Brainwaves
and Entrainment
USING
YOUR BRAINWAVES BENEFICIALLY: BRAINWAVE ENTRAINMENT:
BINAURAL BEAT FREQUENCIES: AUDIO BRAINWAVE TECHNOLOGY
This
page has a little background info on brainwaves.
What
they are? Why they are important?
and MOST IMPORTANTLY,
How
can YOU can use the naturally occuring
principle
of entrainment to alter your MINDSTATE???
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***Brainwave
Information
***Chart of Brainwaves
and the corresponding mental states
***The principle of
brainwave entrainment
***check out the Brainwave
Generator and The Brainwave Flasher
and BRAINWAVES
If you are
not familiar with brainwaves, here is a brief
Cliff-Notes version:
Our brain produces waves of currents that flow
throughout its neural pathways. The type of brainwave
is defined by the frequency at which it is pulsing,
and the particular rate of pulsation determines
our respective state of mind. There are four common
types of brainwave patterns, but due to the complexity
of our brains there are often several patterns
interacting at one time. It is the predominance
of one particular brainwave frequency that determines
our state of mind. For example, if you are in
a beta state, there may be trace levels of alpha
and theta but they would minimal compared to the
dominating amount of beta present.
Our brains have a left and a right hemisphere.
The left hemisphere is linear, logical,
practical, and time orientated while the right
hemisphere seems to be much more non-linear, abstract,
creative, wholistic, and non-logical. An
accountant probably uses less of his right hemisphere
than an artist would during the course of his
workday. We tend to use one hemisphere at
a time, or better said, we will favor particular
hemispheres depending on what we are doing. If
you are doing math you would be using more of
your left side. If you are painting a picture,
you would have more right hemispheric activity.
Obviously, it is not that simple since both hemispheres
are constantly interacting and both can be in
use at the same time.
These hemispheres are connected by
the corpus callosum. It serves as a conduit
or a bridge between both sides. This bridge
can literally be exercised and strenthened until
it is physically larger and more capable of transmitting
data, thoughts and feedback between hemispheres.
By merging both hemispheres and allowing
them to work together we can increase our mental
fitness. It is basically like having a faster
modem working at faster speeds. A more integrated
system creates better performance. The famous
clairvoyant healer Edgar Cayce was found to have
an unusually large corpus callosum, but could
it be that everyone has a smaller one than they
should or could have if they were to
consciously exercise it???
Below is a simple chart containing
the four common types of brainwave frequencies
along with their characteristic features and associated
mental states. The frequencies are measures in
hertz (Hz) which is roughly translated as beats
per second or cycles per second.
( Ex. A brainwave monitored as pulsing 20 times
per second would be a beta wave since the Beta
range is between 13 to 30 Hz)
BRAINWAVE:
RANGE: CORRESPONDING MENTAL STATE
(....excluding those ranges higher than beta
such as gamma)
BETA waves 13 to 30
Hz the fastest waves, most commonly found during
our waking state, associated with outward awareness,
engaged mind, arousal, actively perceiving and
evaluating forms of data through the senses; also
present with fear, anger, worry, hunger, and surprise.
ALPHA waves 7 to 13
Hz associated with non-drowsy but relaxed, tranquil
state of consciousness, less engagement and arousal,
pleasant inward awareness, body/mind integration,
present during meditation and states of relaxation
THETA waves 3 to 7
Hz associated with increased recall, creativity,
imagery and visualization , free-flowing thought,
future planning, inspiration, drowsiness, present
during dreaming and REM states
DELTA waves .1 to 3
Hz associated with deep dreamless sleep, deep
trance state pituitary release of growth hormone,
self-healing, present during deep levels of non-REM
sleep.
So all these brainwave states have been
examined and charted to find the respective mindstates
that are experienced when they are present. We
are learning more and more about how these states
can be summoned and harnessed to create mindstates
that are conducive to expanded states of consciousness.
For example, the best moments of creativity,
those Eureka! flashes, occur mostly when
theta waves are a majority. This is also
when we are verging between waking and sleeping
when we are in that Twilight Zone-like consciousness
mindfully floating at the gateway of sleep.
