've reached your moment of zen when you're able to aim the arrow at the target's center through concentration and focus.

As your breath moves in cadence with the "Breathing Tree" you'll build a stairway across the sky and learn to increase your level of relaxation.

What is Biofeedback?
Biofeedback is scientifically proven to have a powerful, positive effect on your emotional and physical well-being by teaching you to alter your blood pressure, physical tension, heart rate and other critical bodily functions.Wearing three finger sensors connected to your computer, The Journey tracks your body's heart rate variability and skin conductance levels. You'll learn to do meditation and breathing exercises while your body's physical and emotional responses are played back to you through real-time changes on the screen. Take The Journey to Wild Divine and put the road to total mind-body wellness, literally, into your own hands.

With the optional Wild Divine Grapher Expansion Pack, you can actually see the dramatic physical changes that occur when you play the game. Take a closer look.

The package includes everything you need to get started, and it installs easily in minutes.

Testimonials

"The Journey to Wild Divine shows you how just a few minutes of concentrated deep breathing can have long lasting health benefits."

--Deepak Chopra, M.D., Author of the new release, The Book of Secrets

"The Journey to Wild Divine takes important stress-reducing elements necessary for general good health, and wraps them into a form of entertainment that can easily become a part of day-to-day life and can ultimately lead to long-term health benefits."

--Dean Ornish, M.D., Author of five best-selling books, including New York Times' bestsellers Dr. Dean Ornish's Program for Reversing Heart Disease, Eat More, Weigh Less, and Love & Survival

What's Included

CD-ROM Software that features:

Spectacular high-definition 3-D graphics and video
More than 40 unique energy and breathing "Events"
Guidance from your Virtual Mentors
Install disks for both PC and Macintosh

Hardware platform that features:

Three biofeedback sensors
Unique "Light Stone" energy translator

Plus:

Original Soul Flight music CD
Bonus CD that includes interview with Deepak Chopra, M.D.
Companion Guide and User's Manual

System Requirements

1.5 GB of disk space
256 MB free available system RAM
800 X 600, 24-bit color display
CD-Rom drive
QuickTime 6.3 or higher
Available USB port

Intel Pentium III, 800 Mhz processor or higher
Windows 98 SE, Windows ME, Windows 2000, or Windows XP
16 MB video card

Macintosh

G3 or G4 or G5, running at 500 Mghz or more
Mac OSX v10.2 or later

Customer Reviews: Read 73 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

An amazing use of technology for all ages May 24, 2005
312 out of 324 found this review helpful

I am incredibly enthusiastic about the Journey to Wild Divine! I am not a computer games person at all, but this experience is totally absorbing and a wonderful way to learn for all ages.

I have been using this product for over a month and have advanced my ability to concentrate and focus. I am able to use my breathing and mental processes to relax, steady my inner state, lift my energy level, or achieve peacefulness. In so doing, as I journey through the landscape visiting cottages, gardens, and temples, I am able to open doors, juggle balls, levitate golden orbs, or release a falcon from a cage, etc.

I am a retired psychotherapist and have experienced many therapies that did not quite live up to the hype. This use of biofeedback is engaging and a great technology to use in working with stress reduction and mind-body-spirit integration.

One of my most wonderful recent experiences was an afternoon with my son and grandson. After demonstrating a bit of the game, I invited my 4 1/2 year old grandson to put on the sensors and try it out. We helped him put the sensors on his tiny fingers and for the next hour, with my son and daughter in law looking on, he was embarked upon the journey.

With only a bit of prompting from me, this child focused and concentrated on juggling the balls, spinning the pinwheel, starting a fire in a fireplace, and balancing a stack of rocks on top of each other. In each activity he was eagerly using only his thoughts and/or breathing to accomplish these feats. What a thrilling sense of accomplishment. And yet when he could not do one of the activities, he could accept that coming back later after he had practiced more of the skills, was part of the process. No sense of frustration or defeat.

