24/07/2019 Brainwave Entrainment - A new way for relaxation and healing has right or left hemisphere dominance. Understanding Brainwaves In order to understand why brainwave entrainment is successful for achieving relaxation, reducing anxiety, and aiding in so many other ways, understanding brainwaves is essential. The brain is composed of millions of specialized cells called neurons. Neurons send signals to other neurons using electro- chemical messengers called neuro-transmitters that attach to receiving sites located on the neurons themselves. There is a space between the end of the neuron and the receptor called the synaptic gap. As neuro-transmitter chemicals move across this gap, a small electrical charge is created. These myriad chemical interactions occurring all over the brain at the same time produces electrical waves of specific frequencies that can be detected at the surface of the skull and are called neural oscillations or brainwaves. Brainwaves change and vary in frequency depending on what activities we are doing with slower waves being produced during sleep and faster waves occurring during periods of activity and mental focus. Everyone has all forms of brainwaves in different amounts and at different times. While a practical understanding of brainwaves has been around for as long as people have been singing, chanting, and drumming, a scientific view of the electrical activity inside the human brain was not published until 1924 when German psychiatrist Hans Berger developed a machine for sensing and recording activity in the brain by attaching small electrical sensors to the scalp of his patients and recording the resulting electrical activity. Berger’s inventions and discoveries were built upon the earlier work of Richard Caton who published animal studies on brainwave oscillations in 1875. With digital upgrades, Berger’s machine is still in use today, known as an electroencephalography machine, or EEG. Berger used his machine to study the brains of psychologically normal and abnormal people and discovered the first brainwave, called the alpha wave and also known as the Berger wave, along with the faster beta wave, which he observed suppressing the alpha wave when subjects opened their closed eyes. Today, EEG machines are used for diagnosing epilepsy and sleep disorders, for determining dosages for anesthesia, and measuring the brain activity of people in comas or suffering from brain trauma. EEG machines also continue to play a role in researching and understanding brainwave entrainment and developing new and better methods for delivering the benefits of this form of brainwave modification. Brainwaves are the collective electrical signal of millions of neurons working together in a living brain, producing our sense of alertness – or lack thereof - and producing our experience of reality. As brainwaves change, so does our perception of the world and our inner perception of ourselves. By learning to control our brainwaves, we can achieve specific, desirable mental states, such as feeling more relaxed, less anxious, more creative, more focused, or sleepier. Brainwave Patterns and Corresponding Mind States Brainwaves frequencies are known by the names of Greek letters of the alphabet. From the lowest frequency, they are: Delta - 0.1 to 4 hertz Theta - 4 to 7.5 hertz Alpha – 7.5 to 12 hertz Beta - 12 to 30 hertz Gamma - above 30 hertz Each of these brainwave types differs from the others in the frequency, or cycles per second of oscillation of the wave. Brainwave frequencies are measured in hertz, and one cycle per second is defined as one hertz. Our everyday, waking brain used for active intelligence operates at approximately 13 hertz, which is in the range of high alpha or low beta frequencies. People who have certain learning disabilities and problems with attention often have low levels of 13 hertz frequency brainwaves in crucial areas of the brain used for sequencing tasks and doing simple math calculations. This is one concrete example of how brainwaves are associated with thinking and behavior. Each identified brainwave frequency has a different effect on a person’s ability to think, act, and feel. All brainwave frequencies are useful and beneficial at certain times – there is no brainwave that is intrinsically better than another. However, by deliberately choosing to attain a particular brainwave state, a corresponding mental state can be brought about at the same time. For example, a working person who has been in an overly alert beta brainwave pattern for many hours can quickly shift their mind and body into a relaxed state by listening to a few minutes of brainwave entrainment music for inducing alpha or theta brainwaves. Here are details about each brainwave state and the states of mind associated with each: https://www.brainwave-music.com/brainwave-entrainment.html 3/12 24/07/2019 Brainwave Entrainment - A new way for relaxation and healing Delta Brainwaves Delta brainwaves have the slowest frequencies, ranging between 0.1 and 4 hertz, and these are the brainwave states associated with deep sleep, trance states, and unconsciousness. Few people can remain awake during delta brainwaves states, although this state is recorded in awake infants between ages of three months and one year and also in babies just before birth. Delta waves are also linked with increased production of HGH, DHEA, and the neuro-transmitter serotonin. When delta waves are present, our awareness of the external world decreases and shuts off. People with ADD have problems with delta waves occurring when they are trying to focus, and focus and attention become increasingly impossible with stronger delta waves. Studies show a reduction of anxiety, improvements in insomnia, and elimination of headaches when people engage in sessions of delta brainwave entrainment. Theta Brainwaves Theta brainwaves are next highest in frequency above delta and are especially important for many people using brainwave entrainment and meditation because theta waves are at a threshold, forming a link between wakefulness and the subconscious mind. Theta waves bridge between our awake self and the creative and insightful understandings from below our conscious awareness, and while they are not common in awake adults, they are normative for children under 13 years old. Theta waves have a frequency between 4 and 7.5 hertz, making them slower than more wakeful alpha but faster than the dreamless slumber of delta. Theta brainwaves are the frequencies of nighttime dreams and REM sleep when the brain goes through bursts of activity and eye movement. People also experience theta waves in a state of light sleep, deep relaxation, during meditation and prayer, and when daydreaming. Theta waves produce an experience of inward wakefulness where we become disengaged from the outside world while engaging in inner activity. At the lower frequencies of theta, sleeping states are experienced, and at the higher range of frequency, awake relaxed states are experienced. Theta waves have another interesting characteristic. The Earth has a measurable resonance of 7.83 hertz known as the Schumann resonance. Because the Schumann resonance is a constant background frequency surrounding all life, it may play a special role in biological activity. The Schumann resonance frequency falls within the range of theta brainwaves and may have something to do with why these brainwave frequencies are so powerful. Theta brainwaves in the frequency range of 6 to 9 hertz are known as thalpha waves because of their proximity to alpha waves. They are seen during states of high suggestibility, during hypnosis, and during paranormal experience and are also connected to an increase in human growth hormone (HGH) levels and higher blood flow to the brain. Theta brainwaves sit between the realms of the subconscious and conscious mind, making them an especially useful brainwave state for developing creative thinking, working through emotional problems, and integrating subconscious and conscious experience. Theta waves also have been observed in moments when a person recalls information from the past, and this may be what links them also to improvement in learning ability. We also experience theta waves when we go into automatic pilot mode, such as when doing a repetitive task like driving a familiar route where the mind become disconnected while you still drive safely toward your destination. People who suffer from anxiety or frequent periods of stress often find theta wave music an effective means for quickly relaxing and unwinding. At the slower frequencies, theta tuned sounds can induce sleep, bring on lucid dreaming, and provide a deeply relaxing and rejuvenating experience. Scientific studies of theta brainwaves find they are especially useful for reducing anxiety, inducing hypnotic states of mind, and entering the brainwave patterns associated with meditation. Alpha Brainwaves Alpha brainwaves are perhaps the most well-known brainwaves, being the first discovered and named by Berger, and also because they are commonly occurring brainwaves of a light, alert state of mind which our brains naturally rest at when awake, stress-free, and engaged with the world or our own thoughts. Oscillate at a frequency of 7.5 to 12 hertz, these are the brainwaves present when a person is relaxed and awake, occurring often at the time a person wakes up and is transitioning from asleep to awake and also present when a person is awake and engaged in creative thinking or action. Many people experienced in using alpha brainwave entrainment