It's (quite) a Mindgame
- twisforvai
- May 30, 2021
- 8 min read
Updated: Jun 12, 2021
Well now that we know that neural activity in our brain produces synchronous oscillations all the time resulting in Brainwaves (read more here), I would now like to delve into the ways in which we can influence them in our favour.
Although each activity we do consciously is associated with a mental state, many processes occur simultaneously in our brain and hence, an unfocussed mind is normally a mixture of all frequencies at the same time and in similar proportions. It is much like playing all notes on a musical instrument at the same time.
Fine tuning these mental states to increase the relative proportion of a certain brainwave could be desirable for harnessing the powers available in that state. For example, for effective peaceful relaxation, we may want our brain accumulate theta or delta waves.
In this article, I would like to give a brief overview on ways in which we can do this. Of course, each human is different and hence, each of us may get different results from these methods, with some preferring one over the other.
One of the most natural and healthy ways to reach a desired mental state would no doubt be yoga and meditation. I mention yoga and meditation here since these are most familiar to me.
However, these principles are fundamental to all forms of mind-body-spirit practices, such as Qigong, Tai Chi, Zen Buddhist, Aikido, Sufism, and breath practices of Native Americans, Hawaiians, etc.
For yoga in particular, this can be realised most effectively through Pranayam or breath-work involving movement of Prana or vital energy through the body. Certain Pranayam like Sudarshan Kriya or cyclical breathing can be implemented to slow down and regulate neural activity. Effective practice of this leads to accumulation of alpha brainwaves which eventually relax and transform into theta. On the other hand, neurophysiological consequences of Pranayam like Bhastrika or bellow's breath are an activation of the sympathetic nervous system and consequently seen as an accumulation of beta or gamma waves in the brain. (see ref.)
This is also observed in people practicing mindfulness and meditation techniques. These terms are most elusive to define as their meanings vary a great deal depending on culture, region, and field of study. However, to put it very simply,
Mindfulness is a state of alertness.
It involves focussing the mind and thus, production of more beta or gamma waves. Techniques that are commonly employed here are chanting e.g. Aum, visualisation techniques, aniconic meditation i.e. passive observation of our breath etc.
Meditation on the other hand is a practice of letting the mind loose, of carefully and gently pushing out conscious thoughts, of wandering in the mind.
Some people experience this as total and absolute blank-ness, emptiness or darkness, but it needn't be so for everyone. The primary goal of meditation is to decrease neural activity as much as possible so that the mind can relax into the deepest states of theta and delta. It can result in some people having heightened perception, OBEs etc. However, "stopping" your mind or thoughts is certainly not the goal of meditation and must not be attempted in that way as it CAN have negative impact on the mind.
Moreover, meditation is way of being; it does not require us to sit in one place, close our eyes, trying to empty the mind. It is something that can be done everywhere, all the time and in parallel to any other activity as well.
This has been observed in systematic studies involving people who perform yoga as exercise compared to true yogis. It was found that, what separates these two approaches to yoga is that people practicing asanas purely as exercise showed brainwaves of the active state i.e. beta, but true yogis were in a meditative state throughout the practice, in the most complex of asanas as well and showed signatures of theta waves.
But back to the topic at hand. Brainwave modification using techniques mentioned above involves by and large some biochemical processes, meaning that these methods enhance or inhibit production of certain chemicals in the body or brain to influence neural activity. Thus, these are internal processes.
However, brainwaves can be influenced in great measure by external stimuli as well. This happens through a process known as Brainwave Entrainment. As I have discussed in the previous articles, this is one of the ways in which we interact with energy and vibrations around us; sound and light above all else.
Brainwave entrainment is the process of synchronous harmonisation of brainwaves with external frequencies subjected in the form of a pulsing sound, light, or electromagnetic field, causing the brain to enter a specific state.
Consider for example, sound as a stimulus. If your brain is subjected to short pulses of sound or beats having a frequency of say 10 Hz, your brainwaves will, after a certain period of time, realign themselves to that frequency.
The most obvious way to do this would be by sticking electrodes to the brain. But I imagine that would be somewhat inconvenient and not preferred by most of us.
Fortunately, there are other much enjoyable ways to do this. In 1839, Heinrich Wilhelm Dove, a Prussian physicist and meteorologist discovered the phenomenon of Binaural beats.
Bi- in binaural standing for two; he discovered that when we are subjected to two sounds differing just slightly in their frequencies (difference < 40 Hz) in our ears such that one ear receives one frequency and the other ear the second frequency, our brain creates an illusion and perceives sound having a frequency equal to the difference between the two initial frequencies.
As in the illustration here, if one ear receives a pure tone at 240 Hz and the other 250 Hz, then our brain perceives this sound as having a frequency of only 10 Hz, subsequently entraining itself to that.