He is a very imaginative and active child. However, he sat for over an hour, amazingly engaged in a computer experience that involved no violence or fast action. He happily, and with his own initiave, began to learn about how to relax and yet control his thoughts and body. Wow! What a gift it is to all ages.

The technology and thoughtfulness that has gone into this process is worth the price of admission! Thank you Wild Divine Project.

4 out of 5 stars

Unbelievable - until it's not. June 27, 2005
149 out of 151 found this review helpful

(UPDATED 25 August 2008, via a Comment - please click "Comments" below for more.)

I'm noticing wildly divergent reviews of this product. In my opinion, this is due to two factors: 1) expectations going in and 2) sincerity in one's goal to accomplish what the Wild Divine (WD) is trying to help one accomplish.

I hesitate in calling WD a "game," because that word brings to mind other words, like "score," "plot," "goal," and "winning." WD does NOT meet the definition of a conventional video game. Rather, it is a biofeedback tool designed to aid in the learning of relaxation and meditation.

I see WD as the perfect mix of Eastern teachings and the Western desire for instant gratification - when sitting alone silently in meditation, one cannot see the changes happening in one's body as they are happening; it is only weeks later that a culmination of small changes might be noticed. WD provides that instant feedback so many of us desire to stay motivated in pursuing this important journey; it also provides external proof that the way one breathes can affect the rest of the body. And from there, we can expand into other methods of exploring the journey.

Yes, a lot of the activities seem the same and can be "won" by using the same three breathing exercises (the peaceful breath, high energy, and the heart breath) over and over. I am not an experienced meditator (indeed, I'm just barely beginning), but as I understand it at this point in time, this is because those three breaths or states of energy are the primary building blocks. The "point" is to learn to control your energy, so that YOU - and not your environment or external stress - are the force controlling your energy. (I will never forget one day when I was trying to calm myself and relax, to make the falcon feather float to the bottom of the screen. I'd made it a few inches when my cell phone went off with my sister's ringtone. Opening my eyes to take the call, I saw the feather, pointed straight up, swinging wildly from side to side at the top of the screen. I knew my sister could affect my state of mind, but I didn't expect that! LOL)

The secondary point is to open your heart and mind to compassion, to see all of us as members of what WD calls The Blue Tribe, despite our perceived differences. These kinds of changes do not happen overnight or by practicing a certain breath once - one must practice the breath frequently, and incorporate it into daily life, away from the computer; perhaps it was my imagination, but each "identical" exercise as the program progressed seemed to expect a bit more of me - to hold the peaceful state of mind a bit longer or deepen my heart breath... I bought WD almost a month ago and worked my way through it slowly, often reverting to a previous save when I came back the next day so that I retraced some of my steps, to reinforce what I was learning. I just finished the program last week (working with it almost daily), and yet we are not finished with each other.

I imagine the point of different visuals for what may be seen as essentially the same goal is to prevent boredom - can you imagine what the program would be like if ALL there was to see was birds flying in circles? Also, different visuals speak to different people - some people may go back to those birds day after day, others may rather see the ball levitating. I personally find the visual aspect very helpful; out in the real world, I've been practicing adjusting my breath to cope when I start feeling stressed - more often than not, my mind's eye will conjure one of the visuals from WD (like the bellows from the Lady of the Woods's fireplace) to guide the timing and flow of my breath.

Regarding navigation, I had no troubles. The icon on the bottom left of the screen has stars at its top that point in the directions of all possible movements and activities for the current screen - just move your mouse until one of those stars is indicated on the icon, and click!

If you haven't read the companion guide, do so. WD has a very loose structure, leaving the individual to explore and learn in his/her own way; but if you absolutely must know "what comes next," the companion guide can provide a storyline to follow, as well as a bit of insight into what the creator, Corwin Bell, was imagining as he created WD; his "message," if you will.

To reap the most rewards from the program, WD needs to be experienced slowly, bit by bit, as the mind needs to be allowed time to absorb what it is learning. This is not an instantaneous process, and those who race through the 10 hours of "gameplay" in 10 hours or less are probably not getting all the benefit they could if they took the time to take this seriously.

