By comparison with meditation, which has been practised for thousands of years in many different cultures, binaural-beat technology is relatively new, so less research has been done on its effects. Although the beneficial effects of binaural beats have been experienced for thousands of years by meditators using sounds like Tibetan bells, chimes, gongs and chanting to enhance their meditation practice, the phenomenon of binaural beats was first discovered and documented in 1839 by a Prussian physicist named Heinrich Dove. However, the subject remained something of a scientific curiosity until 134 years later when a bio-physicist named Dr. Gerald Oster published an article called "Auditory Beats in the Brain"(Scientific American, 1973).
Oster's article identified and assembled the scattered pieces of relevant research since Dove, offering fresh insight and new laboratory findings about research on binaural beats. It was the catalyst for further research into the effects of binaural beats and it helped establish binaural beats as a recognised self-development tool. You can read a summary of the best of this research by Clicking Here.
In terms of negative side-effects, lengthy exposure to a high-frequency beta binaural beat has been shown to increase anxiety and stress levels, but you wouldn't want to listen to such a high-frequency binaural-beat track unless you were deliberately trying to make yourself more alert and hyped up. Coming out of a deep meditation too quickly can cause some people to get a headache, while others may feel a bit groggy or drowsy. To avoid or overcome these effects, always take a few minutes after a meditation to sit quietly and just observe your surroundings and your thoughts before you get up.
It should go without saying, but we'll say it anyway just in case: never listen to a meditation track while you are driving. There are times when you need to be alert and observant, and this is one of them.
Ultimately, it's your own subjective experience in meditation that matters most because this is the only thing that will benefit you. Reading about the benefits of meditation is a bit like reading about riding a bike - it's pointless unless it motivates you to actually try it. Like riding a bike, you just need to climb on, give it a try and learn as you go. Click the button below to do that now...
