I’ve been using Centerpointe Holosync for some years now and have reached their Purification level 2, which means I’m about half way through their program. Most people who know me say that I’ve improved for the better over the years I’ve been listening to it.

It’s a good system – I wouldn’t have been using it for so long if it wasn’t – but I’m always open to new ideas.

Recently, I came across the Meditation Program (look at that link but don’t buy it from there. I’ll explain why later). It makes some pretty bold claims. So let’s examine some of them:

They say that Centerpointe is mind-numbing, dis-engaging and outdated. Mind-numbing and dis-engaging I’d agree with. The first CD track is 30 minutes of rainfall with occasional chimes, the second CD track is 30 minutes of rainfall. But then you’re supposed to be dropping down to lower and lower levels of brain activity, so I’m not sure if that’s a bad thing. After all, the aim of Centerpointe is to drop you down to deeper brain levels. It’s not aimed at the top 30 charts. Besides, I’ve been listening to these CDs for years now and find them kind of relaxing. So I guess that’s a kind of “horses for courses” criticism.

Moving on to the outdated claim. As a layman, I’m not particularly qualified to decide on that. But Holosync is, by Centerpointe‘s own admission, a 20 year old technology. So when it was “born” the CD had only recently been invented, cell (or mobile) phones were just about “luggable”, the iPod wasn’t even a twinkle in Apple’s eye and your average PC came with a 5.25″ floppy disk and, if you were rich, a hard disk that might hold one low resolution picture taken by a modern digital camera. So the odds are that, yes, Meditation Program‘s claim that Holosync is outdated is quite likely. Of course, outdated doesn’t mean “doesn’t work”, just that there could be something newer and better available.

Certainly the Meditation Program is quicker than Centerpointe. The Purification level CD I’ve got says that it will take a year or more for me to complete just the current level I’m on. I’d agree and, from past experience, it would probably take me personally nearer to 18 months to get through the level.

Meditation Program only has 8 levels. Each one can be completed in around a week, maybe stretching to 10 days per level if you want to take it easy. I’m currently on my third week and listening to level 3, so I’d agree with that timescale.

The backing sounds are more varied. There’s music swirling around. And the music changes after levels 1 and 2 to something different on 3 and 4. So you won’t get bored.

The binaural beats are a lot more obvious on Meditation Program. A lot more obvious. With Centerpointe, they’re barely noticeable. With Meditation Program they’re very obvious. I don’t know whether this is good or bad. My guess is that it makes no difference – your brain will notice them whichever way they are presented.

Centerpointe allows subliminal messages to be encoded on the CDs once you get past the initial level. Meditation Program doesn’t offer this. Whether this matters to you depends on your view on subliminal messages. But it could be fairly irrelevant when you look at the next point.

The full Centerpointe program will take years to complete and at a shade under $200 for the first level and then a dozen more levels to go through over the years, it’s going to set you back quite a lot of cash.

The Meditation Program costs $125 on CD or $85 to download. The downloadable version is cheaper when you buy it through the discounted links later on in this review. It will take you around 8 weeks to complete if you fast track it, up to about 8 months if you want to be more relaxed in your progress. Either way, there will be plenty of cash left over to buy subliminal CDs to your heart’s content.

So, what’s my overall verdict?

Well, although I really like Centerpointe and have done for years, I’ve moved across to the Meditation Program for my daily listening routine. Partly because I’m impatient and want to reach the deepest level sooner than 2014, which is the absolute earliest I’d reach it with Centerpointe. Rather than some time late February or early March this year, which is when I’ll reach it with  Meditation Program.

One other thing to mention. Centerpointe is CD only, so it arrives through the post. Meditation Program has the option of being sent on CD (you’ll get all 8 levels when you order) or you can download it. If you opt to download, make sure you’re on a fast connection. If you’re on dialup or slow broadband, it will be quicker to order by post. The files are b-i-g. About 800Mb.

But if you’re on a good internet connection, save yourself some extra cash by using one of these two discounted order links:

Meditation program, discounted download, credit card

Meditation program, discounted download, PayPal

Those links will take you straight through to a specially discounted price of $67 (a bit like some sites offer a place to put in a coupon code).

Whichever method you choose, I think you’ll notice a positive difference in yourself.