Recently professionals in the areas of psychology, neurology, medical health and self-help have begun utilizing the power of brainwave entrainment (BWE) in their work with patients and clients. Advances in the effectiveness of brainwave entrainment have been significant.
The benefits of BWE have been validated by a large body of research over the past thirty years. Brainwave entrainment has been proven to provide significant improvement in people’s lives, for example:
· Reduce the symptoms of depression and Seasonal Affected Disorder;
· Improve immune system function;
· Relieve insomnia;
· Reduce anxiety and panic;
· Increase feelings of calm, relaxation and well-being;
· Improve creativity and intuition.
You may have heard of BWE, but thought that it must be expensive, difficult to use, and require becoming a client of a biofeedback professional. Or you may have seen brainwave entrainment recordings and wondered how to choose one to provide the specific effects and benefits that you desire. Let me address these concerns, but first, what is brainwave entrainment?
Brainwave entrainment is a relatively young but rapidly growing field that involves the study of how altering brainwaves naturally can allow people to easily enter states of increased intelligence, creativity, relaxation, and more. The brain is made up of billions of brain cells called neurons, which communicate with each other using electrical signals. All of these neurons sending signals at once produce a large amount of electrical activity commonly called a brainwave pattern, because of its "wave" or cyclic nature. "Entrainment" is a naturally occurring response where similar frequencies tend to synchronize with each other. Entrainment is a principle of physics. This frequency following response (or “FFR”) appears in chemistry, neurology, astronomy, pharmacology, and biology. For example in 1656, a Dutch scientist named Christian Huygens, was working on the design of the pendulum clock. He found that if he put two unsynchronized clocks side by side they would slowly synchronize to each other.
You do not need to invest a lot of money to use BWE technology. There are a number of recorded products that are embedded with brainwave entrainment frequencies, and can be very effective. However, you do need to know what benefit you are seeking, and what brainwave frequency is therefore the right one for you to entrain for that specific purpose. As always,caveat emptor,let the buyer beware. If a recording promises brainwave entrainment but does not tell you specifically what effects that recording will produce, you may not receive the benefit you are seeking. For instance, the frequency range indicated for enhancing immune system function is 6 to 12 Hz, in the Theta brainwave band. If you listen to an Alpha band BWE recording, it will not affect the brainwave frequencies found through research to affect your immune system function. Therefore, some education prior to purchasing and using a product is in order.
Brainwave entrainment is safe, and it will not harm you to listen to a frequency other than that indicated for your purposes; however, you will not derive the benefits you seek.
