Spatio‐temporal dynamics of alpha activity during the resting state is characterized by alternation between ordered and disordered states. The ordered state exhibits a variety of phase patterns. We found that the duration distributions of these states and phase patterns obey power laws. These results suggest that the appearance of phase patterns and the alternation between ordered and disordered states are not just due to noise but products of internal dynamics of the brain. We discuss the possibility that these dynamics are manifestation of chaotic itinerancy in the brain dynamics. © 2004 American Institute of Physics