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.
nature sounds to sleep to | what is the frequency of a wave
So many of us are dealing with the time of alone, coping with the mystery of what happened to the dreams we visualized as children and young women. Now, more than ever, we are living our lives without partners, romance, financial support, sexual satisfaction, human touch, and the gaze of love that nurtures our spirit. It is an epidemic of grand proportions! There is significant lonliness in the 21st Century and women are the greatest casualties of this phenomenon.

Lonliness

I remember reading an article in the early Nineties, while I was living in New York City, which stated that more people than ever are living alone, depressed, broken hearted and dying of lonliness. It actually said that, ‘we are dying from lonliness’. It was shocking to see it on paper, but as I thought of it I could see why that would be true. I remember looking out the window of my New York City high rise apartment thinking, ‘there are millions of people out there, why am I so alone?’ It seemed unfathomable how could I be sharing the streets with a million New Yorkers and still feel so disconnected? What is going on here?
More than any other time in history we are isolated from connection, community and our sense of belonging. Our modern day lives are filled from the moment we awake until we go to sleep at night. We are moving from place to place faster, commuting alone in our cars, keeping to ourselves on public transit, and yet surrounded by thousands of people who are also alone. Work hours are longer, the distance to work is greater, the pressures of modern day life are heavier, and the divorce rate is higher than ever before in history. Single mom’s are a rapidly growing population in America, often left to fend for themselves in a time when two income households are almost the only way to make ends meet. Many modern day women choose to have careers as a way of supporting themselves, to be in control of their own financial security, instead of being financially dependent on a husband as many of our mothers were. This is very different from the paradigm of our female ancestors, when most women were married right out of high school or College, financially dependent on their husband and under the control of his generosity or lack there of. More men are living at home with their parents until later in life. Family oriented villages and supportive communities are rapidly becoming a thing of the past, with more and more young people moving to the cities to pursue their dreams. The personal computer, the ipod, and cell phones keep the unseen walls wrapped tightly around us. We are increasingly bound to our own little worlds and all of this is occurring at a time of over population, where there are so many possible mates and yet so few coming together. It seems that the foundation of our social fabric is shredding at the seams.

Some like to blame the sexual revolution of the sixties, why settle for one partner when you can have many? Others say it is because the power of a woman who makes her own money is intimidating and emasculating to men, and yet others believe that the sexual influences of media and the degradation of a woman’s beauty to only super model appeal is a great culprit. Our values are decreasing at extraordinary rates and the mirror to the true beauty and essence of each of us, as the embodiment of love and innocence, is harder to see. The result is greater isolation of human beings from one another. This is new territory for women, this time of alone, this isolation from love, this Exile on Main Street America, and most of us are navigating it without a map.

Yet deep within our cells, men and women alike, are brimming with the desire for connection. Exile is known to be the worst of all tortures world wide, and yet we are doing it to ourselves everyday, in every city and every state. At the root of exile is self-exile, and the many ways in which we disconnect from our true and authentic selves.

Self-Exile

Self-exile is the place where we abandon ourselves, the place where we allow what is less than our uniqueness, our worthiness, our creativity, our innocence, our joy and our POWER to rule. Self-exile is the common thread of isolation, which can nestle into your body and into your bones as depression, addiction, low self-esteem, and a sense of not being good enough to partake in the loving connectedness of the human experience. As we lose our loving connections to each other and our nurturing community experiences, the act of self-exile poses a greater and greater threat to women, men and children universally.

