Theta brain waves are the second slowest wave in the human brain. It has a frequency of 4 to 7 hertz or cycles per second. This wave is commonly associated with daydreaming, early stages of sleep or the state between being sleep and being awake. Nowadays, theta brain waves are used by many to attain levels of relaxation using theta brainwave entrainment sounds. More and more people are actually enjoying the benefits of listening to theta brainwave audio‘s and developing deeper levels of relaxation.

What Are The Benefits Of Theta Brain Waves You Can Access?

First, theta brainwaves are responsible for the increase in creativity and the learning process. Studies show that painters, artists, musicians, writers and other jobs requiring creativity have higher levels of theta brain waves in their brain. These people have been found to think more creatively than those whose level of theta brain waves are of the average.

Like the alpha wave, theta brain waves can actually induce the brain into a state of “super learning-” a state in which the mind can easily grasp ideas and thoughts. It is therefore not unusual that children can learn a new language more easily compared to adults because children have higher levels of theta waves in their brain.

Another benefit of theta brain waves is that this wave allows you to tap the realms of your subconscious. Our subconscious is believed to be the major cause why each and every individual behaves the way he or she does.

If one can attain the level of being able to voluntarily access the subconscious, he or she can actually better understand his or her self. Thus a person will be more comfortable and experience a deeper emotional connection with his or her self.

One more surprising effect of theta brainwaves is that it makes a person relaxed, carefree and feel united with a higher power. Children are very spontaneous and act naturally because theta brain waves are most of the time kicking in their brain.

If you climb the top of a mountain and see from above the immense beauty of creation and feeling one with the universe, your theta waves are surging in your brain.

There are still more benefits to be derived from accessing our theta brain waves, and perhaps the easiest way to do this is to utilize brain wave entrainments such as isochronic tones.

There are some concerns from people when they first discover brainwave entrainment, whether using isochronic tones or binaural beats. People become afraid that by directly altering their brainwaves they may do some irreversible damage to the neural pathways in the brain. However this fear is unnecessary.

Brainwave entrainment is a safe activity with over 70 years of scientific research to back it up. Also people have been entraining their minds to external stimulus for countless millennia before brainwave entrainment was officially discovered.

The simple act of slowing down ones breathing when meditating serves to entrain the mind which alters the brainwaves. Even listening to music will have some degree of entrainment. Whether it puts you in a relaxed or excited frame of mind, it is a direct result of the music altering the listeners brainwaves. There have been no recorded fatalities or reports of brain damage from brainwave entrainment yet there are many reports of the benefits from this type of therapy.

With this said you should follow the correct guidelines when using brainwave entrainment sessions.

This includes making sure your are well hydrated by drinking plenty of water beforehand. The reason for this is because once the session begins the blood flow to the brain may increase, which can lead to a headache. By being fully hydrated with water you can eliminate your chances of getting a headache and ensuring you have a comfortable session.

Also other guidelines for the individual sessions should be followed. If the session is one which will make you sleepy then in no way should you attempt to drive or operate heavy machinery during or immediately following the session.

Brainwave entrainment, including isochronic tones, is a very safe way of altering your brainwaves yet the guidelines should always be followed.

The best way to induce a trance like state is not by turning to external stimulus, but by looking internally and allowing your mind to take you there.

Repetition is one the most effective ways to begin a trance. And it is by repetition people enter trance like states, whether they uses substances or not. The repeating of mantras or listening to a drone will certainly help and this is where isochronic tones can be of use.

Often it takes many years of practice to achieve the deepest trance like states capable with meditation. It is these states of mind which are replicated with the use of substances.

However all these substances do is alter the brainwave activity.

Masters of meditation have the knowledge of how to alter their brainwaves with minimal effort. They have had time to practice and recognise the signs of when they should enter the next level.

Partly it is to do with how the breathing is controlled, another repetitive action.

The control of the breathing allows one to begin to control the brainwaves which in turn regulate the chemicals our brain releases. By slowing our brainwaves the chemicals and hormones will begin to take effect putting us into a deep trance like state without the need for drugs or other stimulus.

