Meditation, Binaural Beats and Insomnia

Creating a binaural beats meditation is really pretty simple. All you do is play one tone in one ear, and another tone with a slightly different frequency in another ear. So what’s all the fuss? And why are they supposed to enhance your mental state and improve your meditation?

Here’s what’s going on. Whenever you have two tones at nearly the same frequency, you’ll hear “beats”. To find the frequency of the beats, just subtract the frequency of one tone from the other. One possibility would be to have one frequency at 500 Hertz, and the second frequency at 520 Hertz. The difference is 20 Hertz – the beat frequency. When these beats are caused by different frequencies in your left and right ears, it produces the special “binaural” effect. This effect changes the brain’s electrical and chemical functions in a special, unique way.

What’s special about binaural beats is that your brain can somehow “hear” them, and responds at the same frequency. You’ve probably seen something similar if you’ve plucked a string on a guitar, which causes other strings to vibrate. Similarly, brain waves respond to binaural beats according to the physical phenomenon of “resonance”. So essentially, binaural beats can “tune” your brain. Researchers have shown that brain waves with lower frequencies are related to relaxing, meditation, and creativity. On the other hand, brain waves with higher frequencies mean that your mind is active, and also that you’re exercising your memory.

But before you rush out and buy special headphones, you should be aware that it takes more than binaural beats to make you a meditation expert. Apparently there are other factors which affect your response. These factors have been studied from both a scientific and spiritual viewpoint. Some possibilities include conscious breathing, playing soothing background noises, humming, and so on.

Is your interest piqued by now? It’s not hard to find sites on the web where you can buy binaural beat generating equipment. You may want to experiment for yourself. Or, there are plenty of “experts” that sell books and tapes to instruct you on how to enhance your meditation experience with binaural beats meditation. Just be careful to distinguish the real experts from the crackpots!

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