So if you are looking for a "game" you can play with your thoughts, try "Inner Tube" - a new game designed to work with WD's hardware. I haven't tried it, but it may be more what you're looking for.

But if you are looking for a modern, useful tool to use as a way to begin or deepen your mediation practice - or just want to learn how to relax (at the computer and away from it, in Real Life) - give WD a try.

At the risk of using a cliche, WD is one of those things where you get back what you put into it.

I am eagerly awaiting "The Journey to Wild Divine: Wisdom Quest," to see what it will hold in terms of deepening and building on the skills I'm learning from "The Passage."

The only criticism I have right now for the program (and the reason I didn't give it 5 stars) is that my installation took hours and was fraught with problems; judging from posts I saw on the WD message board, I'm not the only one - apparently, one issue occurred repeatedly with those of us who have DVD-ROM drives. I kept thinking, "I bought this to help learn to relax, and the installation is stressing me out!" ;-) Word to the wise: DEFRAG your hard drive! I was having problems with a few of the videos that make up the program, and when I analyzed my drive, one of them was fragmented into over 400 pieces. Now that they're reassembled, the program runs much smoother.

5 out of 5 stars

A playground for the mind and a classroom for the spirit November 15, 2004
102 out of 103 found this review helpful

OK. I admit it. In some ways Wild Divine is a form of escapism. When wars, the economy, the ecology, earth changes, and 2012 get just too much to worry about, it is a relief to move into a world of peace and light and beauty. The colors are a bit brighter, the people loving and helpful and I get to float rather than walk. Addictive? It could be, but in our list of possible addictive scenarios I can't think of a more positive one.

The first evening I used The Journey to Wild Divine before going to bed, I slept a deep, comforting sleep - for nine hours! Yes, there are some goals in the game but most of them concern adapting body rhythms not deciphering cryptic clues. In fact, those in the Myst 4 camp may find that there is not enough challenge. Wild Divine is not a typical adventure game. You don't need to be a gamer to play as clues are available through guides and magic mirrors and sometimes words in your "head".

The actors (real people, not animations) portray a variety of archetypes. There is the pagan Lady of the Woods, the Eastern guru / yogi, the mystical Lady of Compassion, the clock making wizard and the list goes on.

Many health care professions advise daily meditation. Many laypeople agree. Still, it is sometimes difficult to make the time in our busy schedules to do our yoga or qi gong or drumming. Sometimes-even though we know it is good for us-it seems like merely a chore. Enter Wild Divine. Play with the ball or the pinwheel. See if you can hit the bullseye with your imaginary, mind-body controlled arrow. Move on to more difficult tasks as you will. PLAY!!!!

The Journey is not a typical 360 degree navigation game. You cannot delve into each nook and cranny. In other games this inability to explore has bothered me, but in the land of Wild Divine there is no hurry and as the land glides by I am content to play the part of observer. There is no choppy change of scene; everything glides effortlessly together. The experience, in part at least, is a guided meditation. The initiate has control of his main movements, but the paths are clearly defined.

The downside? For some people it will be the price. Since Wild Divine is not simply a game, the cost reflects that. The biofeedback components (you could think of this as a metaphysical Xbox of sorts) attach to fingers and measure your Skin Conductance Level as well as your Heart Rate Variability (HRV). You can visit the Institute of Heart Math to learn more about how HRV can boost your immune system. Moving through the game involves mastering the Heart Breath. Don't worry (after all the point of all this is to relax), there are lessons and guides along the way.

The upside? A new game is in production, so if you love Wild Divine you can explore the sequel without purchasing new hardware. Wisdom Quest featuring Deepak Chopra's new book, The Book of Secrets is due out in Spring 2005. Keep your fingers crossed. And The Journey includes a music CD is included for the times when you just can't get to your computer.

From the users guide:
To succeed in The Journey, players have to learn certain principles, which basically require an "allowing attitude" - a kind of passive will. It's the difference between saying, "I must do this" and learning that the only way you're going to progress is by deepening your breath or being in touch with more positive emotions or imagining that what you want to happen is already happening - bringing the wished-for event into the present.

