Sonic healing is activated through sensory immersion in sound, which causes frequencies of vibrations and neural-emotional activation.
Brain Waves
Each person possesses a 5 unique set of electric patterns, or brain waves. In order from fastest to slowest, these are the waves known as Gamma, Beta, Alpha, Theta, and Delta. The Alpha-Theta Border is the sweet spot where your conscious and subconscious minds meet, and it's also where Flow State takes place. Athletes work hard to achieve that state because it's the only area where creative ideas and peak performance are consistently possible. Here is where we may make quick choices while also having access to creative insight
The electrical pulses that make up brain waves are the result of millions of neurones talking to each other in unison. Gamma, Beta, Alpha, Theta, and Delta are the five brainwaves, (listed from quickest to slowest). Hertz are the units used to determine the frequency of brainwaves (cycles per second).
History of Sound Healing
Asclepius's ("dream healing temples") were dedicated to healing through sound, engaging the visitor's spiritual consciousness and emotional responses, long before the 6th century BC, when the Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras investigated the curative properties of sound. To treat illness, Pythagoras sang and chanted incantations with specific tunes and rhythms.
Over two thousand five hundred years ago, in Egyptian manuscripts, incantations were mentioned as treatments for bodily discomfort and infertility.
Alpha Brain Waves, were first detected by Hans Berger in 1929,
To bring about harmony and balance in one's physical body, one's energy centres (called chakras), and one's etheric fields by the use of music. The human voice or an instrument can be used to apply sound. Sound therapy, often known as "vibrational medicine" or "energy medicine," is a form of alternative medicine that uses vibrations to treat illness (Goldman, 2021).
Sound therapy is a form of complementary and alternative medicine that makes use of therapeutically-oriented performances of music and other forms of sound using specialised instruments and methods of introspective thinking to promote health and well-being (British Academy of Sound Therapy, 2014).
In order to utilise the understanding that sound may have a strong effect on human emotions, sound therapy dismantles music into pure sound. According to practitioners of sound therapy, each individual possesses a unique frequency of energy. They try to restore energetic harmony by using sound waves to modulate them (Keneally, 2008).
Binaural Hearing
Sound is a form of energy that is both energetic and physical; it is a pressure wave that can release pent-up energy (ASTC Science World Society, 2020).
Binaural hearing is just one cog in the wheel that is the human ear as one of the five senses and, more generally, as one of the portals to the unseen world of vibrational instructions. Only recently have we begun to comprehend the vast field of messages and energies in which humans exist.
We humans are field phenomena that follow the same vibrational laws as everything else (Krasnof, 2021).
Binaural beats (BB) are a type of auditory illusion that stimulates neural phase locking and is thus thought to be a form of cognitive entrainment. People report hearing a subjective beat at the difference in frequency between two pure tones given in a dichotic fashion. Since these binaural beats are not actual, physical phenomena, they are purely psychological (Becher et al., 2015).
Entrainment (Physics): the process by which two distinct rhythms can synchronise their cycles by coming into close enough contact to each other (Helfrich et al., 2019; Strogatz & Stewart, 1993).
An organism's entrainment to an externally perceived rhythm, such as that utilised by humans in music and dance, is referred to in the field of biomusicology as entrainment.
Many researchers feel that the ability to involuntarily follow a rhythm, also known as "beat induction," is a crucial cognitive ability for music (Patel, 2008).
"In the zone" is another term for the "flow state" described by Jeanne Nakamura and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (2009). A mental condition in which a person engaged in an activity loses track of time and becomes so absorbed in it that they forget about everything else around them.
Studies on Binaural Beats
At present time, there is sufficient research in the BB field to infer that binaural beats can affect brain, neurological system, and states of consciousness. However, research is only getting started. Assumptions concerning the mechanism of BB operation—namely, entrainment—have given way to discussions of stochastic resonance, brain control, the RAS, and neurotransmitters. It is currently unclear what neural pathways BB travel (Becher et al., 2015). It is known that the beats per minute (BB) travel to the superior olivary nuclei (Fitzpatrick et al., 2009; Kuwada et al., 1979), but after that, the path of these beats is obscure until they reach the cortex, where they are processed similarly to the MB signals (Pratt, 2010).
Some studies have found positive effects of BB on the nervous system and brain (Fatima et al., 2019; Gantt et al., 2017; Isik et al., 2017; Kirk et al., 2019; Perales et al., 2019), while others have found no effects (López-Caballero & Escera, 2017; Munro & Searchfield, 2019).
Garcia-Argibay et al. (2019) meta-analysis verified BB's effectiveness in lowering anxiety levels following delta/theta exposure.
Increasing Beta brain waves have been linked to sharper concentration.
Treatments including Binaural Beats have shown promise in enhancing ADD patients' ability to concentrate, maintain attention, and sleep soundly; enhancing meditators' ability to relax further; boosting working and episodic memories; and bolstering overall cognitive performance. Additionally, Gao et al. (2014) demonstrated that using BB boosted EEG power in the beta band in patients with schizophrenia and depression (Tekell et al., 2005; Yeragani et al., 2006, as cited in Gao et al., 2014).
Both the beta and gamma waves assist in frontal lobe functions like concentration, memory, and decision making.
Gantt et al. (2017) concluded that theta BB decreased physical and psychological stress, beta BB improved cognitive function, and delta BB improved sleep.
Gkolias et al. (2020) concluded that theta BB (5 Hz) decreased pain perception and medication during and a week following BB usage.
Isik et al. (2017) concluded that alpha BB reduced anxiety in preoperative dental patients.
