Using Binaural Beats in Your Meditation Practices
Meditation is the practice of maintaining a state of complete mental stillness. It is through this stillness that one becomes a conduit through which inspiration and cosmic knowledge flows. Visionaries, spiritual leaders and gurus all say it – meditation is an essential part of daily life. It provides clarity, improves cognitive abilities, and helps you in remaining calm and stress-free throughout your day. But, if you’re like most people, you may find it hard to meditate. The mental chatter or, as some like to call it, “the monkey mind,” is all-consuming, and despite your best efforts to stifle it, it possesses no will to simmer down.
Luckily, for those of you whose thoughts are in a state of perpetual motion, there’s a fun alternative that’ll finally put the clamps on that monkey’s mouth, and allow you to experience all the benefits that meditation has to offer. How? By incorporating binaural beats into your meditation practices.
So what are binaural beats? To put it simply, binaural beats are sounds that synchronize your brainwaves to a certain wavelength: beta, alpha, theta, or delta. Each of these neural oscillations are associated with a different level of consciousness, and different benefits.
If you’re awake and walking around, your brain is operating in beta, a frequency of about 13 – 30 Hz. This is our normal, waking brainwave level. It provides for thinking, conversing, and everything else we do when we’re awake. Alpha is associated with relaxation and reflection, an inner peace, and hovers around 8 – 12 Hz. It puts you in the “chill-out” zone, like closing your eyes and relaxing while you’re awake. People who are able to access alpha are said to experience better results on physical and mental tests.
Theta is a very relaxed state that is associated with meditation and some sleep states, its frequency being at 4 – 7 Hz. It is in theta that we experience extreme relaxation, enhanced creativity and innovation, and vivid mental imagery. When in theta, the human mind is very open to suggestion – so theta binaural beats can be used in self-hypnosis. The next wave oscillation is delta, which is a frequency of 3 Hz and under, and is associated with deep, dreamless sleep. Don’t expect to stay awake while listening to a delta binaural beat though – you’re almost guaranteed to fall asleep. Even Zen masters can find it difficult to remain conscious.
For binaural beats to work, simply plug in some headphones, listen to the audio, and experience. By synchronizing your brainwaves to alpha, theta, or even delta, you will enter a meditative state induced by the binaural beats. It’s quite an interesting feeling your first few times. If you’re feeling adventurous, give it a try and let us know how it worked out for you!
Want to know more? Read Get High Now (without drugs) by James Nestor.
Download the “Get High Now” app on the iPhone to experience a number of binaural beats, mind blowing audio loops, and amazing auditory illusions, or use the good old Google to find more ways to listen.
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