Binaural Beats – Acoustic Relaxation!

Influencing your brain and improving your mental state: It is known that music makes you happy, relieves fear, brings relaxation, and helps people relive memories. Based on this, the newest trend is Binaural Beats. By using them, you could be able to directly decide how you feel and can even improve your performance.

But what exactly are binaural beats, how and when do they help, and could they possibly be dangerous?

What are Binaural Beats?

The term 'Binaural Beats' describes an array of soundwaves that can acoustically trigger changes in your brain chemistry. All you need are stereo headphones and the right soundtrack.

'Binaural' means that the sounds being received by either ear are on different frequencies, for example, 220 Hertz on one side and 224 on the other. The difference between both headphones creates the desired middle frequency.

Studies suggest that binaural beats can influence the listener's brainwaves to create a feeling of relaxation, relieve fears, or help them concentrate. Frequency therapy specialist Neowake creates these binaural beats.

How do Binaural Beats Work?

The concept behind binaural beats is based on discoveries made by physicist Heinrich Wilhelm Dove in 1839. He discovered that sounds that are played with different wavelengths in either ear trigger certain brainwaves. The middle wave created by the combination of wavelengths can only be perceived by the listener.

Similar discoveries have been made before and are connected to the way sounds are made and perceived. Two sounds that are close in frequency can create a kind of pulse, the 'beat'. A different term for this phenomenon is soundwave. Different sounds are created by higher or lower frequencies in these waves. We can detect a person perceiving these sounds in their brainwaves.

Binaural beats, as a therapy, are supposed to have a holistic effect on the human brain by triggering certain brainwaves. When we stimulate our brain with a specific frequency, we can put ourselves in different states, depending on what is needed: a higher concentration, more joy, or less fear. During this process, we are not actively listening to the frequencies, but perceive them subconsciously.

Neurologically speaking, we can divide brainwaves into five frequencies. They can be measured to identify mental states. They are called the Alpha, Beta, Theta, Gamma, and Delta frequencies.

The following ranges of frequencies and states can be measured:

· 0,1-4 Hertz (Delta): Deep Sleep Without Dreams

· 4-8 Hertz (Theta): REM Phase

· 8-13 Hertz (Alpha): Relaxation, Imagination, Memory, Comfort

· 13-30 Hertz (Beta): Day-to-Day, Thinking, Logic, Perceiving

· over 30 Hertz (Gamma): Meditating, Concentration, Creativity, Learning, Focus

Which Mental and Physical States are Possible to Achieve with

Binaural Beats?

· Sleep,

· Meditation,

· Energy,

· Relaxation, and

· a general process of heightened Self-Discovery.

Can Binaural Beats be Listened to via TV or Stereo-Systems?

No. The binaural factor is essential. While some TV sound systems are set up to create different sounds from various directions, the distance to the listener cannot effectively create the needed stimulation.

The ideal tool to listen to binaural beats are headphones. Here, you need to make sure the audio file was not compressed and is still able to play two separate audio tracks, one over either ear.

What is Frequency Therapy?

Every piece of matter, thus every cell in our body, has its own frequency. This includes tiny organisms like bacteria. Some medical treatment approaches are using frequencies, specifically overlapping different frequencies, to fight certain illnesses. During frequency therapy, the body is treated with artificially created frequencies.

More holistically, frequency therapy is used to accompany journey-of-sound meditations. Here, the binaural beats are added to the relaxing music and narration. The patient closes their eyes and perceives every part of this experience, some of it consciously, others subconsciously.

This Neowake experience describes the possibilities of frequency therapy and binaural beats.

How do Binaural Beats Help?

Our mental state is important for our psychological and physical health. If we can directly influence it by creating certain brainwaves, binaural beats could help reduce symptoms of stress and diseases.

This type of therapy is especially welcome for people with mental illnesses, such as anxiety. How exactly are binaural beats helping in these cases, and are there any research studies that prove their effectiveness?

Relieve Fear and Pain

Studies have shown that binaural beats can influence how we experience pain and fear. For this to be perceivable and effective long-term, a person must use the frequency therapy frequently. More intensive studies are demanded by many researchers for medical professionals to effectively make use of this knowledge.

Improve Your Memory

In 2017, Springer released a Study with 32 participants created by European researchers Miguel Garcia-Argibay, Miguel A. Santed, and José Reales. The research shows that certain frequencies can influence your long-term memory, both positively and negatively, depending on the frequencies chosen.

Half of the participants were exposed to Theta frequencies and the other half to Beta frequencies. During the tests, the second group showed a better ability to recall things they previously learned. This hints at the ability of Beta frequencies to improve your memory. More studies on the efficiency of Beta frequencies are being conducted.

Prevent Depression & Burn-Out

Both depression and burn-out are tied to a high level of stress, as can be seen by the many people who increasingly suffer from them in our society. In this case, binaural beats are supposed to relax, motivate, and improve their mood. This way, the frequency therapy could be used in tandem with meditation to reduce stress and prevent mental illnesses.

Humans with a strong mental burden could use binaural beats to complement or circumvent medication. Instead, they can grab their headphones with little effort to help bring their psyche into the right state and improve concentration and mindfulness at the same time.

Are Binaural Beats Dangerous?

Studies have shown that binaural beats aren't a danger by themselves. A healthy person will have no trouble using the frequency therapy. Epileptics, however, need to be careful. Seizures are also connected to high activity in brainwaves. Certain neurological diseases also rule out frequency therapy.

Additionally, it is important to not just use any frequency but to choose a supplier that creates audio files with the desired frequencies and effects.

A medical professional can help determine the usefulness of binaural beats for a specific problem. You should always discuss health issues and the use of frequency therapy with your general practitioner first.

Conclusion

Binaural beats are sounds with a certain wavelength. When each ear listens to a sound with a different frequency, the middle frequency created can influence the mental state. Research has identified five frequencies: Delta, Theta, Alpha, Beta, and Gamma. Each frequency is tied to different conditions, like relaxation or concentration. By listening to the binaural beats with headphones, the brain is stimulated to create these specific states.

Binaural beats are especially potent when combined with a narrated journey of sound meditation. This way, the effects of meditation help effectively treat ailments. First research results suggest they can help reduce fear and pain or train our cognitive abilities. This especially applies to patients with burn-out or depression.

In general, frequency therapy is safe to use for anybody. However, patients with neurological diseases and epilepsy should forgo the use of binaural beats as they influence brain activity.

Source:

Miguel Garcia-Argibay, Miguel A. Santed, José M. Reales: Binaural auditory beats affect long-term memory. Psychological Reasearch, SpringerVerlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2017