Our brainwaves are the result of billions of neurons communicating with each other, and they are almost constantly changing from moment to moment, depending upon what we are doing or what we are thinking about – even when we are asleep.
Our brain’s electrical activity can be measured, and it’s normal operation can be visualized as the oscillation of a very distinct range of frequencies. The frequencies of our brain are subject to conscious change, subconscious change, and change through synchronization to external stimulation of our visual, auditory and/or central nervous systems.
From the dictionary: Brainwave entrainment is the practice of synchronizing one’s brainwaves to a desired frequency via external stimulation. Entrainment (bio-musicology), is the synchronization of organisms to an external rhythm (i.e., dancing at a club). In either case, entrainment causes harmony and synchronization of our brain, heart, or cells.
Brainwave Optimization Resources
- Passive Brain Fitness – Switch On Genius
https://passivebrainfitness.com/ - Advanced Brainwave Training with the EOC Institute
https://eocinstitute.org/ - Brain Evolution System – “The Most Powerful Self-Development Technology on Earth!”
https://www.brainev.com/
RELATED ARTICLE:
Synchronization of Brain Hemispheres
Each of our brain hemispheres can be in-sync or out-of-sync with each other.
Out-of-sync brain hemispheres contribute to PTSD, anxiety, stress, and pain.
Synchronized brain hemispheres result in calmness, focus, flow states, optimal performance. When our brain halves are working together, we experience peace of mind, a sense of purpose and determination, plus genuinely reduced pain and anxiety.
Anything which brings our brainwaves into synchronization and within the brain’s natural calm frequencies is considered to have healing benefits. Today, we can use our technology to encourage the brain to shift gears into any brainwave state we desire. We can target specific frequencies and routinely achieve remarkably specific results.
This form of “bio-hacking,” when we stimulate our brain into synchronization, is called “Brain Wave Entrainment” or BWE.
Entrainment shifts your state of mind
Entrainment stimulates the brain through the ears with audio frequencies with which to guide you into different states of mind. Since different brain frequencies can be targeted and changed at will, it is helpful to understand the different frequencies and how they contribute to your different states of consciousness.
Brainwave Frequencies Explained
If we use the word entrainment interchangeably with words like focus, meditation, or flow, then listening to music in your car is a form of entrainment; even more so when you’re singing along. But when we listen to harmonic tones which were composed specifically for entrainment, your brain synchronizes much faster than with regular music.
When we use the word “entrainment,” to refer to a state of mind, we could substitute other words, such as “hypnotized, mesmerized, tranced out, spaced out,” and many others to describe the same state of mind.
Going to a club or a concert, and even going to church, all involve periods of group entrainment, where everyone is “vibing” on the same channel or frequency. Using words to describe how we feel when we’re connected to each other shouldn’t be considered “taboo” or “new-agey” or “esoteric” or “religious” or “not scientifically proven.”
Brain Wave Entrainment (BWE) – Facilitated Meditation
The ultimate goal of self-awareness is to learn better control of our thoughts and emotions. BWE, or Brain Wave Entrainment, is a safe way to accelerate self-awareness training. Listening to this type of healing audio can be done almost anywhere, anytime – as long as you have some halfway-decent earbuds.
BWE is not some mysterious brain-washing technology. Instead, it takes advantage of the complexity of our audio neurology to help us rapidly bring calm to our mind. There’s really not a lot of difference between brainwave entrainment and meditation. BWE is one of many modalities listed in the Ultimate Healing Guide which facilitate winding down the mind and calming the body.
Thus, listening to binaural audio allows anyone to accelerate a mindfulness practice.
Brain training with targeted audio
The concept of entrainment involves manipulating your brainwaves in some way, usually intended to bring about a more balanced state of mind, or to achieve specific states of consciousness. Be sure to read the references provided within this article to get a full understanding on what it’s all about. There’s plenty of in-depth scientific research on how to fine-tune entrainment to target specific mental health issues.
The advantage here is that entrainment literally trains your brain, and this training is useful in your everyday life even when you are not engaged in an entrainment session (sitting or laying down and breathing deeply while listening to audio made for entrainment). You are training yourself to be able to “recall the feeling” of being entrained, in a calm and peaceful state of mind, whenever and wherever needed. Summon your willpower in times of greatest suffering through mindbody awareness. Entrainment can help.
Collective group entrainment
In one form or another, brainwave entrainment has always been a natural part of our evolution. From drum ceremonies and chanting, to dance clubs and stadium concerts, humans have collectively connected together for thousands of years in social celebrations involving rhythms, music, and singing, humming, or chanting.
When people in a group collectively vibe on the same frequency together, it is said that everyone’s heartbeat can synchronize to the beat of the music or rhythm they are focused on together. It’s a shared experience.
Interestingly, participation in these rituals tends to calm the entire mind by providing a natural source of both brain and body entrainment, while simultaneously getting us to breathe more deeply with participation in chanting, singing or dance. This combination of motion and breathing as part of a social gathering still happens today in clubs around the world. Thus, music entrainment is a part of the fabric of our lives.
