Binaural Beats and Sleep

Sleep— we all need it, yet for some of us it is so difficult to achieve. For many, it's the challenge of shutting one's thoughts off long enough to relax and fall asleep. That's where binaural beats and sleep go together.

Binaural beats and sleep are a form of something called brainwave entrainment, which has fast become an alternative to addictive sleeping medication and other sleeping techniques. In this post we'll go over more about what brainwave entrainment is, and how binaural beats and sleep can help you get to sleep fast and wake up feeling more rested.

How Binaural Beats and Sleep Work Together

While you're awake, your brainwaves operate in a beta frequency. While in a beta frequency your brain is in an alert state, which can be heightened if you are under stress or anxiety.

Those who find it difficult to sleep at night are essentially having trouble getting their mind out of a beta state and into an alpha state. An alpha state is experienced when your brain is in a state of light relaxation. Daydreaming and light meditation can also help put your brain into an alpha state.

Right before sleep occurs, your brain quickly passes through the Theta state and into the Delta state when you eventually fall into a deep sleep.

So there you have your 4 stages of sleep: Alpha, Beta, Theta, and Delta. Binaural beats and sleep work together by tuning your brainwaves into the various stages of sleep, which helps recreate a healthy sleep pattern.

Getting in the habit of using brainwave entrainment recordings every night can help train your brain to enter into these relaxed states on their own, which will eventually make sleep less of a challenge.

The Binaural Beats Difference

If you were to search for "brainwave entrainment" you would likely find articles on both binaural beats and isochronic tones. In order to understand the difference, you must look at the prefixes of each word. "Bi" refers to two frequencies, while "Iso" refers to equal or identical frequencies.

With that in mind, you can begin to understand how brainwave entrainment works. Binaural beats plays two separate frequencies in each ear, which tunes your brain to the frequency that is the difference between the two. Because two separate frequencies are played in each ear, the only way binaural beats can be listened to effectively is through headphones.

Isochronic tones work by utilizing tones of equal intensity to sync your brainwaves to the rhythm. Many opt for isochronic tones to help them sleep simply because they find it difficult to sleep with headphones on. That's where SleepPhones come in! With any of our models of headphones you can comfortably lay in bed however you wish without headphones getting in the way of your personal comfort. SleepPhones are the ideal companion to binaural beats audio.

Where to Get Binaural Beats Sleep Recordings

So now that you know all about binaural beats and the benefits they have on sleep, you're probably wondering where to get some audio recordings to get started. Visit our catalog of free MP3s here or download our iPhone app to keep all the recordings with you at all times.