The Schumann Resonance
It is the frequency at which the earth's magnetosphere resonates (7.83 hertz). It is therefore fundamental to the nature of this planet. Many believe that entraining the brain at 7.83Hz helps to align your energy with the earth's energy. The effect is very refreshing!
In terms of brainwave EEG frequencies, 7.83Hz is in the high theta range. Theta is the level just above delta which is deep, dreamless sleep. The Schumann Resonance is named after the German scientist who discovered it in 1952, W.O. Schumann.
Brainwave Entrainment
There are a number of ways to entrain your brainwaves. Some tribal cultures use the regular beating of drums, sometimes incorporating a rhythmic dance to induce an altered state of consciousness. Using modern technology, scientists have found that using binaural beats in sound can be rapidly effective, relatively speaking, at increasing the presence of specific frequencies in the brain, as measured by a an EEG.
A word of caution... never listen to sounds designed to produce brainwave entrainment while driving a car, operating machinery, or doing any activity which requires you to be alert mentally or physically.
Binaural Beats
When listening to a sound with stereo headphones, if the left channel and right channel differ in frequency just a little bit, it makes it sound like there is one sound whirling around you. The speed of that rotation is the binaural beat frequency. The frequency is actually produced by your brain, and since it comes from your brain, your brain tends to me much more sensitive to its effects.
For example, if you have a sine wave (a sine wave is a pure frequency) of 440 Hz playing in the left ear, and a sine wave of 452 Hz playing in the right ear, then either one alone is just a pure frequency. Both together with stereo headphones produces a binaural beat of 12 hertz (the difference between 440 and 452). Click play to hear what this sounds like (use stereo headphones):
Note: if the player doesn't appear, you may download the sample here.
How To Use Binaural Beats
It is best to get into a comfortable position, one where you can comfortably remain still without moving a muscle, and relax. If that sounds overwhelming to you, fear not. It's better to relax, be yourself, than to try to force something that isn't you. In very little time you'll find it gets easier. Many find it helpful to take a few minutes before turning on the binaural sounds to just relax and move around as you feel necessary... until you find that you haven't had to move in a while. Then press play and begin.
Close your eyes, and listen to the binaural sounds in stereo headphones. Headphones are important because if you listen with speakers, the effect will be distorted and greatly diminished. That happens because the sounds from each speaker will clash in the air, producing a pseudo-binaural-beat sound, but one that is more monaural and isn't anywhere near as effective at altering your brainwaves.
Unless you're trying to fall asleep, 7.83 Hz is most effective if you're relaxed and awake. For this reason, many prefer sitting up straight in a comfortable chair to lying down on a bed. Some don't experience the effects of the brainwave entrainment the first few times they use them. That's not uncommon. In our overly fast-paced society, many people have forgotten what it means to truly relax and meditate. If you struggle with that as many do, then this program is especially beneficial for you.
Our Binaural Beat Sounds
Many organizations that create binaural beat tapes and CDs tend to use sine waves or relatively simple sounds as carriers to encode the binaural beat frequencies upon. The example you listened to above used sine waves. Most authors will mix in sounds of nature and such to make the whole sound environment more pleasant and soothing. However these added mixtures are usually not encoded with the binaural frequency information, and therefore they tend to dilute the binaural frequencies.
Think of each carrier used as a channel into the brain. While using just one or few channels, like sine waves or simple harmonic sounds, can be effective in altering brainwaves, this effect can hugely amplified the more channels you use. That's why, instead of using sine waves or simple harmonic sounds as carriers, we use brown noise. Click play to hear what pure brown noise sounds like:
Note: if the player doesn't appear, you may download the sample here.
Brown noise is like the sound that ocean makes. Not dissimilar, are the after-rumblings of thunder or the blowing of the wind. Brown noise is what nature produces. It is very soothing, and since it is spread across the entire audio spectrum it has an infinite number of carriers to maximize the brainwave entrainment effect.
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