Honoring Yourself in the Time of Alone

We begin with the women in the time of alone, this can be a tricky place to be especially if you want to be in a relationship. Many women are glad to be out of relationships and free to do what they like, but for those women who are unhappy in the time of alone, this can take a serious toll on their sense of self-worth. Even women in relationships can find themselves in the time of alone, it can summon any of us at anytime. In the time of alone, women can spend days, months, years wanting what they haven’t got, pining away for that perfect partner to appear, stuck in the misery of the victim or loser whose life seems of no value without that man, woman, partnership or outside support. These women can melt into the abyss of darkness, lost for ages and desperate to be saved. These are the women I am most concerned about for these are places where I have dwelled, and it is sad, scary and dark down there. When we go down, it is imperative to take ‘the flashlight’ with us. This is the light within us that is always alive, even when we don’t see it, the spark and ember of life and light is always burning. When you are deep in the dark turn it on, it will light your way so that the mystery of your truth and beauty can be discovered. We are divine and creative beings by nature, there is no need for any child of the universe to feel the emptiness and grief of that kind of despair. To these women I offer some new possibilities, ways into the lit pathway of wholeness, ways to honor yourself in the time of alone.
If you are looking for a partner, hire a Life Coach. A Life Coach is a partner who will go on a journey with you. A journey of self-discovery, of following your dreams, of connecting to your purpose and of creating the life you truly want to live. A Life Coach is someone who sees your dream with you, and believes in your ability to manifest your visions. A Life Coach is a cheerleader, hand holder, friend, partner, listener, sounding board, motivator and guide to help you move through your self-imposed limitations, your dark places, your negative self-talk and stagnation and into the goals you are dreaming of. A Life Coach is an accountability partner that keeps you on the track of where you want to be going. There is great value in putting together a team of support as you travel your path, working with a coach is a gift you give yourself, you are worth it and you deserve it. If you have been caught in a slump for a long time, this could be exactly the kind of support you need. Get ready to move and attract the life and partnership you truly desire, with this kind of support miracles do happen.

Great support can come to you through a woman’s group, like the Sacred Woman’s Circle, is a great way to create community, to give and receive support, to laugh, cry and share stories, to empower eachother in positive ways, and to see yourself whole in the eyes of another. A woman’s group is one of the best ways to nurture your feminine spirit and to know you are not alone. Find one or start your own, eat, drink and be merry as you gather the women. Women are natural supporters and nurturers of eachother, as women have gathered together for centuries, in their tribal councils, family holidays, bookclubs, they have held the fabric of community and connection together. A women’s group is a great source and resource for a more gratifying, heart centered and fulfilling life.

One of my favorite concepts for the single woman, is to ‘Marry Yourself’, in the meantime. Yes, I said marry yourselves; you need to be in partnership with yourself always, this is a beautiful gift you can give to yourself. Create a ceremony, invite your friends or do it alone, take the vows and promise to love and to accept, to nurture and to care, to have and to hold, in sickness, beauty, aging and health, and to be gentle and loving with your precious selves until death do you part. Write up the contract and keep it in a special place. A commitment to self is in essence a commitment to your greatest love, a powerful and nurturing partner who will be with you always. To understand this is priceless wisdom.

Invitation

It is essential that we are vigilant in our awareness to keep the negative self-talk and isolating thoughts from circling in our heads. Keeping the brainwaves stuck on the same old dial, repeating the same tunes of the abandoned child, is a modern age dilemma, that keeps us stuck in the muck. Pull out the flashlight and lighten up the space.

I honor women in the time of alone, I honor all women, men, children and animals in all stages of life. I honor the beauty and bounty of our world and our glorious blue planet. I honor the struggle for love and connection in these isolating times. And I invite you to join me in opening our circles even wider to hold the love of the world within. You are all invited into my sacred women’s circle, you are invited to a new community, you are invited to connect.
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.

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.
meditation and healing music | meditation music mp3 free download
Sleeplessness threatens our jobs, our relationships, and our health. It is a major public health issue that impacts the quality of life of millions of people. Insomnia affects everyone now and then, but for a larger part of the population than most people think chronic insomnia is a serious affliction. For anyone who tries and cannot fall asleep night after night the quality of life quickly diminishes as each day blends into the next. Therefore, you will need a safe, natural insomnia solution that guarantees to work for you.

Sleep deprivation has been linked to a host of physical and mental disorders. This article will explain what you can do to overcome this condition. Sleeping disorders can be a serious problem is left untreated. So it is wise to visit a doctor if it is regular. Sleep-deprived workers are inefficient, inattentive, and often just plain absent. They are more likely to suffer accidental death, strokes, heart disease, or depression than their well-rested peers.

Sleeping pills are seen by many as the easy way out of insomnia. These two sleeping pills are popular in the market, and as a testament to their popularity is the number of prescriptions written in 2004- around 35 million prescriptions for these sleeping pills. Sleeping pills can’t actually cure insomnia. They are at best a stopgap solution designed to tide you over until the causes of the problem abate. Sleep is important for your mental and physical well-being. When you’re not getting enough sleep or are not sleeping soundly, you may be tired, depressed, and irritable.

Brainwaves are also lead to a slower state to get asleep with no hassle. Brainwaves are also guided to a sleep state to prevent sleep interruptions in wee hours. Brainwave Entrainment, a potential cure for insomnia through brain re-training techniques, is the most promising breakthrough in insomnia research in decades. Brainwave Entrainment occurs when the subject listens to rhythmic sounds over a period of time.

