BRAINWAVE ENTRAINMENT

[Erfeyah]

Is entrainment usefull? Have you tried it? Seeker i know you are into this and i will be gratefull if you tell me what you lerned from your experience.

[Ev]

You mean all that programs and devices that produce a white noise of specific frequency? I'm trying one now.

[CocoDan]

Me too. I used a deep meditation one while reading the forum to see if it would mess me up and I felt REALLY weired and had a headache, which happens rarely.

[Lowercase Society]

What exaclty is a white noise generator?? To resist is to piss in the wind. Anyone who does will end up smelling. Knowing this, why do I defy? Because my inner voice is yelling. [/b]

[dougdrums]

white noise is like the fuzzy sound when you are not tuned on a radio station. I've tried brainwave entrainment with bineural beats. It seemed to be really effective. (I tried using the tones for lsd, and the noises change... I went to play on the drums right afterwards and my snare was extra toingy!)

[Seeker]

Sorry I took so long to respond on this one. Brainwave entrainment works something like this: It is impossible for the human ear to detect sounds less than 20 hz or so. It is in this range that many interesting brainwave frequencies lie, so... You put a sound at say 220 hz in one ear and one at 224hz in the other ear. The brain combines these frequencies and generates a beat frequence at about 4 hz, which by the way is right about Theta for most people. You can find more info at www.bwgen.com I've had some success with this when using frequencies to enter alpha or theta. One time, when using theta frequencies, around 4.7 hz, I could swear I heard people talking. It freaked me out, so I pulled the headphones and the voices went away. Get a copy of bwgen if you haven't already and play around with it. Warning though. If you are epileptic, stay away from it as it could cause seizures. Good Luck!

[enigma-2]