Isochronic tones allow us to also control our brainwaves. They can help us enter deep trance like states and achieve levels of meditation we thought we could only enter when using substances.

Even though they are an external stimuli, isochronic tones are a much safer method to reach deep levels of meditation and enter trance states at will.

While most people benefit from brainwave entrainment technologies such as binural beats and isochronic tones, for others they often have no effect. This leads to speculation about whether the use of technologies actually work, or whether it is more to do with a placebo effect.

When Gerald Oster was studying the effect of binaural beats in the 1970′s he discovered a number of his subjects could not percieve the binaural beats. These particlualar people were ones suffering from Parkinsons disease. In one case Oster followed a patient through a week long treatment of the disease. At the begining of the week the patient was unable to percieve the binaural beats, yet by the end of the week the patient was able to hear them.

Also Oster reported gender differences in the perception of the binuaral beats. Women would seem to experience separate peaks in their ability to hear the beats. This was speculated to coincide with certain points in the menstrual cycle, at the onset and then 15 days after. This led Oster to wonder if brainwave technology could be used as a means for measuring levels of estrogen.

Realistically more studies need to be carried out to find out why binaural beats and the newer technology isochronic tones affect people more than others. It could be put down to a simple tolerance of the individuals ability to be influenced by external stimuli.

The brain is a complex organism and we are still discovering the limitations into what can and cannot be achieved.

The more popular brainwave entrainment technologies (like isochronic tones) become the more inclined the scientific community will be to begin funding the neccesary research into the various benefits.

Often people confuse isochronic tones and binaural beats – the terms themselves essentially point towards the same concept. This is understandable, but there is a fundamental difference. These two distinctive types of brainwave entrainment methods require a closer look.

Binaural beats affect the brain stem, causing it to produce auditory responses. These responses come from the superior olivary nucleus in each brain hemisphere. They occur as two different and separate auditory impulses interact.

The impulses originate in both of your ears and affect the brain. These impulses can differ in frequency between one Hz and upwards. To illustrate, if a binaural beat of 400 Hz is played to your right ear, and a differing tone of 410 Hz is played to your left ear, the difference between both tones is 10 Hz. This causes an “amplitude modulated standing wave”, which occurs when the two separate waves rotate in and out of sync.

These binaural beats aren’t “heard” in the common sense, but detected as an auditory sound instead. To summarize, they are heard when tones of different frequencies are presented to both ears. This causes the brain to become entrained to the frequency difference (of one frequency subtracted from the other). As the brain is entrained to that frequency, it begins to resonate to that frequency.

Isochronic tones, on the other hand, also work in a similar fashion . The isochronic tones coax the brain into specific rhythms as binaural beats do. That said, isochronic tones are much more modern and use the latest technology.

Isochronic tones are a stronger form of brainwave entrainment, utilizing equal intensity tones and boosting the pulse speed for a different effect. Your brain is synchronized with the rhythm as the more distinct, clean wave forms harmonize the brain. They also do it more efficiently and smoothly.

As a result, isochronic tones can more precisely target the desired brain wave frequency. They can have a major impact on your life as a result, allowing you to sleep more easily (without pills) and reduce anxiety to non-significant levels. The lower the brainwave frequencies, the more restful and relaxed you become. Isochronic tones are very useful for sleeping and resting.

There are even different levels of meditation that you can achieve using isochronic tones. For example, Theta Meditation requires you to play isochronic tones in the four to seven Hz range (and provide trance-like mediation), whereas Alpha Meditation requires eight Hz. This allows for higher levels of concentration while the user is awake.

As you listen to frequencies (10 Hz as an example), the brain starts to produce brainwaves of that same frequency. Binaural beats and isochronic tones (the two main brainwave entrainment recording types) take advantages of this to provide levels of relaxation or focus, depending on what the user is trying to accomplish.

That said, isochronic tones are a significant upgrade to binaural beats. They utilize better technology and produce superior results. Binaural beats are a slightly older form of accomplishing similar goals, but require headphones to work. Isochronic tones encourage your brain to synchronize with the rhythms, something binaural beats cannot do.