Chronic pain is another sleep stealer. The insomnia solution here might be to talk to your doctor about more effective pain management. Chronic as the name suggests is the true thing. The chronic insomnia is the type more rare and the most serious one, with the Insomnia during longer than some weeks.

In sum, the insomniac will feel extremely tired, rundown and lethargic due to the low-quality sleep they manage to get. Generally speaking, there are two major types of insomnia, i.e. You will know that you are suffering from acute insomnia when you cannot sleep because of some apparent reason like noise, bright light, too much of heat or cold, incoming illness, recovering from illness, uncomfortable bed, and so on. Hoping you find the above mentioned insomnia solution helpful.
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.

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.
sleep chakra meditation music | play relaxing music
Sleeplessness is not as uncommon as some people think it is. Truth be told, about 10% of adults living in the United States have lack of sleep problems. Are these sleeplessness troubles life threatening? No, but that doesn’t mean they should be ignored, as they can negatively affect your life in a number of different ways. That said, start using a few easy and all natural sleep cures right now — such as the 7 listed below — and put sleeplessness behind you for good.

7 Natural Sleep Cures That Work…

– Bath Salts. Put these into a warm bath, slip in, and then soak for about 20 minutes. You can also use natural sleep oils as well: lavender, passionflower, valerian, etc.

– Herbal Tea. Certain herbal teas are proven to heighten relaxation and induce sleepiness. These teas — lavender, chamomile, passionflower, rose flower, etc — are cheap and can be picked up in most grocery stores. 1 cup before bed should do the trick.

– Glass of Warm Milk. The calcium will sooth jagged nerves and make relaxation easy, which thereby makes getting to sleep even easier. This is one of those sleep cures thats been used for YEARS by millions of people. It’s not the most effective sleep cure there is, but it does work.

– Colder Atmosphere. Turn the thermostat to about 65 to 68 degrees Fahrenheit. This temperature area promotes better sleep and reduces the likelihood of tossing and turning, which is usually brought on by excessive warmth If you don’t have an AC, then use fans and even ice packs to make your sleeping area colder.

– Lightless Room. Turn out all lights, even that night light! An ENTIRELY dark room is best for the body, which will now produce larger amounts of melatonin, the hormone which aids in deep, uninterrupted sleep.

– Deep Breathing. Slow inhales followed by even slower exhales. This is a very relaxing technique that raises blood oxygen levels, which is GOOD for your body.

– Sound Therapy. Probably the strangest (and most complex) of all natural sleep cures. Certain sounds & rhythms can actually decrease brainwave activity and make sleep easier to achieve. The brain copies these rhythms (usually from a CD) and then the person falls asleep almost instantly.
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.

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.
sleep tones | onnit alpha brain
Sleepless nights are on the rise as our lifestyles become increasingly stressful. While everybody experiences the occasional sleepless night, chronic insomnia occurs when sleep is disrupted for many nights in a row. Because sleep is so central to both physical and mental well-being, insomnia’s side-effects are diverse and far reaching. Let’s take a look at some of the most prevalent problems caused by lack of sleep:

1. Increased risk of accidents

Lack of sleep decreases alertness and impairs your reaction time. As a result, many insomniacs are at increased risk of injury and accident. In particular, traffic accidents can be a danger, and driving on insufficient sleep can be as bad as driving when drunk.

2. Marital stress & other relationship issues

It’s difficult to feel happy when you’re tired, and insomniacs are prone to irritability and depression. These issues are bad enough in themselves, but can also have a knock-on effect by causing difficulties in romantic and social relationships. Minor irritations become more significant when you’re sleep deprived, and it’s easy to lash out at your spouse/partner or other people, with the result that tension and run-ins with partners, friends, acquaintances or even complete strangers can increase dramatically.

3. Employment/work problems

Insomnia can also pose a hazard to your financial health, Whether you’re an employee or a business owner. The lack of alertness and increased irritability that come with sleep-deprivation can mean that it’s difficult to do your job properly, and to get along with colleagues. While everybody has the occasional bad day in the office, chronic poor performance is more likely to lead to you being fired, or poor performance in your business.

4. Weakened immune system & increased likelihood of illness

Insomnia can be devastating to your physical health too. The body requires sufficient sleep to maintain healthy functioning, and sleep deprivation can have a severe effect on your immune system, which can in turn make you more susceptible to a variety of illnesses.

