Creating a binaural beats meditation is really pretty simple. All you do is play one tone in one ear, and another tone with a slightly different frequency in another ear. So what’s all the fuss? And why are they supposed to enhance your mental state and improve your meditation?
It turns out that according to physics, sounds at two slightly different frequencies produce “beats”. These beats have a frequency that is the difference between the two frequencies of the original tones. Suppose for instance, if a pure tone of 500 cycles per second is played in the left ear, and a pure tone of 520 cycles per second is played in the right ear. Then a binaural beat is produced with a frequency of 520 minus 500 equals 20 beats per second.
There’s been a lot of research done on this phenomenon. Scientists have shown that brain waves respond to binaural beats, in a process known as “brain wave entrainment”. You can see a similar phenomenon when one guitar string starts vibrating when the one next to it is plucked. Physicists call this “resonance”. In the same way, binaural beats can stimulate brain waves with different frequencies. These different brain waves correspond to different mental states. Slower brain waves are associated with meditating, relaxing, and being creative. Faster brain waves produce mental stimulation, kind of like a mental cup of coffee. It’s possible that faster brain waves also improve memory.
Take note that it takes more than just listening to binaural beats to put you into a higher state of consciousness. There are lots of other factors which have been studied by lots of researchers, including both scientists and gurus. Breathing exercises, humming, background music and other techniques have all been used in various ways.
Is your interest piqued by now? It’s not hard to find sites on the web where you can buy binaural beat generating equipment. You may want to experiment for yourself. Or, there are plenty of “experts” that sell books and tapes to instruct you on how to enhance your meditation experience with binaural beats meditation. Just be careful to distinguish the real experts from the crackpots!
