Restful Mind (Part 2) - The Blissful Benefits of Theta Brain Waves

Restful Brain
5 min read

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 deeply relaxed or dreaming

Theta brain waves naturally occur during REM sleep, or when you’re deep in meditation.

What are theta brain waves?

Graph of 5 seconds of Theta brain waves and their benefits

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:

Brain WaveFrequencyBenefits
Delta0.5 - 4 Hzdeep, dreamless sleep
Theta4 - 8 HzREM sleep or deep calm
Alpha8 - 12 Hzcalm focus or relaxation
Beta12 - 30 Hzalert and focused
Gamma25 - 100 Hzspike during active problem solving,
information processing and learning

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?

Grey cat sleeping on a white bed with an illustration of ZZZs over their head

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.

Your 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 binaural beats combined with contemporary ambient music.

Binaural beats are precisely tuned frequencies of sound combined to create a humming vibration.

When you listen to this vibration with a pair of headphones? Your brain responds by creating calm brain waves. Similar to ones you produce during calm focus, meditation and restful sleep.

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

[Illustration of a person wearing headphones listening to Theta meditones at 4 Hz]

Brain waves that are at a frequency of 4 Hz are in the Theta range.

So by listening to binarual beats at 4 Hz, you’ll start to produce Theta brain waves and feel deeply calm. Effortlessly.

All you need to remember is that meditones 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

Woman lying in bed with hands under pillow, eyes closed & headphones on

Slower paced music is perfect for inducing a relaxed state of mind.

By combining binaural beats and calming ambient music? You can quickly 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 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.

Discover a growing library of meditones inside the Restful app. Download for free today on Google Play or the App Store.