5. Increased risk of addictions and other self-destructive behaviours

The sleep-deprived may turn to stimulating substances or behaviours in an effort to increase their energy and feel better. Unfortunately, most of these – such as caffeine, sugar and recreational drugs – are physically harmful, and will have a negative effect on your health, compounding the physical problems that insomnia itself causes.

Some may also turn to risky behaviours such as gambling or compulsive spending. Any good-feeling effects caused by such substances and behaviours is short term at best, and they do nothing to address the root of the problem.

These are just some of the main side-effects of insomnia, but the good news is that they can be reversed or avoided once normal sleeping patterns are resumed. But how do you do this?

Overcoming Insomnia’s Side Effects – Getting More Sleep Naturally

Many insomniacs turned sleeping pills, but these can be addictive, can disrupt vital REM sleep, and don’t really resolve the problem. One of the best ways to resolve insomnia naturally is to learn to relax properly in the evening, so the stresses of the day won’t keep you awake.

This is easier said than done however; but there’s one solution that many people have found effective, and that is using binaural beats for better sleep. Binaural beats are a type of brainwave entrainment technology, and they work by helping your brain to relax more easily.

When listening to a binaural beat recording for sleep improvement, your brain is exposed to sounds of specific frequencies. These frequencies become progressively slower as recording progresses, matching those which your brain produces naturally as it falls asleep. Thanks to a phenomenon known as the ‘frequency following effect’, the brain has a natural tendency to match (or entrain to) the frequencies in the recording.

As a result, regular use of the binaural beat recording at bedtime can make it easier to get your brain back into the habit of entering the deeply relaxed state that’s necessary for falling asleep. And once that happens, those horrible insomnia side effects will just be a distant memory.
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.

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.
binaural headphones | healing meditation music
Sleeping problems in toddlers are not going to solve themselves, nor are they just going to disappear because you want them to. And if you think that giving your toddler sleeping pills for his/her sleeping problems is a good solution, well, then you seriously have a screw loose.

If you’d rather avoid putting your precious little angel at risk for a whole host of possible long-term side-effects — most of which will be far more serious than minor sleeping problems in toddlers — you CAN NOT start forcing feeding him/her sleeping pills. Instead, you have to take a more natural approach to the problem; one that won’t harm your child while still being able to get the job done.

As you likely know, there aren’t a whole lot of adult sleeping problem remedies which can also be used for toddlers. This is why finding a solution for sleeping problems in toddlers can be so incredibly difficult — there just aren’t enough options. Luckily though, there is indeed one option that is not only 100% natural, it’s completely safe and amazingly effective for people of all ages. The insomnia treatment is called brainwave entertainment and it involves simple sound waves which lull all those listening to sleep.

How it Works

An elaborate collection of gentle pulsating beats, rhythmic drumming, and soothing tones will “communicate” with the brain instantly. This communication will alter the hyperactive state of listeners’ brainwaves into a “normal” state, one that is better suited for deep, uninterrupted sleep. And don’t worry about this treatment screwing with your childs brain chemistry, as it merely attempts to lower brainwave activity as opposed to ACTUALLY altering the way the brain operates.

How Fast Does it Work?

Sleeping problems in toddlers are best dealt with quickly, for both the sake of the child and for you — after all, you need sleep too, right? Luckily, brainwave entertainment is exactly that, lightning fast. Most people, including children & toddlers, are sleeping within 8-10 minutes of listening to a brainwave entertainment CD.

Does it Cost a Lot?

When it comes to solving sleeping problems in toddlers fast, this is one of the cheapest home remedies available. It’s a one time purchase of about $50-$70 and most CDs — the quality ones anyway — will have money back guarantees in case the treatment isn’t as effective as you would have liked. NEVER buy a brainwave or sleeptrack CD from a department store, stick with specialty websites that actually know what they’re doing.
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.

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.
new age music | free online meditation music
Sleeping problems are the last thing anybody needs. Life can be stressful and hectic enough without the added problems of sleeplessness. Relationships, marriage, children, work and money – you need energy to tackle all that the day has to throw at you.

Such sleeping problems like insomnia rob you of vital deep sleep. You may find it hard to get to sleep and find your sleep broken. You might wake up feeling no better than before you slept and more likely, worse; your body feeling achy and weary, and your head a blur.