Listening to entrainment audio at home
So, really, the idea of entraining people by using sound or repetitive motion isn’t anything new. It’s a gentle method to persuade your mind to calm down, which in turn allows you to calm your body down. In this way, our anxiety and pain can disappear simply by listening to some audio. That’s pretty exciting!
As far as self-awareness training goes, entrainment is not nearly as aggressive as Wim Hof Method or Cold Therapy. As such, entrainment is suitable for use in the comfort of your own home. Expect it to take at least 6-10 minutes after starting to listen to entrainment audio before your brainwaves can synchronize to the targeted frequency.
You may need to explore the different forms of entrainment before you find tracks that work for your needs. Just keep searching online for “binaural beats for anxiety” or “binaural frequencies for pain relief” and see what you come up with.
Brainwave entrainment provides the same benefits as meditation
Anything which encourages our brain to fall into Alpha or Theta brainwaves has healing benefits.
Alpha brain waves boost creativity and reduce depression
Whether we utilize brainwave optimization or mindfulness meditation, we end up in the same place: a calm mind with improvement in self-awareness and self-control. Whether we call it self-hypnosis, “flow state,” entrainment or meditation, the state of mind achieved is similar in each case.
Thus brainwave entrainment is helpful for all stress-related problems, depression, insomnia, PTSD, ADHD, anxiety, chronic pain – including fibromyalgia, and every other symptom related to these, especially when used for 20-30 minutes on a daily basis.
Bilateral audio stimulation can even provide relief for tinnitus (ringing in the ears). Visit the Rewiring Tinnitus website for more information https://rewiringtinnitus.com/relief/
Deeper states of meditation with brainwave optimization
Audio entrainment combines well with humming and chanting, visualization, and deep breathing exercises. A microdose of plant medicine (cannabis) advances the meditative state even deeper. Listening to binaural beats using waterproof headphones during Floatation Therapy helps hasten the feeling of disembodiment in the tank.
Look towards something like EFT Tapping (reviewed in this guide elsewhere) or Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) together with Cold Therapy, Floatation Therapy, and Yoga as part of the “rotation of therapies” you might do each week. Together, these modalities provide “best-in-class” self-awareness and self-discipline training for your next step on the path towards ultimate body and mind wellness.
Professional EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) Therapy is actually a form of entrainment therapy because it utilizes the concepts behind bilateral stimulation.
Entrainment helps accelerate any form of Meditation, as long as you’re listening to track specifically made for the purpose of self-healing.
Insider Tips & Warnings
Entrainment actually changes your brain state. Another way to put it is that entrainment changes your state of consciousness. Do it at home where you’ll be safe to practice, listening with earbuds and eyes closed.
While entrainment is generally a safe practice, several websites advise that people who have heart murmur, heart arrhythmia, or pace makers should consult with their doctor before listening to binaural frequencies or using other technology to change brain states.
Entrainment is a form of technology-encouraged meditation, and can help put you into the state of meditation where you have more control over your thoughts and emotions.
Here’s an example of what entrainment is NOT. Take a look and have a laugh!
The Hypnotic Eye (1960) – Dressing Room Hypnosis Scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xq5Nd110C14
WARNINGS: Because brainwave entrainment alters your state of mind, it is recommended on several sites that people who are susceptible to seizures, heart murmurs, have a pacemaker, or are under the age of 8 should probably not listen to binaural frequencies or try audio-visual entrainment, nor flashing lights or applications of the sort. Make sure you breathe deeply while listening to binaural beats. Binaural beats in the Theta brainwave range may make you drowsy or put you to sleep (which is helpful for insomnia).
Additional Resources
The Technology Behind Revolutioner, the entrainment technology featured on Men’s Health and Inc., with a great starter-guide on brainwaves (TheBodyIsMind.com has no membership or sales affiliations; this information is presented for educational purposes only, and the discount on the site is available for all new sign-ups).
https://revolutioner.com/technology/
What Is Brainwave Entrainment?
https://www.brainworksneurotherapy.com/what-brainwave-entrainment
The Ultimate Guide To Brainwave Entrainment
https://www.warrior.do/brainwave-entrainment/
Brain Wave Entrainment https://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-mager/brain-wave-entrainment_b_4142898.html
Brainwave Entrainment – The Beginners Guide
https://www.binauralbeatsgeek.com/brain-wave-entrainment/
Brainwave Wizard: Brainwave Entrainment Historical Timeline
http://brainwavewizard.com/entrainment/history-of-brainwave-entrainment-timeline/
Brainwave Frequency Listing (discover which frequencies to target)
http://lunarsight.com/freq
What Are The Dangers Of Brainwave Entrainment? (If any? You deserve to know…)
https://mentalhealthdaily.com/2013/03/04/what-are-the-dangers-of-brainwave-entrainment/
Center for Integrated Therapies – About the BAUD Audio Entrainment Device http://www.srqtherapy.com/BAUD.en.html
Articles & Studies: The BAUD Personal Biofeedback Device
http://www.mybaud.com/studies.html
The Science of Bliss – Floatation Therapy Combined with Binaural Frequencies
http://www.aquietplacefloatationspa.com/science-of-bliss/
Stimulating the Brain with Light & Sound
https://www.transparentcorp.com/products/np/entrainment.php
REFERENCES
All references are inline.