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 use of a biofeedback device in order to diagnose the most effective way to treat certain disorders is a relatively new institution, especially in the world of Western medicine.

Electronic medical equipment has enabled physicians to have much more accurate readings of how the body reacts to certain outside stimulation, and does what must be done to it in order to get to react in the desired way.

The idea of biofeedback circles around the concept of being able to control the body’s natural healing abilities through a trial and error process.

Whether the conscious mind is aware of it or not, the body reacts in certain predictable ways to particular mental states that the person undergoing biofeedback analysis can control. In other words, certain mental states and levels of relaxation may be able to affect things such as skin temperature, blood pressure, or circulation.

By implementing electronic biofeedback device, it’s possible to measure exactly what state a patient has to be in in order to get the desired result. By being able to recognize and control what causes these changes to take place, a person is able to take control of their own bodies natural healing abilities.

Sessions involving a biofeedback device are often done in a laboratory setting, and are not necessarily the most comfortable of circumstances to be. Since the use of electronic recording devices is required in order to measure the different metrics of the body, the patient has to be wired up to heart monitors, brainwave sensors, and a plethora of other electronic intrusions into their personal space.

In some ways, this can disrupt the control aspect of the experiment, since it’s difficult to attain levels of relaxation and passiveness that you would if you didn’t have half a dozen wires leading off of your body. This is one of the reasons why repeated sessions are not often recommended, since they can add stress to a person’s life, which is not helpful when they are already suffering from stress related conditions.

However, since the biofeedback device that is typically employed uses modern medical technology in order to gain his readings, only one biofeedback session may be required in order to diagnose the proper course of action.

After just a single session, a person can learn to calibrate and rank their own personal states of relaxation. The machine can tell you exactly how relaxed you actually are, based on readings it’s getting from your body.

Whatever thoughts that are going through your head that are enabling you to relax are therapeutic, and from that moment you’ll know how to put yourself into that relaxed state of mind at will, and at any point in time that you desire.

On the other hand, a biofeedback device can tell you what states of mind will promote a state of distress, and cause your bio-signs to phase into an unhealthy state. In very short order, a person can “diagnose” the way that they relax, and rise to an entirely new level of control over the inner workings of their own bodies.
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.