Suffering from sleep deprivation can really knock your confidence and your mood. Millions of sick days a year are taken due to sleeping problems. Sleep deprivation accounts for thousands of deaths and accidents a year.

The effects of lack of sleep are very similar to those attributed to alcohol abuse. A sufferer may find their coordination and balance impaired, speech slurred and even suffer headaches and irritability.

Sleeping problems can affect the appearance of a sufferer. They may look haggard, with dark circles under their eyes and a pale, oily complexion. Most sufferers are embarrassed by the way they look and often avoid interaction with others and even eye contact.

This can deeply affect confidence and in some cases bring on anxiety and depression. Insomnia can lead to psychosomatic illnesses and negatively affect a sufferer’s quality of life. Truth is insomnia is a miserable condition which needs more attention than medical schools give it.

For those suffering, the effects of sleeping problems can be crippling. Sufferers often feel alone with no one to turn to who really understands their problem. Quite often doctors are at wits end with their patients and resort to prescribing sleep medication.

Often insomniacs are only too willing to take sleep medication and often request it from their doctors. But how safe are they and what about side effects? Sleep medication vary a great deal so it would be best to ask your doctor about this.

On a positive note, sleeping problems can be successfully rectified without the use of prescription sleep medication. There are far safer and natural ways to treat insomnia. Therapies such as hypnosis have proven to be popular and highly successful. Other therapies include brainwave entrainment. Whatever you try, it’s important to realize that you haven’t tried everything and that sleeping problems can be alleviated.
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.

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.
isochronic tones sleep | power of meditation
Sleeping disorders are fast becoming a major problem for the British population. One in twenty of us suffer from excessive daytime drowsiness caused by poor sleep that is believed to be responsible for 1 in 5 motorway accidents. One in 50 British adults are on prescribed medicine to help with sleep, and there are probably as many people self-prescribing over-the-counter remedies. This article will set about trying to explain why we are suffering from a lack of sleep and present some ways to combat sleep deprivation.

The reason we are tired is because we have a sleep debt. Think of your sleep debt as a bank overdraft; if you have a big overdraft you simply have to make monthly payments to meet the minimum requirements, plus pay off the interest, to pay off the debt. Similarly if you have a sleep debt you have to begin paying it off (getting adequate sleep) plus the interest (catch up on what you have missed).

Before the advent of the light bulb, it is safe to say that people got enough sleep. If you have ever been on holiday to a relatively poor country you would have seen this first hand as people rise (wake) and set (sleep) with the sun. Even the advent of fire thousands of years ago would not have produced enough light to interrupt our sleep rhythms and was probably used at night more for warmth and protection.

Our bodies are designed to be in a rhythm with the sun. As the sun rises in the morning, cortisol – an awakening hormone begins to rise. This cortisol rhythm peaks at around midday and begins to drop off in the afternoon. As the sun begins to set, the production of melatonin – a sleep hormone – begins to rise, making us sleepy. During the first few hours of sleep there is an increased production of growth and repair hormones, such as DHEA, testosterone and growth hormone. This fine balance in the hormonal system is what keeps our body in rhythm; however, modern lifestyles upset this finely tuned hormonal rhythm.

Stress is a big problem today, be it emotional, physical, chemical or electromagnetic. Any type of stress causes an increase in you stress hormones – cortisol being the major one. If your cortisol levels are artificially high in the evening when it should be dropping off, it will retard the production of melatonin, and will make getting to sleep a hard job. It will also disrupt the production of your growth and repair hormones which make it hard to recover from the rigours of everyday life, such as recovering from a work-out, a physical day at work or from an injury.

Another tendency today is to sit up till late in a brightly lit room watching television, surfing the net or doing other stimulating activities, then get up early for work the next day and hibernate on the weekends. The pineal gland, which produces melatonin (your sleep hormone) sits just behind the eyes and is very light sensitive. Any type of light stimulation in the evening suppresses melatonin, when it should be rising to make you sleepy, making getting to sleep hard work. This also includes sleeping in a room where there is light pollution from the street or the house.

There are many other factors that can disrupt the fine balance in your hormonal system that can impact on sleep, blood sugar control being one. Cortisol is also an important hormone in regulating blood sugar levels, for example, when your blood sugar is low, cortisol will be released to breakdown stored fats and protein for the liver to convert into sugars. Eating meals too late at night or eating too many simple sugars, such as desserts, sweets, chocolate etc…before bed, will cause blood sugar problems, and affect your sleep. A classic sign that this is happening is if you wake in the night for no apparent reason – the poor blood sugar regulation has caused cortisol to be released into your blood, waking you up. Similarly eating foods with toxins (pesticides, colourings, flavourings etc…) or stimulants (sugar, aspartame or caffeine) can also cause deregulation in the hormonal and immune system, making it hard to sleep.

