Sounds That Heal
Season 4- Episode 39
In this episode, Lauren explores the use of sound and music as therapeutic tools for achieving a calm, meditative state. She delves into two specific types of audio—binaural beats and isochronic tones—and explains how listening to them for just 10-20 minutes can profoundly enhance your ability to regulate your nervous system.
Try-at-home tip: Use natural low lighting or warm low lighting to stay in a state of calm.
References:
Calm App
Insight Timer App
brain.fm
Binaural Beats Generator
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Transcript
“Laughing as I join you all, because I am again recording myself on video while I record this podcast. And it's so funny to me because I've never done this before except for the last episode. If you're new here, you're probably like, what is Lauren talking about? I was recommended. It was. I was given advice to record the video of the podcast and no longer just the audio, and to share these other platforms, like on different social channels and YouTube, because it will reach more people. That makes sense. The whole point of this podcast, the reason I give it time and energy, is to educate people, to help them. So why not reach more people with really not much more effort? Except that I don't really get ready to be in public facing environments unless I'm speaking in person or speaking online to a certain type of crowd. So when I record these podcasts, I'm in, like, my home life vibe, which is messy hair, glasses, and sweatpants. So sweatshirt. I so look at myself in this video. I'm like, I'm not getting dolled up for these podcasts. Be who you are, y'all. That's the point.”
“Okay, so let's get to it today. What are we talking about?”
“I'm actually, I'm really excited to talk about. I'm really, really like, I don't. I don't know if you can hear it in my tone of voice because I'm like, somewhat neutral. My. My inflection, my tone. But I'm so stoked to talk about this.”
“So a few months ago, I was in. I live in the desert. I live in Phoenix. I was volunteering at a community garden and this garden was built on what used to be an auto mechanics, like, driveway parking lot. So there's like oil leakage and just all kinds of harsh things in. In the ground. And on top of the ground was concrete or asphalt, whatever it was. So they chop up. I don't even know why they do this. they chop up the asphalt and remove it and like, get the soil ready to plant a garden in the city. I don't even know why anyone did that, but they did.”
“So anyhow, it's the middle of summer. Things don't grow in Arizona, at least not Phoenix, Arizona, in the middle of summer because it's way too hot. And I have tried this myself. My own little garden that's not grown on top of a auto mechanics old parking lot. Nothing grows. Well, a few things grow, like one or two.”
“I walk into this garden and the whole thing is flourishing like bananas are ripening and banana trees are growing and there's just, it's just green, the whole lot is green. And I'm in disbelief. I'm like, what are you all doing in here? Like, how are you getting these plants to grow in the middle of summer and all of them to grow? Things that don't grow in Arizona, Phoenix to be specific, different parts of Arizona don't get so hot.”
“So the guy used to be a production in, in Music in la and he was telling me that they're using sounds and I'm like, can I do tell more? Like, what do you mean you're using sounds? He's like, we use different frequencies and vibrations and like sounds for the plants. And the, the frequencies vibrate the plants and allow them to soak up the nutrients they wouldn't normally be able to soak up in this type of heat and climate. And I'm like, that sounds a little woo woo. But it also sounds really scientific. Like the vibrations of the sounds vibrate the plants. What's happening inside the plants allows them to soak up these nutrients they normally won't be able to soak up and therefore they can grow in this really, really harsh climate in the summer.”
“It was mind blowing to me. And it wasn't even just mind blowing. These plants were growing. Immediately I was like, this can apply to humans and it seems pretty noninvasive and like it wouldn't have too many detriments to it. Like couldn't be really, maybe too harmful other than the few things that came to mind like epilepsy. But I started really reading and researching brainwaves and different wave states and music and frequencies. And I came across some really interesting research.”
“So that's what I'm sharing today. But not just research like the application of what this would look like and how you could potentially do this for yourself today. So basically what I learned is that we, to achieve this state of like meditative calm relaxation, we want to get our, our brain waves in a theta state and we have to induce that state or in this case we, we will be inducing that state through, through music in particular, like tones and beats.”
“So what most people. Not what most people. Let me back that up. What, what we have found to be effective, we have found to be like an easy entry point, really easy to access are two types of beats and tones.”
“So the first is binaural beats and you would need headphones for this. And what essentially this is, is playing two slightly different frequencies in each ear and the brain Perceives the difference as theta waves. So it has to be the right frequencies in each ear. So you would, you would search this term, binaural beats. And hopefully I'm saying that correctly. I probably should have looked that up how to pronounce it before I started this episode. But hey, we're here now. So it's B I N A U R A L. Binaural beats is how it looks to me. Please do correct me if I'm wrong in the comments, but you would search this.”
“I, I haven't done it yet, but I imagine it exists on like a Spotify on a YouTube. There are diff, there are some apps and things. I'm going to share that do have these. But you, you would just put on your normal headphones and when you play these beats in your headphones it would play two different frequencies in each ear. So obviously you need headphones cuz you need the two different frequencies.”
“But the one I'm really curious about is isochronic tones.I S O C H R O N I C Isochronic tones. These are repetitive beats but they're played at a specific frequency, 6 hertz that can be heard without headphones.”
“So you would again just search these and you could play them. And again, these are, these are not loud or intrusive.They're just most of them are like kind of slowish moving beats and tones. So when digging in more, I was like, okay, how do you like get set up for this? Like how do you prepare yourself to listen to the beats and how long do you listen? And you know, how do you get into the theta state?”