Yes, there is indeed a scientific explanation to WHY objects move for you in The Journey, but sometimes I have to admit it simply seems like magic. And why not? We are!

2 out of 5 stars

Not a Good Investment for Most People June 18, 2005
79 out of 107 found this review helpful

What bothers me about having to write this review is that I was really looking forward to recommending this system. I have to admit that the idea of an interactive video game based on your own biofeedback had me sold. I believe I remember reading somewhere that this game is supposedly a lot like Myst. What could be more cool than puzzle-solving, exploration and meditation all in one convenient game?

While the potential seemed to be there, the execution here is just downright flawed. This game is no Myst! I would compare it more to one of those kid's educational titles where you do a bunch of silly activities with rabbits and turtles to learn to read: in fact this game may be far more suited to three or four year olds than adults (although I question whether children would have the patience to play this game). As it is, I suspect most people do not have the enormous reserve of patience it must take to get through this game; and once you finish it (total gameplay time is only eight to ten hours at best), I can't see why one would want to replay it.

You start out the game as a "Seeker" and meet a kindly woman named Sophia who hands you a magic wand and makes you take a deep breath to enter the magical kingdom of Wild Divine. After that, there is absolutely no plot whatsoever. You meet a bunch of strange characters who speak to you as though you're a little child. They all repeatedly explain the concept of the deepth breath (counting in to 7, holding, counting out to 7). This allegedly relaxes you; however, this particular form of meditative breathing does not work for everybody, myself included, and you may need to experiment to find another meditation technique to successfully release tension (I personally find using a mantra far more effective).

Exploration in this game is extremely limited. The map is pretty small, and there are clearly linear paths to go from place to place. The only reason you even know what you're supposed to be doing in this game is by trudging back to a "Magic Mirror" that tells you what your next quest should be. I found it strange that the game designers wouldn't just have in-game characters tell you what you should be doing and why, but I suppose this would have involved writing a story for the game. As it is, when the Magic Mirror tells you to fetch flowers as an offering to the Drejja, you'd better not expect any answers about who or what the Drejja is and why you should be making offering to him/her/it.

Gameplay is similarly unsatisfying. There are very few items to find as you go about your journey. Along the way you can choose to click on various activities like juggling, making birds fly in circles, and "archery." I suppose this is the real heart of the game, but these activities aren't that different from each other. Almost all of them involve deep breathing until you slow your pulse down enough to complete the activity. Umm, so basically to make birds fly in circles you take deep breaths and relax. And to shoot an arrow you take deep breaths and relax. And to juggle you take shallow breaths to "build energy." And to build a fire you take deep breaths and relax. Those four sentences just gave away about 75% of the game...

All in all, highly disappointing. In fact, until biofeedback gets to the level where you can monitor brain waves in your home while playing a video game, I suspect that using biofeedback to monitor the results of meditation will just produce silly results like we have here in this game.

5 out of 5 stars

An Amazing "Inner-Active" Adventure June 17, 2005
76 out of 78 found this review helpful

It has been said that the biggest cause of stress and anxiety is caused from a perceived disconnection from the Divine--either within oneself or in the universe at large.

We are finally realizing that our thoughts, emotions and physical body have an etheric counterpart that registers our bodily states. Attending to our spirits promotes peace, health, and a sense of well-being. The effect of stress and anxiety on our bodies is well documented. Likewise, studies are showing the powerful effects of prayer, meditation, and joy on our emotional and physical health.

Kurt Smith and Corwin Bell of The Wild Divine Project are two visionaries who have developed a groundbreaking tool that engages mind, body and spirit. The Journey To Wild Divine - The Passage is an "Inner-active" computer journey that integrates the power of the spiritual quest with an innovative biofeedback interface and high-end multi-media production. It incorporates mythology and elements of the classic hero and heroine's journey with state of the art 3D graphics, video and music.

