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.
calming sounds | sleep meditation music
What are Waveforms?
Consider one small rock thrown into a lake. Resulting from the impact, “waves” radiate out in expanding concentric circles on a flat plane, displaying the most basic characteristics of all waveforms. Now consider many rocks continually thrown into the same lake, moment after moment, continually throughout the day. The wave patterns become extremely complex, intersecting, overriding, and interrupting each other continuously. Of course all waves are affected by the medium in which they travel, so we can consider waves in water a distant cousin to the waves we find in the electromagnet spectrum.
As what we call light waves are produced by our sun incessantly, and without any end to speak of, the patterns of these waves of various frequencies become extremely complex, even before the small visible spectrum that we perceive with our eyes strikes any object. However, unlike water waves, these waves radiate out not in a flat plane, but in three dimensions. Also, while all waves might behave in essentially the same way, some waveforms will pass through matter, such as x-rays passing through the body’s soft tissues, only to be stopped by bone.
In regards to what we call visible light, it must be emphasized that light itself cannot be seen – it is only the relationship of light and object that we can perceive. When you view the sun itself, it is not even the sun you see glaring back at you. It is still only reflected light, waves concentrated closest to their source, in the Sun’s own atmosphere, which then passes through our own earth’s atmosphere full of its own particles called our sky. It is still only particles reflecting what is otherwise invisible light.
Great lumbering beasts of waves are born far out in the ocean as a result of vibration – wind blowing upon the surface of the water, vibrating (through friction in this case – we are talking again of physical waves as example) and energizing the molecules of the water. If this vibration continues for any length of time, chaotic lumps of water begin to rise, seeming to bounce in every direction. As this disturbance continues, waves slowly merge together, dancing a dance, and seeking order out of chaos. As these growing, merging lumps of water travel further from their source, they continue to merge, finally creating long curved bands of energy, many hundreds of miles long, and sometimes travelling thousands of miles across the ocean before striking a solid object called the shoreline. Remember that these waves born in water serve only as example, as they are restricted by physical law and the mediums through which they travel.
These great “waves” finally land upon a beach, and break apart in different ways at that point, depending upon the specific beach they strike – depending specifically upon the characteristics of that beach. A wave striking the Bodega Headlands in northern California will display certain characteristics, and as this same wave continues further south to Monterey, it will display completely different characteristics once it encounters the shoreline.
Waves interact with matter whether we witness it or not. Waves continue to do as they do, even if we don’t see those waves “break upon the beach”. If a tree falls in the woods, and nobody sees it, has it truly fallen? Of course it has. If we are unaware of waves striking or passing directly through our planet (such as Cosmic Rays), and also our own bodies, does it mean they don’t exist? Many things happen in our world that we have no perception of whatsoever. There is much more in the EM Spectrum that we are not aware of than those things we are aware of. (Note: Only our senses of sight and hearing are shown on common diagrams of the EM spectrum, and it is these senses that dominate our understanding of waves. We are missing much)
What is Light and What is Sight?
Light is everywhere, but it is not “light” we see when the sun comes up, illuminating the land we live upon with its waves of energy. What we see is the result of a particular series of wave frequencies striking a variety of objects of different substances and densities on the earth and in our atmosphere. These objects, depending upon their own qualities, absorb and reflect different aspects of these incoming “light” waves, reflecting certain colors that we are able to perceive through receptors in our heads called eyes.
If something appears as simply a green color to us, it is because that object is absorbing all frequencies of that “visible light” wave except the specific frequency that displays itself as green. This green is the part of the light wave that is reflected from that object to our eyes. Of course there are many patterns created by continual waves striking any object – reflections, shadows, and interference patterns are continually changing right before our eyes. The variety of matter in its compositions and characteristics reflect many tones and shades of all that we can call green.
In Part 2 of “Frequencies and the 5 Senses” we will be discussing the remaining “physical” senses and how they have us relate to the world around us.
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.