As a Therapeutic Sound Practitioner, I’d like to share valuable insights on how to get your brain on the right wavelengths so as to improve your memory recall and cognitive abilities, to help you relax and unwind, get to sleep easier and enjoy a deeper, more restful sleep.
The insights that I share with you are not pseudoscience or some new age hocus pocus. They’re based on verified scientific principles in the physiology of sound, and how therapeutic sound affects our brain.
Listening to tones at specific frequencies can synchronise your brain waves to oscillate at the exact frequencies that your brain functions at for thought, memory recall, problem solving, relaxation, rest, and sleep. The synchronization of your brain waves is called entrainment.
Brain waves have been classified in the frequency ranges of Gamma, Beta, Alpha, Theta, and Delta. In cycles per second (also known as Hertz) your brain waves range from 100 at your highest level of cognition, to 0.5 at your deepest level of sleep.
Gamma Frequencies are between 100 and 30 cycles per second, and it is the frequency range that your brain waves oscillate at when you are at your highest level of cognitive abilities.
Beta Frequencies are from 30 to 14 cycles per second, and your brain waves are oscillating in the Beta range during most waking hours, when your 5 physical senses and your conscious mind are sending input to your brain.
Alpha Frequencies are between 13 and 8 cycles per second, and you are in the ‘Alpha zone’ when you are conscious but relaxed – starting to wind down and chill out.
Theta Frequencies are from only 7 to 4 cycles per second, and this is the range of brain wave frequencies when you are daydreaming or meditating. In the ‘Theta zone’ you can also slip off into REM (rapid eye movement) dreaming. Theta is what I call the twilight zone; you are in a very relaxed semi-conscious state.
Delta Frequencies are from just 3.5 down to 0.5 cycles per second and it is the unconscious and dreamless state where all voluntary physical and mental activities stop. When you are in the ‘Delta zone’ your physical body revitalises itself on a cellular level.
In days gone by TV’s and radios had dials instead of buttons. Changing the program was as simple as turning the dial to tune in the particular channel that you desired. Now, by simply listening to specific sound frequencies, for example, the Gamma range you can retune your brain and go from brain fog and forgetfulness, to clarity of thought, improved memory recall, maximum cognition and problem solving.
During waking hours, your brain waves typically oscillate within the Beta range of frequencies from 14 to 30 Hertz (Hertz is another name for cycles per second); that’s when you’re processing input from conscious thoughts and your 5 physical senses. Yes, in addition to your physical senses of sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste, you’re also constantly processing thoughts from your conscious mind! And in today’s world we’ve all got a lot on our minds, and that can cause stress.
When you’re stressed out and frazzled from a hectic day and ready to relax and wind down or relax, you can retune, or dial down, your brainwaves from the busy mind Beta frequencies of 30 to 14, by listening to the Alpha Frequencies of 13 to 8 cycles per second. In the ‘Alpha Zone’ you feel very relaxed; you are awake but at ease and as you wind down and chill out, daily stress begins to dissipate.
As you continue to relax and clear your mind of busy thoughts and worries, listening to the Theta frequencies will take you from being very relaxed to a state of restful semi-consciousness such as daydreaming, meditation, or rapid eye movement REM dreaming.
The Delta frequencies are the slowest of all brainwave frequencies when your brain’s neuron cells are only cycling between 3.5 to just 0.5 cycles per second, and having successfully tuned out the 5 physical senses, plus thoughts from your conscious mind, in the ‘Delta Zone’ you are in an unconscious state of deep and dreamless restorative sleep.
About the Author: Stephan LaCount
