Brainwave entrainment is a method to stimulate the brain into entering a specific state by using a pulsing sound, light, or electromagnetic field. The pulses elicit the brain’s ‘frequency following’ response, encouraging the brainwaves to align to the frequency of a given beat.
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The concept of brainwave entrainment sounds very technical, and indeed to be created for specific benefits, the techniques and protocols can be very complex. However, understanding what brainwave is doesn’t have to be difficult. Human beings have used the phenomenon of Frequency Following Response (FFR) for millennium, after all. Visualize a primitive human tribe gathered together and dancing or swaying hypnotically with the rhythm of a drum beat, imagine the hypnotic trance created by the repeating rhythms, and you have an understanding of the underlying principles of brainwave entrainment.

But let’s back up a little bit. Your brain produces brainwaves, and these brainwaves are measured in frequency (Hertz, or Hz), which is how speedy they are; and in amplitude, which is how strong they are. Your experience of your consciousness at any time depends on the brainwaves you are producing at that moment. This is a simplistic explanation, but say you are feeling anxious, even panicky-your brainwaves are very fast, a very high frequency. As you calm down, your brainwaves slow down, through the beta frequency range, which is your usual wide-awake functioning state, down into alpha, which is the brainwave of relaxation and hypnosis, down further into theta, which is a state of consciousness even though the brainwaves are too slow to support thought. Finally, you drift all the way down into delta, the brainwave of deep sleep. This explanation makes it sound like you only experience one type of brainwave at a time, but in fact, your brain produces all of these brainwave frequencies simultaneously, to a greater or lesser degree.

Frequency Following Response (FFR) is the phenomenon of the brain “synching up” with a frequency introduced from an external source, that falls within the range of frequencies produced by the brain naturally. Within a few minutes the brain will synchronize its primary brainwave frequency with the external source and a corresponding change in experience of consciousness will occur. It has been discovered by scientific experimentation and study that certain brainwave frequencies and patterns create specific effects on the mind and therefore on the body, and so protocols have been developed to help with all manner of illness and disease, from ADD/ADHD to migraines, and more. A very common use of brainwave entrainment, however, is as a form of passive meditation. Brainwave entrainment can occur through audio or visual input. In 200 AD, Ptolemy noted the effects on consciousness of watching sunlight flicker through a spinning wheel. People who are prone to epilepsy, however, should not use visual methods of brainwave entrainment.
Brainwave entrainment is a method to stimulate the brain into entering a specific state by using a pulsing sound, light, or electromagnetic field. The pulses elicit the brain’s ‘frequency following’ response, encouraging the brainwaves to align to the frequency of a given beat.

This ‘frequency following’ response of brainwave entrainment can be seen in action with those prone to epilepsy. If a strobe flashes at their seizure frequency, the brain will ‘entrain’ to the flashing light, resulting in a seizure.

On the positive side, this same mechanism is commonly used to induce many brainwave states; such as a trance, enhanced focus, relaxation, meditation or sleep induction. The brainwave entrainment effectively pushes the entire brain into a certain state.

Brainwave entrainment works for almost everyone. It is a great way to lead your mind into states that you might usually have difficulty reaching, allowing you to experience what those states feel like.

THE HYPE
There is a lot of marketing hype around brainwave entrainment. It is sold with promises of increasing IQ, promoting weight loss, ‘mind-tripping’, enhancing creativity, concentration, inducing spiritual states and more.

While these claims are not entirely true, they are not altogether false either. In practice, the claims are based on an overly-simplistic view of how the brain and the brainwaves function.
THE RUB
People are very seldom deficient in a certain brainwave type in all areas of their brain. Usually the distribution is much spottier, with an excess in one area and a deficiency in another.

We are all different, especially when it comes to the distribution of our brainwaves. Boosting a certain brainwave state may be beneficial for one person, and emotionally uncomfortable for another. Without knowing each person’s starting position, entrainment can be rather ‘hit and miss’.

If brainwave entrainment leaves you with unwanted side-effects (see below) or discomfort, you’re probably encouraging a range of brainwaves that are already excessive in some area of your brain. The way around this is to get a brain map to see what your brain’s strengths and weaknesses are, and see what (if any) brainwaves could use some encouragement.