Originally posted by adroid28 Is entrainment usefull? Have you tried it? Seeker i know you are into this and i will be gratefull if you tell me what you lerned from your experience. It can be very useful, for many differnet purposes. For instance, if you have difficultly maintaining your concentration (leaning towards attention deficit disorder), entraining at 14 Hz will reduce the amount of Theta in your waking state brainwave pattern and allow you to focus more intently. (Usually the arousal frequncies in the Alpha band have more pronounced benefits.) One good side effect is that these changes are permanent. Another good use comes in reprogramming the brain to enter a trance state much more quickly. (You can achieve a state of trance in a few minutes what meditators take a lifetime to achieve!) For those who don't know what it is, it is applying a stero signal to each ear, slightly out of phase. IE, in the left ear you might play a 240 Hz tone, in the right a 236 Hz tone. Both signals are then processed in the brainstem, mixed and a seperate 4 Hz signal is then produced. This happens at a point in brain where both halves 'think' they each created the signal and beging to sync with this new 4 Hz signal. This forces both halves of the brain into phase with each other and the brain will move to the state of consciousness that the binaural signal represents. There is a theory that the brain operates around a base 40 Hz. At each subharmonic of 40 Hz. (1/4 wave = 10 Hz, 1/8 wave = 5 Hz, etc.) certain specific neurochemicals are released and the body follows into sleep, action, etc. For example, at 10 Hz., Serotonin, Norepinephrine & Beta-Endorphin are released, prepearing the body for rest and sleep. During the waking state, we are normally in the Beta state, frequencies at 13 Hz. and above. As we beign to relax, our base frequency falls into the Alpha (esp. if we have our eyes close - but NOT imagining anything.) The Alpha state roughly corresponds to 8-12 Hz. It's in this level that meditators usually reach, some can dip into the upper Theta state, and a very few special persons, like Tibetian Monks can actually go well into the Theta. Lower still lies the sleep state of the Theta, at 4-7 Hz. And this is primairy interest to us here in lucid draming. At the border between the Alpha and Theta is a state where we no longer have any input from our human body, but still hold a tiny sliver of awareness. It's at this point where we become lucid. REM sleep occurs in the Theta brainwave state. This occurs somewhere between 6 - 8 Hz. Lower still is the Delta state, a completely unconsious, dreamless sleep state. Twenty minutes in Delta will make up for about four hours of sleep. (It seems to reset the sodium/potassium levels in the brain.) I use a small, cigarette pack-sized device called a Proteus to induce these different states of consciousness. Here's the home page if anyone's interested: http://www.syneticsystems.com/Proteus.html Basically what happens is a stereo signal is injected in each ear and two different color of LED bulbs begin flashing in each eye. It has been found that the audible beats and light flashes will"entrain" the brain in what's called a "frequency-following effect". This causes both hemispheres of the brain to synchronize and drop to the stimulus frequency; changing the level of consciousness. It can be done with sound only (the Shamans used drums to enter into states of awareness where they could communicate with their own subconsciousnesses much better), light flashes only (light entrain MUCH faster and deeper - we use approximately 40% of our brain's processing cycles to process images), or both. This is what these "light & sound machines", like the Proteus, use. Much faster and deeper enteinment. So to finally answer your question, does it work, an unqualified yes. My Proteus can put you into trance in six minutes. Sound sleep in about eight (if that's what you want.) To answer the second part, I used sessions which hovered around the 18 Hz. level to lower the amount od Theta I was producing in my awakened state. (Theta tends to make you lose your concentration in anything you are doing.) In about two weeks I noticed I had much more control over being able to hold my attention on what I was doing. (Had used the session around three times a week, about 1/2 hour each.) Moving in the opposite direction, sessions in the area of trance, the device will induce a deep trance very quickly, but I still have the problem of passing through the hypnagogic state directly into sleep. As to what's clicically known about binaural beats, "studies have shown improvements in sensory integration (Morris 1990), relaxation, meditation, stress reduction, pain management, sleep (Wilson 1990; Rhodes 1993), health care (Carter 1993), enhanced memory (Kennerly 1994), improved creativity (Hiew 1995), increased intuition, improved reliability in remote viewing (McMoneagle 1993), telepathy, and out-of-body experience." (From the Monroe institute's website.) One of the main reasons I went back to using the Nova Dreamer was to improve my ability to become lucid while awake. Used in combination with the Proteus, I hope to improve my ability to again have a direct communication with my own subconsciousness. I had this ability while I was in my 40's and lost it due to the more immediate concerns of raising a family, etc. I know how it works, and how to make it work again, there just seems to be 'something' blocking the path. Golden castles on open plains of silvery light ... Dennis

[YULAW]

Wow very interesting details here. I don't know if I could ever subject myself to using any of these devices. But its cool to know about them. Like I've heard of the Nova Dreamer but I still have no idea what the real functions happen to be. Oh and don't explain it for anyone who was going to, its not that important for me to know unless someone else wants the specific's

[Erfeyah]

Thanks guys! I also did some research by myself! I downloaded BW generator and tried it for meditation, I think that it really helps but you should have knowledge of the experience you want to achieve. It's like a helping hand. I will experiment for some time with meditation and I'll let you know of the results.

[CocoDan]

4.7=voices??? I must try!

[Berserk Exodus]

Originally posted by Seeker Sorry I took so long to respond on this one. Brainwave entrainment works something like this: It is impossible for the human ear to detect sounds less than 20 hz or so. It is in this range that many interesting brainwave frequencies lie, so... You put a sound at say 220 hz in one ear and one at 224hz in the other ear. The brain combines these frequencies and generates a beat frequence at about 4 hz, which by the way is right about Theta for most people. You can find more info at www.bwgen.com I've had some success with this when using frequencies to enter alpha or theta. One time, when using theta frequencies, around 4.7 hz, I could swear I heard people talking. It freaked me out, so I pulled the headphones and the voices went away. Get a copy of bwgen if you haven't already and play around with it. Warning though. If you are epileptic, stay away from it as it could cause seizures. Good Luck! Whoa, that makes my head feel wierd... I just tried it... The sound combination seems to make it pulse.