This can be implemented quite easily through music. Using any musical notes as carrier frequency, binaural compositions can be created, which when used, would result in the brain going into the state corresponding to the difference in the carrier frequencies offered in the composition. Countless compositions of this nature can be found online. You can find some examples of that in the resource section of this website.
Note: Binaural beats only work if headphones are used since sound of only one frequency should reach each ear. Additionally, it takes between 10-15 minutes for the brain to entrain brainwaves to a maximum extent in this way.
Another method for brainwave entrainment based on similar principles is Monaural beats, mono- standing for one. This technique is very similar to binaural beats with the only difference being that the two frequencies are mixed beforehand. Monaural brainwave entrainment is done using a single pulsing beat. It can be heard as continuous ‘clicks’ in the music emanating from a single speaker.
Monaural beats are considered to be more effective than binaural beats, however they can be influenced more easily with the music they are embedded in.
On the upside, they can be used without headphones.
The third technique implementing sound as a stimulus is Isochronic sound. Often used in combination with monaural and binaural beats, isochronic tones are regular beats of a single tone embedded into a narrow audio bandwidth of the music itself. One frequency band of the music oscillates, leaving the rest of the music untouched.
Isochronic tones are considered the most effective form of audio entrainment, and make for the most pleasant listening experience.
But that's about sound. Moving on to another omnipresent source of energy i.e. light. Visual inputs make up a majority of brain function and hence light can be used to manipulate brainwaves. This is done using a medical strobe light which shoots out pulses of light at required frequencies to affect specific parts of the brain.
This method can have a two-fold action. We have many light-sensitive chemicals e.g. Melatonin, floating around our brain which are responsible for different functions. Each of these chemicals is sensitive to particular frequencies of light. Hence, by using strobe light having a certain specific frequency, we can activate or inhibit the secretion and activity of a particular chemical in the brain and at the same time, the periodicity of these light pulses (number of pulses per second) can be used to entrain the brain to particular frequencies.
It must be noted that this technique is much more potent than audio entrainment and acts within a few seconds. On the other hand, it is also extremely dangerous if done in a wrong way as we are much more sensitive to light than sound. If a strobe flashes at a frequency that causes seizures, the brain will ‘entrain’ to the flashing light, resulting in a seizure immediately.
Thus, a most successfully applied method for performing brainwave entrainment in a clinical setting is Audio-Visual Entrainment, where a combination of both sound and light is used.
Another set of techniques commonly deployed in clinical settings is Neurofeedback. Neurofeedback is an "incentive-based" way to train brain activity. Here, using EEG, brain activity is monitored and compared to what you would actually like to be doing. When the brain is nearing the desired state, you are rewarded with a positive response on a computer screen, usually in the form of a video game, music, or movie. These incentives then motivate the brain to stay in that state.
Being quite organic in nature, Neurofeedback is considered as one of the safest ways to train the brain in medical fields.
Lastly, for the sake of completeness, I would like to mention that there are other techniques to perform brainwave entrainment using other forms of energy such as magnetic entrainment, EM field entrainment, etc. As of now, they are only available in clinical settings. They are, however, being developed for safe personal use in the form of wearables and portable gadgets as well.
By now you must be wondering, what benefits could such manipulation of brainwaves have. Well here's a list of some of the purported benefits of altering your brainwaves:
improved quality of sleep and relaxation
mitigation of anxiety, stress and depression
aids recovery from PTSD and other forms of psychological and emotional trauma
supplementary therapy for patients with Parkinson's or Alzheimer's
aids in mitigation of headaches and Migraines
helps with attention and learning disorders such as ADHD etc.
regulates mood and behavioural fluctuations
increases intuition, creativity and cognitive functioning
Lastly, I would like to take a moment to talk about some important things to keep in mind when using these techniques:
Auditory entrainment should NOT be used by people prone to seizures or having epilepsy as it can worsen the condition.
Stop immediately if at any time, methods based on meditation or brainwave entrainment make you feel uncomfortable, cause headache or nausea or result in an indecisive or confused state of mind. It would mean that there is something incorrect in the way you are using that method or simply because that technique is not suitable for you.
Use safe and low volume when practicing audio entrainment.
Finally, DO NOT OVERDO IT. There IS something like too much of a good thing.
Our brain is a fantastic and powerful instrument. We can try our best to train it well in order to upgrade the quality of our life. But in the end, it is very important to listen to the feedback our brain and body gives us and to act accordingly. That is the best relationship we can have with our physical self.
For me personally, I have found meditation and binaural beats to be most useful for myself. But like I said, every body and every mind is different. I urge you to explore these methods safely and find out what suits you best.
I hope you found something in this article to take away, to pique your interest in these matters and something that can advance you in the pursuit of training your brain.
Until next time.
Love & Light,
V
For those of you interested in how entrainment actually looks like, check out the video below!
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