You've crawled into bed after a long day.

The pillow is soft under your head and your body sinks deeper into the mattress. With your eyes closed, you feel heavy and relaxed. Thoughts drift into the distance and are replaced by dreams.

This is your brain on Theta waves.

When Theta brain waves are dominant, you’re often in REM sleep, or deep in meditation.

What are theta brain waves?

Your brain is made up of billions of neurons that use electrical signals to communicate.

When neurons fire together to send signals to other neurons, the resulting patterns are known as brain waves. Brain waves are measured by their frequency per second, or in Hertz (Hz). And there are five types of brain waves that range from very slow to very fast.

Theta waves are on the slower end.

The frequency of Theta brain waves are between 4-8 Hertz. This means Theta waves peak 4 to 8 times per second.

Benefits of Theta brain waves include:

• deep calm
• improved meditation
• REM or dreaming sleep

Types of Brain Waves

Theta brain waves are just one kind of brain wave. There are five types of brain waves, each with a different frequency range and unique benefits. From slowest to fastest they are:

Theta brain waves and relaxation

When you’re producing theta waves, you’re in a deeply relaxed mental state. You may even be drifting off to sleep. Which means theta brain waves help you to relax, let go and feel calm.

By boosting your theta waves, you might also experience less anxiety and better sleep.

Can you increase theta brain waves?

Yes you can.

You can activate theta brain waves through neurofeedback - a specialised brain training program where you try to consciously induce specific brain waves.

A 2015 study found that increasing theta brain waves helped to reduce anxiety in people with generalised anxiety disorder.

However, an easy and effective way to increase alpha waves is by listening to meditones®. Because meditones help entrain your brain.

What is theta brainwave entrainment?

Entrainment refers to the synchronization of organisms to an external perceived rhythm. You mind and body integrate musical patterns in unison with your own biological rhythms - like tapping your foot along with the beat.

But some entrainment rhythms are more subtle. Music can entrain your heartbeat, your hormones and even your brain waves.

Both brain waves and sound waves are measured in Hertz. Which means we can use sound to stimulate or entrain specific brain wave patterns.

How do meditones entrain theta brain waves?

Meditones are precisely tuned frequencies of sound, that when heard with headphones, guide your brain into effortless calm.

Here’s how they work.

When two frequencies are combined they make a humming vibration. When you listen to this vibration with a pair of headphones, your brain synchronises to that frequency.

Which means, when you listen to a vibration of 4 Hz, your brain will produce brain waves of 4 Hz.

Brain waves that are at a frequency of 4 Hz are in the Theta range. So by listening to meditones at 4 Hz, you’ll start to produce Theta brain waves and feel deeply calm. Effortlessly.

The technical term for meditones is binaural beats and their results are completely backed by science.

But all you need to remember is that they make you calm without you having to do a thing. Just listen with headphones, and the meditones effect occurs naturally and easily.

Theta brain waves and music

Slower paced music is perfect for inducing a relaxed state of mind. By combining Theta meditones and calming music, you can easily begin to reap the benefits of Theta brain waves, such as:

• deep calm
• easier meditation
• better sleep

Inside the Restful app we have hours of calming meditones music for theta brain waves. You can easily filter by brain wave on the Explore page.

Takeaway

Electrical activity is always occuring in your brain. But theta brain waves are dominant when you are deeply calm.

You can boost theta brain waves when you listen to meditones or practice deep meditation. Which in turn will help you reduce stress, overcome anxiety and naturally feel calmer.