Binaural Beats
The practice of listening to binaural beats can assist with everything from deepening meditation, aiding relaxation to improved memory, heightened focus and enhanced learning ability.
What are binaural beats?
Binaural beats happen when each ear perceives a tone of a different frequency. To achieve this, headphones must be used otherwise the tones converge outside the ear and you will hear just one acoustic tone. When listening via headphones you can detect a ‘wobble’ or ‘pulse’ in the tone, which happens inside the brain as your two hemispheres communicate with each other.
How do they work?
The frequency created by the two separate tones can influence the brainwaves and encourage or ‘train’ the brain to align itself with that state. This process of entrainment happens when the brain activity is influenced by external stimuli.
The five core brainwave states are:
Delta – Deep sleep and deep meditation
Theta – REM sleep, deep relaxation and meditation
Alpha – Relaxation, stress reduction, positivity, effortlessly engaged and peacefulness
Beta – Cognition and focused attention, problem solving and analytical thinking, stress
Gamma – Peak awareness and transcendental states
It’s reported that binaural beats can affect men and women differently and that women notice differing effects at certain stages of the menstrual cycle.
The best way to see if they can help you is to try them out. Choose your desired effect and search for a track at least 20 minutes long to get the benefits. Sit in a comfortable position, wearing headphones.
Sara Jones
Spa, Wellness & Lifestyle Expert, Spa Consultant, Speaker and Founder of Spa & Wellness MexiCaribe magazine
