{"id":31022,"date":"2023-11-16T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-11-16T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.saatva.com\/?p=31022"},"modified":"2023-11-13T20:08:53","modified_gmt":"2023-11-13T20:08:53","slug":"binaural-beats-for-sleep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saatva.com\/blog\/binaural-beats-for-sleep\/","title":{"rendered":"What Are Binaural Beats\u2014and Can They Help You Sleep Better?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

From\u00a0sleep hygiene<\/a>\u00a0strategies to\u00a0supplements<\/a>, there are dozens of ways to improve your sleep. But there\u2019s a relative newcomer to the sleep medicine world you may not have tried yet, namely binaural beats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You may never have heard of binaural beats until now. Yet if your sleep has gone south, then using binaural beats for sleep, even\u00a0anxiety<\/a>, could be a natural, cost-effective way to get better shuteye. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are binaural beats?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Binaural beats are a type of auditory therapy. \u201cThey\u2019re an auditory illusion created when two slightly different frequency tones are presented to each ear,\u201d says Danielle Kelvas, MD, chief medical advisor at Sleepline<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The brain processes these two sounds and then perceives a third tone, which the human ear can\u2019t typically perceive on its own. That third tone is the binaural beat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s heard at a frequency that\u2019s the difference between the other two frequencies. For instance, if your right ear is hearing a 400 hertz (Hz) tone and your left ear a 410 Hz tone, then the binaural beat is being heard at 10 Hz.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do binaural beats work? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Brain waves are patterns of electrical activity that occur in your brain. They\u2019re created by the millions of neurons in your brain that use this type of activity to relay information. Depending on what you\u2019re doing during the day, those brain waves will change.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The more you\u2019re aroused and engaged in an activity, the faster those brain waves will be. On the flip side, when you\u2019re in a sleepy or meditative state<\/a>, those brain waves will slow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By using binaural beats and tuning your brain to a specific frequency much like you would tune into a station on a radio, \u201cyou can potentially influence your brain\u2019s wave activity and induce a variety of desirable states, such as relaxation or focus, depending on the frequency of the binaural beat,\u201d Kelvas says.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are five different types of brain waves<\/a>. They include the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n