Mindfulness Challenge: Binaural Beats

Have you ever listened to music with binaural beats? If you haven’t heard of it yet, you’re in for a treat!  They’ve been around since the 1800’s, but are making a strong comeback! 

Studies show these special sound waves (depending on what you’re listening to) can help you relax, improve focus, enhance your mood and creativity, and even help you better manage pain.

Right now, there’s a lot of ongoing research examining their benefits.

This week we’re going to try listening to binaural beats! 

Here’s how they work: With binaural beats, a different tone – with a different frequency – is played in each ear. This forces your brain to do a calculation so that it processes the tones at the difference between the frequencies, which makes your brain create a new tone.

Here’s a quick rundown of the different binaural beat frequencies: 

🎵Delta waves (1 to 3 Hz) is associated with relaxation, healing, and deep sleep
🎵Theta waves (3 to 8 Hz) is linked to relaxation, reduced anxiety, meditative states and dreaming
🎵Alpha waves (8 to 12 Hz) is believed to decrease anxiety, improve relaxation, and help you feel more “present”
🎵Beta waves (12 to 38 Hz) are linked to improved alertness, concentration, memory, focus,  and problem solving 

You can find lots of free binaural beats music online, as well as through various streaming services. 

A great (and FREE!) app you can check out is Insight Timer.  If you search “binaural beats” you can find a whole bunch of beautiful binaural beat music to listen to. 

Give it a try and report back your results!

(Important Note: reported problems are *extremely* rare, but if you have a seizure disorder, use a pacemaker, or have heart issues, check with your doctor before you experiment with binaural beats just to be sure they won’t interfere with your health.)