Kirk et al. (2019) found that BB (beta 14 Hz) enhanced cognitive control (sustained focus) and learning.
Beauchene et al. (2017) tested alpha, beta and theta BB and found that listening to 15 Hz binaural beats during the N-back task activated salient frequency bands and produced networks characterized by higher information transfer as compared to other auditory stimulation conditions.
Gálvez et al. (2018) in a study of beta BB on Parkinson’s disease patients found: (a) a decrease in theta activity, (b) a general decrease in functional connectivity, and (c) improved working memory.
In 2017, Jirakittayakorn and Wongsawat found that a 6 Hz theta BB on a 250 Hz carrier tone was a stimulus for inducing a meditative state.
Jirakittayakorn and Wongsawat (2018) found that a delta BB of 3 Hz caused a longer N3 sleep stage and a shorter N2 sleep stage. Additionally the N3 sleep stage latency was shorter.
Lovati et al. (2019) reported BB (8 minutes of stimulation, 4 minutes of 12 Hz alpha, and 4 minutes of 8 Hz theta) used for 90 consecutive evenings caused a reduction in anxiety and depression, and half the patients reported a subjected improvement in their headaches
Axelsen et al. (2020) found in a randomized double-blind study that beta (14 Hz) BB and mindfulness increase sustained attention.
Bang et al. (2019) examined the effect of theta BB on improving sleep disturbances and daytime alertness among patients with subclinical insomnia.
Colzato, Barone et al. (2017) found that gamma BB exerted a significant effect on attentional focus.
Colzato, Steenbergen, and Sellaro (2017) found that gamma BB improved episodic memory, further strengthening the hypothesis that gamma neural activity is critically associated with the control of feature binding.
Pluck and López-Águila (2019) determined in a controlled double- blind experiment that theta BB beats did not increase cognitive fluency, but did induce fear.
da Silva Júnior et al. (2020) found theta BB caused a possible reduction of sympathetic system activation.
Lim et al. (2018) found that theta-alpha BB demonstrated positive effects on mental fatigue and cognitive function such as concentration and memory, rather than just a mechanical massage.
McConnell et al. (2014) found that theta BB increased parasympathetic activation and sympathetic withdrawal. Theta BB also significantly predicted subsequent reported relaxation.
Reedijk et al. (2015) found that gamma BB reliably enhanced cognitive processes in individuals with lower dopamine and a frontal cognitive control pathway.
The purpose of this therapeutic frequency is to entrain the brain to a specific condition. Theta is one of the most well-known BBs since it is prominent during deeply relaxed and contemplative states, both of which are generally regarded as beneficial (Abhang et al., 2016).
Alpha Waves (8 – 12 Hz)
When you are deeply relaxed, drifting off into a pleasant day-dream, or practising gentle meditation, alpha brain waves predominate. Alpha is the brain wave pattern at which our subconscious and conscious minds communicate - a Flow State - In the Zone.
Too much Alpha Waves result to Daydreaming, inability to focus, too relaxed
Too little Alpha Waves result to Anxiety, High Stress, Insomnia, OCD
Optimal Alpha Waves result to Relaxation, Flow State
Theta Waves (4 – 8 Hz)
Theta brain waves predominate during profound concentration and sleep. In theta, we experience the whole dream state, complete with imaginative visions, intuitive insights, and hidden knowledge. Ot helps to improve our creativity, our intuition and makes us move and feel more natural . The Flow State Zone is also found here.
Too many Theta Waves result to ADHD, depression, hyperactivity, impulsivity, inattentiveness
Too few Theta Waves result to Anxiety, poor emotional awareness, stress
Optimal Theta Waves result to Flow State, Creativity, emotional connection, intuition, relaxation
Beta Waves (12 – 40 Hz)
Beta Brain Waves are associated with normal waking consciousness and a heightened state of alertness, logic, and critical reasoning. Having the right amount of beta allows us to focus on our tasks whether at school, work, or sports performance. However, exposing too many beta waves also results in too much stress. Stress produces stress chemicals like Cortisol which is really harmful to our body if it’s too much.
Too many Beta Waves result to Anxiety, Adrenaline, High Arousal, Inability to Relax, Stress
Too little Beta Waves result to ADHD, daydreaming, depression, poor cognition
Optimal Beta Waves result to Conscious focus, memory, problem-solving
Beta Waves can be increased through Coffee, Energy Drinks, Flow
Gamma Waves (40 - 100 Hz)
Gamma Brain Waves are the fastest brainwaves (high frequency) and the most recently discovered brain wave state, relate to simultaneous processing of information from different brain areas. These are involved in higher processing tasks as well as cognitive functioning. This is important for learning, memory, and information processing.
Too much Gamma Waves result to Anxiety, High Arousal, Stress
Too little Gamma Waves result to ADHD, Depression, Learning Disabilities
Optimal Gamma Waves result to Binding Senses, cognition, information processing, learning, perception, REM sleep
Gamma Waves can be increased through Meditation
More Types of Sound Healing
Music Therapy
The goal of music therapy is to encourage positive behavioural changes and elevated emotional states.
Mantra Chanting
Mantras are an example of self-created noises that have been shown to synchronise left and right brain activity, increase oxygen flow to the brain, induce slow, steady brain waves, and lower the heart rate and blood pressure. Mantras are chanted by the client in an effort to achieve balance and emotional harmony.
Music Imagery
Clients are stimulated by both auditory and visual means. Ambient factors such as heat and light/darkness are frequently used to create a more convincing illusion of presence.
March 2023