Binaural Beats

A big part of my in depth meditation requires a pair of noise-canceling headphones, YouTube, and about three or more hours of my time. Why? Well, to listen to some music but, not just any type of music. No, this type of music does not have any deep or soulful words. It isn’t put out by big name artists, like Katy Perry, Nicki Minaj or Justin Beiber. This type of music is quite simple in it’s form. It requires two independent frequencies, panned hard left and hard right. (Please, forgive me for my sound design jargon.) The frequencies are tuned to within 40Hz of each other. One ear could be hearing a frequency of 1115Hz the other ear could hear a frequency of 1120Hz. The brain will then perceives a third, auditory illusional tone that is not actually produced by either phone. It is this tone that is called a binaural beat. The third tone in this case would be five Hertz which is the difference between the frequencies heard in either ear.
Binaural beats can be used to help people with different mental health issues by coercing the brain to emit brain waves of a similar Hertz. Below is a table with corresponding hertz and states of consciousness.

Type	Frequency in Hz	Cognitive Description
Delta	up to 4	Occurs in sleeping adults and is frequent in babies.
Theta	4 to <8	Common frequency found in young children. Indicative of drowsiness or arousal in older children and adults.
Alpha	8 to 13	Indicative of a relaxed state.
Beta	>13 to 30	Indicative of an alert or focused working state.
Gamma	30 to 100+	Indicative of sensory processing.

Breathe

I want you, the reader, to do something that comes naturally to every living organism: Breathe. But, you also must think to yourself: Breathe in….Now, breathe out.  Now slow that thought down and again breathe in. Now…slowly… breathe out. You can do this form of meditation anywhere for any length of time. This is especially helpful if you are quick to anger during excessive waiting periods like in the checkout line at a grocery store. It’s really easy, too. Also, remember to give yourself more than just ample time to shop. This way, you are assured you will never feel rushed. Here is where I learned this technique.

Meditation is one of the healthiest things a person can and should do. It is also one of the easiest things to add to one’s daily routine. Once again, if you are quick to anger, especially when driving to or from your place of employment, take the time to turn off the radio and, as you sit hopelessly in traffic, practice your breathing exercises. Having a bad day at work? Well, what are you waiting for, go ahead and think to yourself: Breathe in…2…3…4…breath out…2…3…4…5…6…7…8. You’ll thank me later.

Still, many a lifelong practitioner of meditation will tell you that mastery of such breathing techniques takes more than simply just breathing in and out. It takes three Ps: Practice; Persistence; Patience. You must practice this regularly. Doing this once in a blue moon does you some good (better than not doing it at all) but, to really reap all the benefits you’ve got to do it regularly. You must be persistent; don’t do it once and say, “I’m done.” Finally, you must be patient, even more so if your scatterbrained like me.

Another positive thing you can do is to teach your children this method. Counting and breathing in this manner can never be taught too early. Well, it can if you try to teach them and they have no comprehension skills, but I digress. It’s best to teach them when they are not in play mode, or when upset; ideally around bedtime. They’ll be a little more responsive. Add a little whimsy with singing bowls and you’ll be having a good ol’ time. And if you would like to find out what a singing bowl is, you can listen below.