This explains why we have such great ideas
during this time period. It is noted in the history
books that this is the time when many scientists
and other great thinkers have had their flashes
of insight. Einstein came up with the theory
of relativity in this state, and likewise, one
of the Watson and Crick pair visualized the double
helix in this mindstate successfully cracking the
illusive architecture of DNA.
Time spent in this "border-zone"
can be time well spent. Becoming aware
of the process of falling asleep will enhance
your lucid dreaming, and as mentioned, this hypnagogic
state is when creativity, problemsolving and imagery
skills are easily accessible. All this information
about brainwaves is a preamble to the matter of
entraining your brainwaves to specific frequencies.
You can use the process of entrainment
to create a theta state of mind or an alpha
or delta or even combinations of multi-layered
frequencies.
Entrainment
The scientific principle of entrainment
can be utilized to resonate, synchronize
or tune your brain to specific frequencies. Entrainment
is pretty simple. If you have two tuning
forks of the same pitch, if you strike one and
hold it near the other one, they will both resonate
at the same frequency. It also works with
a piano. If you have two similarly tuned
pianos in one room and strike a key, the stretched
chord attached to the same key on the other piano will
vibrate.
Let's say that we have a bunch
of pendulum clocks hanging on a wall. If
we irradically set all the pendulums on every
clock so that they all are swinging at different
speeds. In time all pendulums on every clock will
become synchronized. By the end of the day
or sooner ( not like I've ever done it ;) they
will all be swinging together in unison.
How does this happen? The
explanation to this is more in depth but in simple
terms, it happens just like the law of gravity
or the conservation of energy. Given this
fact and the fact that our brains operate much
like a resonance chamber. Oscillating pulses
and patterns of neural excitations ripple through
our brains much like never-ending waves in a dynamic
pond of subtle electrical matter.
Brainwave
entrainment and binaural beats occur naturally
in our environment. The process of reproducing
this entrainment effect using audio technology
was developed in the early 1970's by Gerard Oster,
a biophysicist from NYC, and with that; the process
of creating audio-entraining binaural beat frequencies
was born. The process is actually quite simple.
It is almost easier to do than it is to pronounce.
The idea is that you have a different tone in
each ear and your brain takes the difference between
the two tones and resonates at this differential
frequency. So if you have a beat frequency
of 97 Hz in your left ear and 103 Hz in your right
ear, your brain will perceive it as a 6 Hz differential,
and your brain will resonate at this frequency
in the Theta range.
One
of the most well-known producers of entrainment-related
products is the The
Monroe Institute . They sell Hemi-Sync
Tapes that are designed and developed using
their Hemi-Sync
Technology. The tapes are embedded
with multi-plexed binaural beat frequencies. Each
binaural beat frequency causes your brain to resonate
at a particular frequency. By orchestrating
these frequenices they have created products that
alter the user's consciousness. If you want
to try a demo of the Hemi-Sync process, click
here, Hemi-Sync Demo. Good
ole' Robert Monroe and his journeys out
of the body led him to study these altered states
of consciousness and he and his team of researchers
and scientists have been doing a lot to expand
our knowledge about altered states of consciousness.
*I
would like to state that I have no direct affiliation
with The Monroe Institute and that my efforts
in this area have no connection with TMI nor anything
to do with the trademarked Hemi-Sync Process.
I am not in a position to answer any questions
regarding TMI because like I said, "I'm not
affiliated with them" For those of you who
are interested in TMI's Hemi-Sync Products, I
recommend visiting their website by clicking any
of the links I've posted in the previous paragraph.
They come highly recommended and although I have
never tried any of their products or been able
to attend any of their seminars, I have heard
many good things from those who have.
There
are several other companies that use similar forms
of Brainwave Entrainment Technology. Dr. Jeffrey
Thompson is a well-known neuroacoustic pioneer.
His site, www.jeffthompson.com
, has information about entrainment as well as
products that he has developed that utilize this
technology. I have tried his products and they
are quite good. I purchased his Brainwave Suite
some time ago and have experienced some great
entrancing entrainment while using it. There is
also Brain Sync and Holopoint, other companies
that offers brainwave CDs, but I have not heard
too much from users of these products; whereas
I have heard good things about TMI's Hemi-Sync
Tapes and Dr.Thompson's CDs.
