Meditate to the Binaural Beat

Humans have enjoyed and benefited from music for thousands of years.  Music has been used to create all kinds of ambience, from a fun birthday party to livening up conferences to creating deep states of relaxation in therapy sessions.  Binaural beats belong to the last genre of sounds created to induce relaxation and meditative states and is an emerging form of sound wave therapy.

Binaural Beat was discovered in 1837, by a physicist named Heinrich Wilhelm Dove, who discovered that listening to certain tones of sound could actually induce certain states of mind.  In this form of sound, the right and left ears listen to two slightly different frequency tones, and the brain perceives the tone as one. For example – If you listen to 310hz in your left ear and 300hz in your right ear, your brain will make up the difference and hear an imaginary tone of 10hz (310hz – 300 hz).  The made up difference in tone is called a binaural beat. When your brain makes up the difference, it will start to resonate with the 10hz binaural beat, meaning your  brainwaves will be at a frequency of 10hz.

What then are the different brain wave states?

• Gamma waves produced increased mental activity, including perception, fear, problem solving and consciousness. The frequency is above 40 Hz.
• Beta waves are associated with thinking actions, anxiety, and the feeling of being stressed and fall between 13 and 25 Hz.
• Alpha waves are responsible for relaxed focus and  range between 7 and 13 Hz.
• Theta waves deal with sleep and deep relaxation. Those who practice deep meditation find themselves in a theta state, where waves range between 4 and 7 Hz.
• Delta waves are below 4 Hz induce very deep sleep, which is when the body repairs and rejuvenates itself.

Binaural beats can be created for all ranges to induce the desired brain wave state. You can change how you feel simply by listening to specific binaural beats frequencies that correspond to those feelings. If you want to feel active and alert, or if you want to feel calm and fall asleep, listening to those specific tones of frequency can create the desired result.

This form of sound is mainly used for relaxation and to create meditative states. Some potential benefits include reduction in stress, anxiety, pain, improved focus, concentration mood, and deeper meditative states.

While it is deemed to be harmless and beneficial, it always best to consult your health care provider to gauge if this is right for you. It is best to avoid listening while undertaking tasks that require alertness and full attention, such as driving. Conditions needed to listen to binaural beats are

1) A pair of stereo headphones and music system.

2) About 20 minutes of time set aside for listening.

3) A quiet place without distraction.

If the conditions are right for you, listen to this calming binaural beat video.