Binaural beats are becoming increasingly popular amongst those who want to increase relaxation or mindfulness, those who meditate, and of course lucid dreamers. But are they safe?
Frequently referred to as a digital drug, binaural beats alter brainwave patterns, creating a hypnotic response, a ‘high’ if you like. They work by playing two different tones or auditory impulses in each ear, which then activates various centres in the brain, increasing mental clarity.
Sounds great, right?
But then many people are still cautious when it comes to using them, so are they at all dangerous?
Are binaural beats actually dangerous?
For most people, no. The only dangers with binaural beats seem to come from already existing health risks. The main cautions go out to those with neurological or cardiac issues.
One of the biggest risks of binaural beats is seizures. If you’re epileptic or prone to seizures, using binaural beats is discouraged.
The ‘frequency following techniques’ of the beats can trigger seizures, like the abnormal neurological impulses that cause epileptic seizures. For this reason children also aren’t encouraged to use them, their brains are still developing and even though they may not have had any history of seizures, epilepsy can develop slightly later in their youth.
Binaural beats can affect heart rhythms, so anyone with a pacemaker or heart problem should be wary when it comes to using them. Each individual case is different so if you fall into this category but are still eager to use binaural beats, make sure you have a chat with your Doctor before trying it.
However these aren’t risks that apply to everyone; healthy, epilepsy-free, adults should find that there are no downfalls to the beats. Something slightly more universal though that should be remembered, is that there’s danger in stupidity.
Warnings about binaural beats
Just in case you’re lacking in common sense, remember that when you use binaural beats you’ll be entering a relaxed and hypnotic state of mind, so operating machinery or carrying out important tasks whilst listening to them really isn’t a good idea. That goes for driving as well – I know I’d be slightly pissed off if I came across a driver in an altered state of consciousness.
You’ll be using them to enhance mentality, but if you’re needed to input your strong attention to anything in the material world, just hold off on the binaural beats until your only focus is relaxing.
If you use binaural beats too often you might find yourself getting a headache every now and then. It’s not the end of the world, and like everything, it must be used in moderation.
There’s only one bit of advice for this really – simply just stop using them for a while. Don’t overdo it. If you’re just starting out using them, try shorter amounts of time, say 15 minutes a day, that should do the trick. Hours and hours on end would definitely be excessive, and also probably quite antisocial. I get it, you’re probably excited to try them, but don’t overdo it and end the novelty in a headache.
Also don’t be one of those people who feels the need to deafen themselves to hear the beats. Remember you’re relaxing! Likelihood is you’ll be in a quiet area when you use them anyway. You can damage your hearing by blasting your ears with them, as you can with any other music played through your headphones.
Are binaural beats demonic?
There is lots of talk online about whether or not these types of soundwaves (brainwave entrainment) are ‘demonic’. Firstly, that depends on what you DEFINE as demonic, if anything. I think this is a very personal subject and different people will have different opinions on this. There’s no specific line in a religious text that forbids the use of brainwave entrainment.
For this reason, whether or not it’s considered against a religion or ‘demonic’ is down to personal interpretation and opinion. Different people will have different ideas about this. That being said, let’s explore a few things:
Binaural beats demonic possession
Some people (mainly people in internet forums) have sparked rumours that binaural beats can cause ‘demonic posession’. To set the record straight, this is false. If demonic posession is indeed a real thing, binaural beats wouldn’t be able to cause it, as they’re simply soundwaves that slightly change your brain state and make it more or less relaxed.
They’re not hypnotic and at any time you can stop listening to them. They do put you into a ‘sort of’ trance state, but not one that you can’t just ‘snap out of’. All in all, nothing to worry about, you can’t get possessed by listening to binaural beats.
Can christians use binaural beats?
There seems to sometimes be a bit of confusion regarding this area of psychology and Christianity (and sometimes other religions). We’ve covered whether or not lucid dreams are a sin before, but some people are curious as to whether binaural beats are a sin for Christians.
Well, this is a debated subject. SOME binaural beats are used to open what’s called your ‘3rd eye’. If you believe in that experience, and consider it against religious teachings, then yes they’d be a sin to use. If you DON’T believe in the 3rd eye, then no.
Even if you DID believe that opening the 3rd eye was a sin (if indeed it was possible) then you could simply NOT use the binaural beats which claim to do this. There are plenty of binaural beats that DON’T claim to open the third eye and instead will just relax you, or make it easier to focus on something.
So are they dangerous?
Despite the skepticism of many towards binaural beats, providing you’re a healthy individual you shouldn’t experience any side effects of using them, and they should be perfectly safe to use. They’re not bad for you.
Popular binaural beats
These are some common binaural beats you might want to consider. I’ve listed the most common ones here, you can either go to their website in a new tab, or read my review of them if I’ve written one:
- Binaural Beats Meditation (or read our review of them)
- Ennora (Or read our review)
- Iawake Technologies
- Unexplainable store (read our review of them here)
- Holosync (Or read our review!)
- HemiSync binaural beats
- BlissCoded Sound (or read our review of them)
- MP3 meditation club
- Deep zen meditation
More about binaural beats
I’ve written a few guides on how to use these, and how they can benefit you:
