I want to talk about binaural beat technology. I feel it is very important that anytime you are being exposed to new ideas, you need to understand how and why they work. This helps you to accept the concept and that enables you to allow it to work more effectively.

       Science has advanced to the point where our brainwaves can be measured, and it has been found that there are four different levels of brainwave activity. Each level or mode of operation is associated with consciousness level. The four levels are  Alpha, Beta, Theta and Delta.  Please check out the chart below.

       The process of causing your brainwaves to resonate or move to a specific frequency is called entrainment.  We want the brain to be lulled into a specific level of activity to induce a particular state. This technology is often used to ‘guide’ people into a meditative state.

       But, because the human ear is not capable of hearing such low frequency ranges, we have to ‘trick’ it into thinking that it is hearing what we want it to hear. The way this is accomplished is by playing different frequencies in each ear. This is the BI (meaning two) and Aural (having to do with audio.) Blended together adds up to Binaural Beat technology.

       Here’s the way it works. If your right ear is hearing 300 hertz, and your left ear is hearing 315 hertz, your brain will sort that into a 15 hertz signal (315 minus 300.) The low frequencies used are at the edge of perception and sound similar to a low static on a radio station. Because the sound is more or less “white noise” often a masking layer is placed on top of the binaural beat. In the case of the accompanying tracks, the mask used is the soothing sound of waves, which also can  serve to lull you to sleep. The mask can also be talking, music or sounds of nature. Binaural beat technology is also on many cd’s used for the purposes of meditation, speed learning and creativity.

       In other words what this means is that designed audio tracks that can “force” your mind into certain states. This is used by many companies which produce brainwave entrainment CDs that claim to help with various topics such as meditation, creativity, speed learning, developing psychic powers and a wide variety of other things.

       First, with any binaural technology you need to use headphones. As discussed earlier, the only way to get your brain entrained to the low level frequencies is to trick it with the dual frequencies (one in each ear.) If you don’t use stereo headphones the signals will get mixed by the time they get to you.

       Something that accompanies many of binaural tracks is buried subliminal content.  The theory is that subliminal messages work because the content goes straight to your subconscious. This allows messages to get deep inside your thought process without being filtered by the conscious mind. You know how you might believe what someone tells you on the surface, but when you think about it, sometimes you just don’t take it to heart?  This allows you to take it to heart without the complications and time of a long term process.

       Whether you buy into the effect of subliminal tracks in binaural beat tracks is up to you. I think it works to some extent, but it isn’t going to overrule really deep seated information, unless you really pound it by listening to it daily for at least 21 days, and probably would work better doing it multiple times a day.

       I know the binaural beat technology works for me. I use it in my daily meditation. Some of the tracks have audio guidance (out loud, not subliminal) and that seems to help me get where I want to go. However, the drawback to the guidance is that it’s not personal. So, non-guided tracks are very useful when you have mastered your own guidance, but want to use the BBT to help get you to the proper state faster.