The brain is an electrochemical organ, generating up to 10 watts of electricity. The brain has 4 categories of brain waves, all with different frequency and amplitude. As we wind down at night then go to sleep we pass down though the different brain waves and end up in delta brainwaves, which are of low frequency and promote sleeping and dreaming. Any type of electromagnetic field (EMF) in the bedroom can disrupt these brainwaves and prevent adequate sleep. Even electrical wiring in the walls gives off an EMF that can be picked up with the right equipment. An EMF detector can be purchased from price-pottenger.org for $20 US and can be used to detect any EMF in your bedroom. Once you know where the EMF’s are, simply move your bed, or change your sleeping position so that your head is far away as possible from any EMF at night.

Any kind of electrical instrument in the bedroom that gives off an EMF could be disrupting your sleep, such as a TV, electric alarm clock, radio, electric blanket, mobile phone etc. and should be unplugged at the very least or removed all together from the bedroom, after all the bedroom is a place for sleep.

10 tips to get adequate sleep

1. Be in bed by 10 and asleep by 10:30pm and get up between 6 and 7 am everyday.

2. Eat well balanced meals throughout the day remove all stimulants, toxins and processed foods from your diet

3. Turn off the TV and computer by 8pm

4. Take a hot bath or do some breathing, meditation or stretches before bed

5. Light candles instead of using bright lights at night

6. Sleep in total darkness

7. Move all electrical items out of the bedroom

8. Don’t exercise past 8pm as it elevates cortisol levels

9. Pay off your sleep debt by getting a few extra hours here and there (weekends, lunch time nap etc…)

10. Try this supplement protocol from Coach Poliquin

• Evening meal take 4 Uber Mag

• Evening snack take 4 Uber Mag

• Right before bed rub 2 pumps of Topical Mag behind each knee

Those with children can also use these tips to help them sleep adequately too. Young children require more sleep than adults so they would need to go to bed earlier than 10pm. You children would need much less magnesium.
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.

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.
tony toni toné anniversary | relaxing bedtime music
Sleeping disorder is a common problem. But it depends on the degree or intensity of the disorder to tag it as Insomnia or not. Often, people having a late sleeping phase or poor sleeping quality are misdiagnosed as Insomniacs. When sleep disorders become persistent and cause some functional impairment to the patient when he or she is awake, we call it Insomnia.

Broadly there are three kinds of Insomnia considering the degree of illness. Transient Insomnia occurs for days and sometimes for a couple of week. When the problem persists for months, two or three months in particular, that becomes the acute stage. In worst cases Insomnia lasts for a year. Thats the chronic case of Insomnia. Sometimes this illness is also classified as primary and secondary. It is believed that 8 out of 10 Insomnia patients are having secondary Insomnia, which is a side effect of some mental or physical illness. Primary Insomnia is equivalent to acute and chronic Insomnia levels.

Stress, anxiety, fear, depression, mental disorders, intake of different kinds of psychoactive drugs having caffeine, cocaine etc, stimulant ingredients, hyperthyroidism etc., can all cause Insomnia. Specifically for women, hormonal shifts during menstruation or menopause and estrogen level are chief denominators. It has been observed that women are more prone to this illness than men. Jet lag, work shift at night can also create Insomniac problems.

Incomplete or insufficient sleep creates a malfunctioning of bodily organs. It affects metabolism. Insomnia patients suffer from acute headaches, feel fatigued and dizzy on a constant basis. They lack concentration, get irritated easily, become sluggish and lose their work efficiency. Persistent Insomnia makes a person blunt. It decreases sensitivity, rationality and at acute stages creates hallucinations. Severe and chronic Insomnia can lead to permanent collapse of both physical and mental health.

But Insomnia is curable and one of the most effective ways to fight back this illness is Binaural Beats. This is a special sound effect, discovered by Heinrich Wilhelm Dove in 1839 that creates sensation in superior olivary nucleus, which is a part of brain stem. This soundwave generates a relaxing effect that helps the patient to get into sleep.