[Seeker]

Yeah, it can make you feel a little strange at times. Have fun with it! I programmed my own ramp down from 7hz to 2 hz with a 90 degree phase offset and listened to it for about 45 minutes one day. At one point, I felt the pulsing.

[Berserk Exodus]

I'm trying to use the self-hypnosis track to cause me to remember my dreams.

[Seeker]

I've never tried that one. I usually listen while at work and so go for the relaxation and meditation or the creativity series. But, as I mentioned earlier, I got the best effects by just playing and trying to home in on target frequencies that my brain responds best to. Good luck!

[Dimmy]

what would be a good range to promote a good meditation session? right now i made one that starts at 14hz then 5 min later gets down to 8hz then again down to 6hz in abother 5 min, the transitions are very soft and are a lil prolonged at 8hz, is this a good set up, any tips for it?

[Seeker]

12 Hz if I remember right is the transition between Beta and Alpha, 8Hz is the transition between Alpha and Theta. Someone step in here and correct me if I'm wrong. If your meditation skills are a poor as mine, the 5 minute transition times might be a little fast. However, if you are good a meditation, they should be fine. Anyone heard voices yet?

[Dimmy]

ok i guess i'll prolong the transition a lil, and no voices yet but i'll post here as soon as i get some.

[enigma-2]

Originally posted by Seeker 12 Hz if I remember right is the transition between Beta and Alpha, 8Hz is the transition between Alpha and Theta. Someone step in here and correct me if I'm wrong. If your meditation skills are a poor as mine, the 5 minute transition times might be a little fast. However, if you are good a meditation, they should be fine. Anyone heard voices yet? From what I've read there is no hard fast rule as to where the beta ends and alpha starts. It seems to vary to between individuals and in a single individual at different times. You can drop from beta to alpha fairly fast (one minute is OK) but as you drop lower, the transition should take longer as the brain needs longer times to adapt to the lower frequencies (it's also a chemical machine, not just electrical.) Somewhere between 8 Hz and 6 Hz lies your own twilight zone, body asleep, mind still aware. (Mine noramally lies around 7.6 Hz, but I also hit it at 7.5 and 7.4 Hz.) This is a good place to target for deep meditation. Try not to visualize in the mid alpha as it (visualization) will raise the frequency. At the twilight barrier, visualization actually seems to help maintain awareness, it adds some alpha into the strong theta band and the needed degree of consciousness. The actual frequencies are not as important as the degree of repetition. The brain will make new connections to process this new stimulus and this in turn will make it easier to enter into a trance easier (over time.)

[theroguechemist]

Heh.. exported me a 30 minute clip, put it on my MP3 player and went to bed. My eyelids started twitching like they was on crack! hehehe... I probably have to keep doing it, it's all kind of progressive training i think... cool stuff regardless

[Erfeyah]

I export the meditation(from wide awake) and i listened to it while i was in bed. It surelly worked although i have to make the transitions a little slower. nice...

[Seeker]

I never thought of exporting to my MP3 player. Using MP3 pro variable encoding, I should be able to get about 5 hours on it!

[dougdrums]

page o' brainwave frequences: http://www.lunarsight.com/freq.htm

[Jallen]

Lastnight i listened to the deep meditation wave and i'm not sure if i was just tired or if it calmed me down but i ended up staring at myself in the mirror for 15 minutes until someone called me and then i took the headphones off. That is completely unusal for me.

[Seeker]

Jallen, that's cool! Mirrors can be fun! Do you remember any thoughts, sounds, or images you might have experienced? Did you experience the passing of time?

[Jallen]

No i just remember being completely relaxed. I did the same thing lastnight after i posted that and i stared at my face again. For some reason though i don't feel comfortable closing my eyes while listening to it, i become very uneasy and feel like someone is in my room and immediately open my eyes.