*I'm
not affiliated with Dr. Thompson, Holopoint nor
BrainSync, I just thought I would mention them
in case you are interested in seeing what else
is available in the way of entrainment products.
There are many other companies in fact that offer
differing versions of these kinds of products
but these are just the ones that I have heard
mentioned. For information on the techniques they
use or the products they offer, I suggest checking
their websites.
Recently,
I have started my own company called Brainwave
Mind Voyages that creates brainwave entrainment
CDs. Since I have experienced first-hand that
this brainwave entrainment stuff really does have
a lot of potential, I decided that I should do
my part to help out anyone who was interested
in using entrainment. All of the audio brainwave
entrainment used on my projects have been initally
developed and designed by myself with no help
from any outside sources, no affiliations with
any pre-existing companies nor anything else but
the brain in my head and a sophisticated sound-editing
program. Not having any inital collaboration can
have its positives and negatives, but I have found
that as a whole I am very satisfied with the end
result, and the feedback
from users seems to be in agreement. The BMV
cds work! I am proud to be able to help other
seekers along thier path of self-discovery. By
having a goal in mind, that of altering one's
consciousness to make the induction of lucid dreams
or out-of-body experiences more likely, I have
engineered many CDs that use the brainwave boost
of naturally occuring entrainment to increase
experiential results. Now, that I have a few entrainment
products developed, I have established a testing
group to help me monitor the effectiveness and
incorporate any new modifications depending on
the feedback.
Click
here to visit my new BMV
site,. From there, you can check out the products
and learn a little more about brainwave entrainment.
I would like to thank those that have helped me
out and given me the support and encouragement
required to make Brainwave Mind Voyages a reality.
As more neuroacoustic technologies develop, I
am sure that this will continue to be a fascinating
and powerful field that can be used to empower
the lives of people that are interested in self-development,
self-empowerment and self-mastery.
MAKING BINAURALS
BEATS
You
can make your own binaural beat frequencies using
CoolEdit or other programs available on the web.
I prefer CoolEdit and if you want more information
about using
CoolEdit, click here. It is a very easy
program to work with and I highly recommend checking
it out. Just learn how to generate tones using
the program and follow the guidelines above and
you will be on your way to some homemade brainwave
entraining.
SOME
ENTRAINMENT PRODUCTS FOUND ON THE WEB
There is also
a program that is free on the internet called
The Brainwave Generator which has an assortment
of pre-set brainwave frequencies for you to choose
from....and listening to them is as easy as pressing
a button, and having some headphones. I prefer
to make them on my own using
CoolEdit, but you never know, it may
be effective for you so try it out and see for
yourself, and I have heard that the new version
of the BWGEN offers enhanced ability for the user
to customize the settings, choose particular frquencies
and even add some audio tracks in the background.
To
download The Brainwave Generator for free, click
here
Another
free download is called The Brainwave Flasher.
It works on the same principle of entrainment
but uses light flashes instead of binaural beats.
By flashing light at different rates, those
corresponding to particular frequencies, your
brain will synchronize its brainwaves due to photic
entrainment or photostrobic entrainment.
People who have a history of epilepsy should
consult with a physician first before using this
one because the flashes may zap you into a seizure,
but for the majority of people (99.7%) it is perfectly
safe. In fact, this principle of using light to
create entrainment effects has been incorporated
into a new generation of "mind machines"
or "light and sound machines".
For more info about them, you should check out
my Linkzzz Page. Tools 4 Exploration
and CEREBREX are two very interesting companies
that sell these mind machines. I have never
sported for the expensive price tag so I cannot
give an experienced opinion on them, but lots
of people say great things about them,a nd from
what I have experienced of audio entrainment effects
I would venture a guess to say that light-induced
entrainment would probably be powerful stuff as
well.
To
download The Brainwave Flasher for free, click
here
To
check out other random cool free downloadablezzz,
click here
Some of the freeware/shareware includes
dream journals, a lucid dreaming assistant, subliminal
messages for your computer, and other random stuff.
ALSO, be sure to check out Brainwave Mind Voyages website.