Binaural Beats are popularly known as healing beats. Though there are some controversies regarding the degree of relief it can make, these binaural soundwaves are widely used in curing Insomnia. The treatment involves a special audio beat. When a patient listens to it, the brain begins to respond with the pulse. These waves help the patient to change his or her brainwaves naturally and the patient can choose to relax.

Thoughts running inside patients mind gradually fades and finally the patient falls into sleep. The most important aspect of this treatment is that it is absolutely free of any side-effects. You do not have to go for any kind of medication. There are some controversies regarding its effectiveness in curing acute or chronic insomnia, but Binaural Beats have miraculous impacts on people having transient Insomnia. The ever increasing number of people opting for this treatment only shows its positive abilities of curing Insomnia naturally.
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.

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.
guided relaxation | binaural beats hypnosis
Sleep. In theory it seems so easy and as adults, it is something that most of us long to have more of! Yet it is also one of the most perplexing subjects when it comes to our mind and sometimes we just can’t get to sleep! You need to know what is causing you not to sleep and more importantly – how to go to sleep fast!

Sleep is a crazy, crazy thing sometimes! How funny and hard to understand is it that sometimes when we are for example, driving on a long road trip, radio blaring, enough caffeine in you to wake the dead, windows down and the wind blowing in your face that we struggle to stay awake or even that important (but boring!) business meeting where you get a case of “the nods” even if your boss is talking directly at you!

And yet at other times we will be home in bed, tired and ready to go to sleep, comfy soft pillow, perfect temperature and perhaps even a loved one snuggling into you and amazingly you toss and turn and take turns staring at the clock and also the ceiling all the while getting more and more frustrated at not being able to fall asleep!

When all environmental conditions are right for sleep and you just can’t drift off the frustration can cause you to suffer even more and then sleep deprivation starts! It is not surprising that sleep deprivation is a major torture tool and just ask a new parent how good they feel when they can’t get a good nights sleep!

Tossing and turning can be caused by many things but the most common is an overactive or stressed brain, thoughts or imagination. Money problems, work problems, relationships, the days events can all cause our brain to be overactive. What you need to do to go to sleep fast is the ability to turn off your mind and reach the perfect brainwave patterns for sleep.

Always remember that the quality of sleep is more important than the quantity. This is why it is possible for us to actually sleep less hours without feeling sleepless. If you want to sleep less and still stay energized try these helpful techniques.

Spending more time outdoors can have great effects on your mind and spirit. The cleansing feeling you get especially when outdoors in a location that is naturally pleasing and relaxing to you is very beneficial to a good nights sleep.

If available, have a quick power nap through the day when you get tired. Be careful to not actually fall deep into sleep as this will make you feel worse. Just a quick 15 minutes or so.

Try a few different temperatures in your bedroom. Most people sleep better when in a cool room with some decent ventilation.

After trying these methods and still failing to go to sleep fast then perhaps you should give brain frequency recordings a try. Using a sleep program that uses binaural beats mp3 and isochronic tones, it’s no longer hard to fall into a quick relaxation state and get you started with important REM sleep.

Instead of tossing and turning for hours on end, just have this system immediately downloaded to your computer, plug in your headphones, and press play. Almost immediately you’ll be placed into a more relaxed state which will quickly transport you to that state of consciousness you’ve been desperately trying to get all night before you even realize that it’s working!
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.

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.
healing meditation | meditation nature sounds
Sleep, or lack of it, is a big issue to many people these days, so why do so many people have trouble sleeping and what they can do about it? Also why do we need sleep and how much sleep do we really need?

The Importance Of Sleep

We all take good sleep for granted until the time comes when we no longer have it. Then it becomes something of a luxury. When we are not getting enough good quality sleep we become acutely aware of the importance of it because we know how awful we feel when we are not getting it.

Why do we feel so awful? Well it’s because sleep is essential to restore and heal the body and particularly, the brain. Even minimal sleep loss can affect your energy levels, mood, concentration, memory and ability to handle stress.

There is a lot of debate about how much sleep we need and that it can be just as bad to regularly have too much sleep as too little. The amount of sleep we need is individual, but 7-8 hours is about the right amount for most people to function at their optimal level.

Causes of Insomnia

Insomnia doesn’t just appear for no reason, there’s always something that is causing it. So, what are the possible causes?

