Understanding brainwaves can be the key to regulating your nervous system
Have you heard of brainwaves? Understanding them and learning how to impact them can be very helpful in regulating your nervous system.
Our brain is made up of billions of cells called neurons. As our neurons are firing off and sending millions of signals all at once, it produces an enormous amount of electrical activity in the brain. These synchronized electrical pulses produce ‘Brainwaves’.
Imagine the waves in the ocean, the change in weather can dramatically change the size and power of the waves. It’s no different in the brain. Brainwaves are measurable and will change based on our state of mind, our surrounding, and our activity.
Brain wave speed is measured in Hertz (cycles per second) and they are divided into bands describing slow, moderate, and fast waves.
Brainwaves are typically broken down into five main frequencies: Beta waves, Alpha waves, Theta waves, Delta waves, and Gamma waves.
And just like there are no bad parts to the nervous system, there are no bad brainwaves, though some are associated with anxiety and fear whereas others are associated with focus, calm, and sleep. All of them have a place in a healthy brain.
Let’s look at the different waves and what they’re associated with:
Delta Waves: 0-4 Hz
Delta waves are emitted during very deep, dreamless sleep when you are completely unconscious. They are the slowest recorded brainwaves in the human brain. As we age, we produce less delta waves which can contribute to having less restorative sleep. High levels of delta waves occur in people with learning problems, inability to think clearly, and those with severe ADHD.
Theta Waves: 4 to 8 Hz
Theta waves are most often associated with a deep calmness, creativity, and dreaming. When theta waves are high, the subconscious is often easier to impress. When you first wake up in the morning and are still not fully awake, you likely have stronger theta waves. Spend your first moments focused on affirmations, prayer, or how you want your day to go because that’s when you are most impressionable. But if you immediately look at your phone upon waking, your jump into Beta waves and lose out on the Theta state. Too much theta activity may make people more prone to bouts of depression as it’s linked to experiencing deep and raw emotions.
Alpha Waves: 8-12 Hz
Alpha waves are the ‘frequency bridge’ between our conscious thinking (Beta) and subconscious (Theta) mind. We emit these waves when we are fully awake but physically and mentally relaxed. Alpha waves are known to help you to calm down and they promote feelings of deep relaxation and contentment. These are the waves we want to promote when we are stressed or depressed or in physical pain. These are the waves of the Parasympathetic Nervous system or Rest and digest.
Beta waves: 12-30 Hz
Beta waves are a high frequency wave that are most common when we’re awake and alert. When we are focused, reading, speaking, or thinking intensely, we are usually experiencing Beta waves. But Beta is also the brainwave of the flight-fight response. Too much Beta and we are agitated, tense, anxious, and afraid. If you drink too much caffeine, this can increase Beta wave activity, which is one of the reasons caffeine can impact your stress response. But Beta is not bad just like cortisol is not bad; it’s the state you want to be in to get stuff done.
Gamma waves: 30-100 Hx
Gamma waves are associated with processing more complex tasks like learning, language, memory, and processing. During deep sleep induced by anesthesia gamma waves disappear. People with mental disabilities have much lower levels of Gamma waves. People with higher levels of Gamma waves often have higher intelligence, are more compassionate, have more self-control, and have an easier time connecting to their senses. Too high of Gamma waves is associated with stress and anxiety, but too low levels are associated with depression, ADHD, and learning issues.
As you can see, there are no good or bad waves, it just depends on what you’re hoping to achieve.
But here’s the cool part. Research is starting to show that we can alter our brainwaves and even induce certain brainwaves like ones that help us to feel calm. And guess how we do it? With all the same calming exercises we use for the nervous system: breath work, visualization, somatic exercises, etc.
There is one other tool that can have an impact on your brainwaves and that’s listening to binaural beats. These are subtle sounds or acoustic beats that can affect your brain waves. Binaural means “relating to both ears.”
It only works if you use headphones, but by listening to two tones with slightly different frequencies in each ear, your brain reacts with a new frequency, or brainwave.
There are hours and hours of free binaural beats online. Just go to YouTube and search binaural beats focus, or binaural beats sleep, or binaural beats relaxation. Whatever you need help with, there will be videos you can listen to.
There are also a ton of files on Spotify and Apple Music too.
You must use headphones for it to be effective. I’m listening to binaural theta waves as I write this, it definitely helped me to focus better!
Play around with which binaural beats work best for you. I started out with Beta waves but found that I liked the theta waves better. I’m excited to experiment with Gamma waves too. Try using binaural beats before bed, while on a walk, or the middle of the day during a power nap. I’m excited to start using this tool more consistently.
