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 human animal was not designed to live in concrete boxes isolated from the natural world. We are pastoral animals, and haven’t yet had time to adapt to an artificial, urbanite life style. Our technological genius has made us prosperous, but has alienated us from the world of Nature. We live in an increasingly ersatz environment, where everything conspires to place us under stress. Noise levels are far higher in a city than in the countryside. The pace of life is faster, the pollution greater and the landscape infinitely bleaker. Like displaced children we’ve been torn from the protection of Mother Earth and forced to make our own way in a strange and hostile environment. Many city dwellers try to maintain a tenuous link with the aboriginal world by stocking their homes with exotic house-plants and tanks filled with tropical fish. At the weekends they follow leisure pursuits which restore their contact with the wide open spaces: sailing, hill climbing, bird watching or camping. The middle classes buy second homes far removed from the madding crowd, while the wealthy pay a king’s ransom to hunt, shoot and fish – activities which were the necessary survival chores in peasant communities. Deep down we yearn for these back-to-nature, wilderness experiences.
Zoologists have noticed that the health of animals frequently deteriorates when they’re removed from their natural environment and placed in captivity. In these artificial surroundings they suffer stress-related diseases which they don’t experience in the wild, like high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease. The eminent zoologist Desmond Morris was convinced that mankind now suffers a similar fate in the confines of its concrete zoos. ‘The modern human animal is no longer living in conditions natural for his species,’ he wrote. ‘Trapped, not by a zoo collector, but by his own brainy brilliance, he has set himself up in a huge, restless menagerie, where he is in constant danger of cracking under the strain.’ Twenty years ago the Japanese government grew alarmed at the growing problem of stress-related sickness, and appointed a team of experts to offer advice on how best to tackle the problem. After a thorough investigation the panel finally decided that the finest way for workers to overcome the harmful effects of urban living was to spend some time pursuing the traditional pastimes of dwarf tree cultivation (bonsai), flower arranging (ikebana), and simply ‘listening to the sigh of the wind in the trees.’
There is now adequate medical research to confirm this recommendation. Studies carried out at the University of Pennsylvania have shown that student volunteers show a marked rise in their blood pressure when they’re subjected to artificial stress. This hypertension was found to decline slowly once the artificial provocation was stopped, but could be speeded considerably by placing the youngsters in front of an aquarium where they could relax by watching the gentle, languid movements of tropical fish. Other research trials have shown that looking out of the window and viewing scenes of rich, green vegetation produce an increase of alpha-brainwave activity, which is an indication of a heightened state of relaxation. The more time we spend nurturing our links with the natural environment – gardening, country walking, star gazing or flower arranging – the calmer we become and the more we draw on the ‘vis medicatrix naturae’, the healing power of Nature. Our personal problems seem petty when we contemplate the vastness of the universe. By taking a cosmic perspective we gain a sense of timelessness. When we join the rat race we become slaves to haste, but Nature refuses to be hurried. Nothing can speed the arrival of the dawn or hasten the onset of spring.
Life today may appear to be in a state of unmitigated turmoil. Our lives are constantly shaken by the impact of global wars, political disasters and economic catastrophes. Yet through it all the world of nature remains constant and unperturbed. That’s why we gain a great feeling of security whenever we come ‘down to earth’ and have our feet firmly planted on terra firma. In 1982 the UN Commission published a key statement which we should always bear in mind. It’s called the ‘World Charter of Nature’, and says: ‘Civilisation is rooted in nature, which has shaped human culture and influenced all artistic and scientific achievement, and living in harmony with nature gives man the best opportunities for the development of his creativity, and for rest and recreation.’
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.