In developing The Journey, Bell and Smith have collaborated with various leaders in the field of consciousness and compassionate action on both the spiritual and biofeedback technology aspects of the project. Known as "allies," they include Jean Houston, a pioneer researcher in human capacities, and Nawang Khechog, a former Buddhist monk and one of Tibet's foremost world music composers and musicians.

Bio-feedback is the science of recording both Skin Conductance Levels (SCL) and Heart Rate Variability (HRV), and using this information to modify thoughts, emotions, and breathing. SCL is the measurement of sweat gland activity on a person's skin, and HRV is the calculation of the differences in heart rate from one heartbeat to the next. No two of these intervals are exactly the same, and you need a device more sophisticated than just taking your pulse to determine it. Those who exhibit greater HRV tend to live longer and enjoy life more. When playing this amazing adventure, you slip 3 fingers in the comfortable sensors known as "Magic Rings". Your SCL and HRV are interpted by the "Light Stone" energy translator.

Up until now, biofeedback technology was in the hands of experts--where a professional had to interpret your results. From those results, you would then learn how to regulate breathing, thoughts, emotional states, and so on. However, with The Journey, the game itself lets you know how you're doing.

Set in the magical Sun Realm, players encounter breathtaking scenery, helpful mentors, and various "Events". For example, you're invited to join Cosmo and Sophia in the Inner Imagery Theater--which includes inviting your own partner to share the Magic Rings. Cosmo and Sophia show you how to challenge one other with sensory imaginings, and then you and a partner explore images from the five senses.

For example, my husband and I entered the Inner Imagery Theater together where we challenged each other with images such as "I want you to imagine stroking the soft fur of a kitten" or "I want you to imagine the sound of a gentle rain falling on a tin roof." All of the other Events I've experienced thus far, however, have been for just one person. (But I'm nowhere near completing the adventure!)

In one of my journeys, I entered a lush courtyard with vibrant greenery, colorful flowers, and majestic colums. I was encouraged to relax and levitate a purple ball. Sound easy? Not necessarily! It depends on how able you are to enter into relaxing breath and peacefulness. There are times when I can float the ball off the screen, but yesterday, I couldn't get it past an inch or so. I was irritated by my son's interruptions (which sent the ball back to the ground!), but it occurred to me that this was a perfect scenario to increase awareness of my thoughts, breathing, and emotional response. After I played the game for about an hour, I was amazed at the marked difference in my mental and emotional states.

However, not all "Events" are designed to promote calm. With some, you have to think joyful, enthusiastic thoughts and increase the rate of your breathing--such as spinning a pinwheel.

Helpful mentors you'll encounter include The Royal Falconer, Kwan-Yin--Lady of Compassion, Mila-Rugom, and Luna the White Wolf. You'll receive a magic bag created by the Lady Of The Woods, where you'll be able to store items that you collect on your journey--and use for other Events. For example, you'll need to pick a red rose from the courtyard to give as an offering to the Durga. You can save several areas to the bookmark section, in case you want to go back. Sophia guides you when you first start a game, but when you load it another time, you can bypass this introduction and just head right into the gameplay.

The Journey to the Wild Divine - The Passage comes in an attractive, sturdy box which includes:

*CD-Rom Software featuring spectacular high-definition 3-D graphics and video
*More than 40 unique energy and breathing "Events"
*Install disks for both PC and Macintosh
*Easy-to-use "Magic Ring" biofeedback sensors
*"Light Stone" energy translator
*Supports upcoming multi-user, online experiences
*Original Soul Flight music CD
*Companion Guide and User's Manual

The music that accompanies the game is filled with gorgeous orchestration from the Soul Flight CD, performed by The Wild Divine Band. Featuring Kurt Smith and Andy McEwen, the band's music (which is sold separately, as well) is intended to have Transformational Effects that can help facilitate the journey of the soul.

The Journey to Wild Divine is a groundbreaking tool for stress-relief, mindfulness, and meditation--promoting a sense of well-being and health. I highly recommend this visionary gift to humanity.

(To see 6 color screen shots of this computer game visit http://janetboyer.com/Journey_To_Wild_Divine.html)

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