There are many things that affect our sleep and these things can include:

anxiety and stress
depression
disruption of normal sleep patterns due to travel or shift work
drugs
certain types of food and caffeinated drinks
alcohol
Environmental factors (Is your bed comfortable? Is your bedroom too hot, too cold, too light or is there just too much noise from a snoring partner or the street outside?)
medication
menopause
other medical causes

Obviously speak to your doctor to help you identify the cause if you don’t think you know it already.

The most common reasons for insomnia though are anxiety and stress and I’ll be revealing ways in which we can reduce the impact that these factors have on our sleep.

Sleeping Pills

Anyone who’s suffered insomnia for any length of time will have probably reached for the prescription sleeping pills. These do seem like the answer for a time too. Sometimes for a temporary period of stress, they CAN be an answer. But, they are not meant for long term use as long term users will be tempted to take more and more pills to get the same effect and as they become addicted, they loose the will and ability to manage without them.

Sleeping pills don’t just have the ability to create addiction, they can also cause:

daytime grogginess
amnesia
disturbed dreams
driving impairment
breathing difficulties
nausea and vomiting
depression
hallucinations
poor concentration

Added to that long list, if you HAVE been taking sleeping pills over a long period, it’s likely that you’ll eventually have to face the challenge of getting over the addiction and as with any addiction, this will not be an easy or pleasant task.

Not too good then….

So, what can we do? Let’s begin with the more straight forward stuff:

What To Do And Not To Do Before Going To Sleep

Don’t:

drink coffee
eat large meals
consume large quantities of alcohol
watch tv or make phone calls in bed
do vigorous exercise (except for having sex!)
stay in bed if you’ve been awake for over an hour, get up and go to another room, have a cup of warm milk or camomile tea. Read a book for about half an hour or do something boring like the ironing (NO TV!) and then go back and try again. Doing these things can distract you from the worries that may have been racing through your mind and consequently you will feel more relaxed and be able to go to sleep afterwards as a result. If you are choosing to read a book, read something that calms you though, a “cliff-hanger” won’t have the right effect!

Do

have a routine, go to bed at regular times
have a hot bath an hour before bed, the reduction in temperature after the bath prepares your body for sleep
make sure your bedroom is quiet and dark and if necessary use earplugs and an eye mask
make sure that your bedroom is not too hot or your duvet is not too heavy, if you get overheated you won’t sleep well
where possible, make sure that you have a good quality comfortable bed. You spend approximately a third of your life (and if you live an average life span, that’s 25 years!) in bed, so don’t scrimp when it comes to buying one

So, How Much Sleep Do We Need?

Sleep Cycles

We have different stages of sleep and there are 5 of them as follows:

Stage 1

This is light sleep and you can drift in and out of this sleep and can be awakened easily. The eyes move more slowly and muscle activity slows. The brain produces theta waves.

Stage 2

Eye movement stops and brain waves become generally slower. There are bursts of brain activity known as sleep spindles.

Stage 3

Beta brainwaves make up around 50% of the brain’s activity during stage 3 whilst the other 50% being the slow “delta” brainwaves.

Stage 4

The brain produces mostly delta brainwaves.

Stage three and four are the deepest stages of sleep. There is no eye movement or muscle activity

Stage 5 – REM Sleep

This occurs 70-90 minutes after we fall asleep and our brains are very active and this is when we dream. Our eyes dart around but our muscles are paralysed.

During a goods nights sleep we should have at least five full sleep cycles.

It is better to wake up at the end of a cycle rather than in the middle of one, so if you have five 90 minute cycles equalling seven hours sleep, this will be better than having eight hours with the sixth sleep cycle being broken.

If you are woken in the middle of deep sleep, (stages 3 or 4) this can result in you feeling groggy for much of the day.

The Racing Mind

One of the most common factors that may cause you to have trouble sleeping is a busy or “racing” mind. Once our brain is not focusing on carrying out any practical tasks, it may well decide to take the opportunity to try to sort out all our problems instead, while we are lying there trying to get to sleep.

If you find what’s stopping you sleeping is that you just can’t stop thinking of your problems and what you’re going to do about them, then get up, get a notepad and write them down. Once you have done this, you won’t have the worry that you will forget these things by morning. You should then be able to relax and go to asleep.

Meditation

If after writing your list you still feel a little unsettled, then one of the best ways to say goodbye to sleep problems is to use meditation. If you don’t know how to meditate, the information can easily be found on the internet, but personally I’d advise buying yourself a sleep CD or MP3 as they involve meditation techniques specifically for getting you to sleep and they really are effective.

Happy sleeping!
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.