Can Brainwave Music Help You Sleep Better?

What are Binaural Beats or Brainwave Entrainment Music?

It's very calming and beautiful music compositions with no lyrics. I use these as the backing tracks to my Visualisations and Meditations because the binaural beats embedded in the music encourages a desirable change in your brainwave frequency. If you wear headphones when listening to this music, you may be able to discern a discrete pulsing sound. Because these different brainwaves are created by sending 2 different frequencies to the left and right ears, it will benefit you enormously to listen to these with headphones. This type of music helps move you from a more alert state of consciousness towards deep relaxation and towards deep sleep.

How is brainwave frequency connected with sleep or mood?

Your state of mental alertness and perception of threat is reflected in different brain wave patterns or frequencies. Your processing mind - the one that is engaged in reading this article or listening intently to a talk or working on a task - is associated with Beta brainwave frequency.

When you're deeply relaxed but still awake - eg just after a really great Yoga class including meditation at the end - your brainwaves will cycle at Alpha frequency - commonly referred to as 'Calm Consciousness'. It's that beautiful state of being where you're awake but your nervous system detects no threat - the parasympathetic nervous response is activated and you feel physically and mentally at peace and well.

Then there's the brainwaves associated with the Hypnogogic state- that state between consciousness and unconsciousness. I like to call this the Twilight Zone....that mysterious state we go through briefly as we fall asleep between awake and sleep, when you drop the book you've been reading because you can't resist the urge to drop off. Welcome to Theta frequency - deeply beneficial for stress relief as well as improved memory and mental programming. Inside my online membership programme, a couple of my mindfulness meditations are recorded at this frequency including my healing Yoga Nidra (meaning Yogic sleep) session. Press play on this one on your phone or laptop any time you feel the need to re-charge without going into a a deep sleep. Think power nap in the afternoon. Delicious!

Once established in sleep, we cycle through REM (Rapid Eye Movement) an NREM (Non REM) phases. Deep NREM sleep is the phase associated with activation of the immune system for repair and healing at a cellular level - reflected in Delta brainwave frequency.

My beautiful Sleep meditations are recorded at this frequency to help you calm down from the day's pressures and release repetitive thoughts- they are a natural sleep aid. My affordable monthly online membership programme, myBestme gives you access to a wide range of brand new meditations this month to help reduce anxiety, overwhelm and boost confidence and mental focus. Get one of my FREE Sleep meditations here

Follow my Facebook page to hear about my forthcoming self study programme on Sleep. This programme shares the latest research on sleep - what it is and why it's the foundation of your health and longevity. I'll also be teaching non drug based strategies to naturally improve the quantity and quality of your sleep for a long, healthy life as well as improved mood and hormone balance.

But do these Binaural Beats work?

Yes. Binaural beats were first discovered some 150 years ago and it's so effective at inducing a deeply relaxed state, I've used them to create meditations for chronic pain as well as deep relaxation and stress relief. If you're a person who finds it hard to relax, then press play on these beautiful tracks.You'll instantly feel becalmed - add to that some pretty powerful meditations and visualisations, and you're transported to a serene, tranquil world where you can get perspective and uplift your mood and outlook, all without harmful side effects. On that point, the only potential dangerous aspect about using music with binaural beats is for those driving or operating machinery. Please only listen when you're able to relax in a chair or in bed!