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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Our fast paced lives leave many of us seeking stress relief, a more relaxed, peaceful state of mind. We yearn for a “quiet mind” free of the jumbled unrelated thoughts that characterize our normal state of awareness and we seek the benefits of a more focused, creative mind in our daily work. Students come to me seeking stress relief from the practice of meditation, which is the practice of quieting the mind. The practice of meditation is difficult and time consuming for many people; but some amazing technology called Brain Wave Synchronization makes the benefits of a quiet stress free mind accessible to anyone.
Brainwave Synchronization utilizes binaural beat frequencies to entrain the brain in an alpha state.
The alpha state is the scientific term for a quiet, stress free mind It is based on brainwaves at a frequency of 8 to 12hz. Alpha brainwave states are typically associated with contemplation, visualization, and accessing deeper levels of creativity. When rhythms called binaural beat frequencies are presented to the brain, the brain synchronises its own electric cycles producing comparable states of mind, such as deep relaxation or heightened wakefulness. For example, if a 315 Hz sine wave is played into the right ear and a 325 Hz one into the left ear, the brain produces a phantom frequency of 10 Hz, in the alpha range and begins to synchronise its own wave activity to it. The Alpha range is associated with stress relief and relaxation. The brain is entrained to this Alpha frequency, and enters a relaxed state of mental awareness or reflection providing stress free, deep rest, and calm.
With brainwave synchronization things are very certain, because it does not depend on any doing of yours.
These binaural beat frequencies can be played on your stereo or portable music device with headphones, and you hear music. It is portable and can be used anywhere to relieve stress and create a state of deep, quiet awareness. This is the stress free, relaxed mental state in which meditation can occur. While you are in that moment of quiet awareness, if you can also be aware from the very beginning, as the minds starts changing its waves…you become more alert, more watchful – what is happening? – and you will see the mind is falling asleep…the one who is seeing the mind falling asleep is your being, and that (alert watching entity) is the end result of all meditation. Brainwave synchronization cannot create this awareness, but it can create the stress free, relaxed mental state where creativity and focus can occur.
This technology can certainly create within ten minutes a a Quiet, stress free mind state that you may not be able to create in years of effort.
Brainwave Synchronization is a tool that can be used to reduce stress and create a quiet, focused state of Mind quickly and easily. It is portable and can be used during a break at work or at home for stress relief and relaxation.
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.