Get Control Of Your Mind Or Your Mind Will Control You
Let me be honest, I struggle with brain fog. It’s a lot less than it used to be but I have learn tricks and tactics to help get myself “in the zone” so i can maintain focus and concentration for longer time periods.
When I first heard of binaural beats, I thought it was some hippy crystal energy bullshit, but the more reading and experimenting I did, the more I realised there is a practical benefit to using them regularly.
Introduction - What are Binaural Beats?
Binaural beat therapy is an emerging form of sound wave therapy. It makes use of the fact that the right and left ear each receive a slightly different frequency tone, yet the brain perceives these as a single tone.
Binaural beats are simply just 2 different sound waves (one in each ear) playing at different frequencies. There is a slight difference between the left and right frequency, and the difference is measured in Hz. There are 5 ‘zones’ of frequencies that have been shown to provide slightly different benefits; delta, theta, alpha, beta and gamma (more details below)
Have you ever noticed it can take you 5-10 minutes to really feel like you are “in the zone” when you start reading?
You may have also noticed that it takes some time to quiet the chatter of your brain when you lay down to nap or rest?
There is a GAP there between one state and the next state.
Much of how our brain is operating is dependent on what “State” our brain wave frequencies are in, but this GAP you are noticing between one activity and another is the transition into a new (more synchronised) state.
Side note: There are obviously so many mechanisms that are impacting the way your brain is operating – neurotransmitter balance, stress levels, our thought patterns, biological stresses, sleep deprivation etc… But for the sake of this example, let’s roll with it…
Below is a visual example of how your brainwaves become more in “sync” and you can feel these flow states.
Do Binaural Beats Actually Work?
I know what your thinking, sounds too good to be true right? I was very sceptical at first, however, the literature suggests that these things work and according to a recent 2015 review of the evidence, they have a range of benefits. I have been using Binaural beats for 5 years now and I am convinced they are super effective (for a few specific purposes). Read below on how they work, how to use them and what frequencies to listen to. Dont take my word for it though, It is best to form your own opinion…
“Absorb what is useful, discard what is not, add what is uniquely your own” – Bruce Lee
How do Binaural Beats Work?
According to the 2015 literature review, the tones should be at frequencies lower than 1,000 hertz (Hz) for the brain to detect the binaural beat. The binaural beat that a person perceives is the frequency difference between the waves entering the left and right ear. For example, if the left ear registers a tone at 200 Hz and the right ear registers one at 210 Hz, the binaural beat is 10 Hz — the difference between the two frequencies. The review found benefits for memory, attention, stress levels and clarity. Further research is ALWAYS required, but as far as science can tell, Binaural beats actually work!
What Categories of frequencies are there and how do they effect the brain?
- Delta pattern: Binaural beats in the delta pattern operate at a frequency of 0.1–4 Hz with links to a dreamless sleep. These frequencies are linked to deep sleep, healing, recovery and rest.
- Theta pattern: Binaural beats in the theta pattern range in the frequency of 4–8 Hz. Theta patterns contribute to improved meditation, creativity, and sleep in the rapid eye movement (REM) phase. Theta waves are especially useful for “power naps”
- Alpha pattern: Binaural beats in the alpha pattern are at a frequency of 7–14 Hz and may encourage relaxation, learning, flow states and stress reduction.
- Beta pattern: Binaural beats in the beta pattern are at a frequency of 14–30 Hz. This frequency range may help promote focussed attention, concentration, problem solving and increased energy
- Gamma pattern: This frequency pattern accounts for a range of 30–50 Hz. These frequencies are useful for high level information processing, peak awareness and memory recall
Benefits of Binaural Beats:
Binaural beats will not magically give you amazing control over your mind, but they are a useful tool. Ide recommend a regular meditation practice if you struggle to get into many of these states naturally. Get good at controlling your mind or your mind will control you! I digress, here is a list of some benefits of binaural beats:
- Reduce stress and anxiety
- Increase concentration
- Get into ‘flow’ states
- Creative Brainstorming
- Power Naps
- Absorbing more information
- Deeper meditations
How I personally use Binaural Beats:
- Long study periods: (alpha or beta waves) – this was very useful for exam period as Uni (how I first started using binaural beats)
- Method: Set a timer, set a task, remove distractions and use alpha waves
- Usual Result: Faster to get into “state”, more concentrated, usual feeling of “I can keep working” even after the time period runs out
- Background Tone for Reading Books – (alpha waves)
- Method: Read / Audio book with Spotify playing a loop-able alpha tone in the background
- Usual Result: Longer more focused reading sessions – less distractible and more in “flow”
- Power naps: (theta waves) – Some days you need a ‘reboot’ – I personally feel like the 20 minute investment for 4-8 hours of good smooth energy that follows is a worthwhile trade, especially when the other option feels like paddling upstream (some days the 5am wakeups catch up with you)
- Method: Theta waves – 20 minute nap – Shot of coffee prior to nap – cover eyes so it is dark!
- Usual Result: faster to fall asleep & more refreshed when using theta waves
- Mediations: (theta waves) – I have found this can help meditations but also other times can put me to sleep
- Method: 10-30 minute mediation with theta waves
- Usual Result: Easier to get into state (especially when highly distractible), although sometimes this makes me too relaxed and unable to stay “on track” with the meditation protocol
- Brainstorming sessions: (beta waves) –
- Method: When trying to plan/develop/solve/create a problem or idea – I have found these 10-20 minute brainstorming meditations to be very useful
- Usual Result: New ideas, solutions to existing problems, more clarity
Other people use them for deep sleep, but I personally have trouble “falling back to sleep” (during sleep insomnia) more so than the process of falling asleep (pre-sleep insomnia) so the idea of having uncomfortable headphone to remove or roll onto is a little off-putting. Saying that, I have used them for sleep before and found it very effective.
How to use Binaural Beats:
• Choose the appropriate frequency range for your task
• You must have headphones to ensure the sound is coming in at separate frequencies in each ear
• Play the tones for 10+ minutes to notice the new “state”
That’s it! Enjoy
I hope you found value in my guide of binaural beats! I personally love having them as an additional tool in the toolbelt. Here is a link to my personal binaural beats playlist, but you can find heaps of playlists and loop able tracks on Spotify.
There are also a bunch of useful meditation tunes (with millions of plays) that can be found for free on youtube.
Some people subscribe to services such as www.brain.fm for apparently “higher quality, trustworthy tones”, but I notice benefits with the ones I use so I never felt the need for a paid service.
Stay Frosty,
Simon
Such a nice calm relaxing blog
Simon, I’m just getting into binaural beats, your article is very helpful. I’m listening with a soft headband that has small Bluetooth speakers in them – music cozy, I bought on Amazon for $24. I just found this recently and with the binaural beats it feels like a very clever sleep hack. Thanks for giving me more understanding on how to use the beats to my best advantage.