Binaural Beats Aided Sleeping – Can these Sounds Cure Your Insomnia Problems?
Binaural beats are sound waves that can promote relaxation and sleep in you. These waves harness the brain’s responsiveness to audio frequencies to move your brain to a deeply relaxed state, alleviate your anxiety levels, and let you enjoy much better sleep. While binaural beats aided sleeping have been around for some time, it is only recently that these have been getting plenty of attention due to its capacity to reduce stress and enhance sleep quality. Find out how it aids sleep.
How Do Binaural Beats Aid Sleeping?
Binaural beats change the level of arousal of the brain. These audio waves are useful in promoting relaxation and sleep. Science exhibits that being exposed to Binaural Beats can alter the degree of arousal of the brain. When you listen to such sounds, a low-frequency tone is created. According to research, it triggers a reduction in brainwave activity. It can let you relax, reduce your anxiety levels, and make it more convenient for you to get asleep and enjoy a more sound sleep.
At the time of sleep, your brainwave activity is mainly different from the activity of your brain when you are awake. REM sleep differs from this, given that your brain is active during REM in ways that resemble how it is when you are waking. At the time of non-REM sleep, the lower and slower delta and theta waves are predominant compared to the beta and alpha waves that dominate when you are active and alert.
Any therapy that reduces brainwaves’ activity, allowing it to produce waves of low-frequency, can aid sleep and relaxation. As such Binaural beats, aided sleeping can be good practice for sleep-deprived people. However, binaural beats do not just reduce brainwave frequencies. These can also improve relaxation to help enjoy a better quality of sleep.
Binaural Beats and Hormones
Limited research has revealed that binaural beats exposure is related to alterations in the 3 hormones essential to well-being and sleep.
- Melatonin – This hormone regulates and promotes sleep. The level of this hormone increases significantly during the evening. Melatonin relaxes the mind and body and prepares you for sleep. The research showed that 73% of participants witnessed increased melatonin levels after they used binaural beats. The average rise was over 97%.
- Cortisol – This hormone is related to arousal and stimulates attention and alertness. There is an increase and decrease in cortisol level in association with the circadian rhythms—the hormone peaks in level when you wake up in the morning to stay active throughout the day. Very high levels are related to insomnia and more time spent in light sleep instead of in a state of deep sleep. The above research showed that 70% of participants witnessed a drop in the cortisol level after being exposed to binaural beats.
- DHEA – It works as a type of master hormone, aiding in the production of other hormones in the human body based on ‘as-required.’ The hormone is essential for protecting diseases and supporting the function of immunity. DHEA is especially important for sleep, given that helps suppress the cortisol hormone level that provokes stress and arouses alertness at high levels. The study showed that 68% of participants saw a rise in DHEA after using binaural beats.
Reduces Pain and Anxiety
Pain often comes in the way of sleep, and pain can be worsened due to poor sleep. Pain reduction, thus, stands as one of the best ways to boost the quality of sleep. Binaural beats reduce the perception of pain. These sounds can also reduce various types of anxiety, whether chronic or mild, thus improving sleep.
Read about Delta Waves.