“So essentially you would need ideally a calm quiet space or a room, comfortable seating, maybe mats, maybe a couch just where you can relax, maybe recline. Uh, but you could use this in your car. Um, at least isochronic tones you could, you couldn't use in your car unless you couldn't use binaural beats in your car unless you had headphones on, which I don't recommend because that's really unsafe during drive while you were driving. So maybe isochronic tones or if you're parked, then you can put headphones on but create a calm space. Lighting, dim lights, natural lights, those naturally create serotonin so you don't have to dim or have natural light. But that would be ideal. Certainly bright light, fluorescent lights kind of go against the calm state and we don't want that. So if you can control your lights. Ideally we control our lights.”
“And then you would need some type of headphones, ideally, like noise, noise canceling headphones and, or a speaker system or potentially just even your phone for a Bluetooth, maybe isochronic tones. So it depends on which one you're going to do. And then you get comfortable, sit or lie down, and you play the track for 10 minutes max. I mean, you can start at two minutes. You, you know, whatever it is. Um, but the sweet spot seems to be 10, no more than 20 minutes. I mean, you can listen to it longer than 20 minutes, but it seems like the sweet spot is 10 to 20 minutes, which when I think about, like, was like 140040 minutes a day. Like, I carve out 10 minutes to do this before bed, when I wake up, before I go to work, like, whatever it is. And then during this time, you just want to relax.”
“So you might want to focus on your breathing, you might want to close your eyes, you might want to visualize something calm. And then after the 10 minutes, 20, if you want to go that long, you just might notice how you feel, you might notice the effects, you might even journal it out. But just be present with, do you feel more mentally clear?”
“So before I give you some resources and also talk about before you do this, definitely be mindful of, of these potential, like, I don't want to say triggers or who are the people and what are the conditions and when should we practice this with caution or maybe even just avoid completely. So don't do this yet. I want to talk a little bit about the nervous system and why I think this is so profound. But then I want to talk about, and I probably should talk about this first.You should use caution or avoid these. If so, we'll get into that in a second.”
“When I've talked about in the previous episodes, nervous system, I talked about your window of tolerance. When I talked about, I think it might have even been the last episode. These three boxes stacked on top of each other and the box in the middle is your window of tolerance. And some of us are more likely to leave the window of tolerance and go to like an upregulated state. Some of us are more likely to go to a down regulated state. So think like anxiety in the top, depression in the bottom. And what happens is when you leave that window of tolerance and you go up or you go down, you become dysregulated, and that's normal and that's okay.”
“This system, the nervous system, was created for good use. It was for our survival, and it helps us survive and has helped us survive. But we tend to leave the window of tolerance a lot in today's society. And then we leave the window tolerance and we, we don't get back into it very quickly. And I have been trying to find ways that are more accessible to get people back into their window of tolerances because you've got breath work and meditation and mindfulness and some of these things. But they just sometimes are hard for people. So like what, what might be more motivating or even like an easier access or entry point. And I was like, sound like this could be it.”
“Um, so this could be something to drop you back into your window tolerance. Cause you're in that theta state, brainwave state. That's, that's in the window of tolerance. So this could be a way to kind of rework both reactively and preventatively. Cuz you can do this before you're feeling dysregulated to get you back into that state. Super fascinating.”
“If you don't. If you want to know more about the window tolerance in all the states, go back and listen to the last episode. Because I talked. I really broke that down.”
“Okay, so a few resources, a couple apps, maybe even software.You've got things like Brain fm, Binaural Beats Generator. Let me make your own. I haven't checked any of these out yet. Calm offers theta wave tracks as well. Calm is an app. It's a, it's like a meditation mindfulness app. And I'm wondering, I haven't looked at this but I use Insight Timer. So Insight Timer, I'm wondering they might use some of these as well. So that might be another good resource. Some of these are free like I think Calm and Insight Timer, they're free at the base level. If you want to level up, access more things, they, you do have to pay for them. And then you can also use pre-recorded sessions like maybe YouTube would be a good place for that. Or download files from type of music player from, from different reputable sources. Excuse me. And ensure.I got really excited and I'm just choked on my excitement over this. The just making sure that the sites are reputable. The apps I shared are, but the sites are reputable. They're to be used for therapeutic use because you want to make sure that the beats, the hertz are staying within the right numbers.”
“Okay, so let's talk concerns like where could this be a detriment using theta waves and creating an environment where audio frequencies help shift your brain activity into more relaxed or meditative state. That's, that's a good thing. We want that and it can be really powerful for trauma care, it can be really powerful for reducing anxiety, it can be really powerful for emotional regulation, fostering creativity, solving problems like all the prefrontal cortex, things that we want to experience and live in.”
“But it is sound waves, sound frequencies. So there might be people with pre-existing conditions that are hearing sensitivity, sensitivity related or things like epilepsy. So sometimes certain sound frequencies can trigger seizures. So people with epilepsy, epilepsy should check with a doctor first. People with hearing sensitivities, auditory sensitivities, the tones may be uncomfortable to them. So check with a hearing specialist first if you have one of those two things.”
“And also when you get into this like deep, I shouldn't say it's like deep, meditative, relaxed state. I, it's, I, it's a calm state. I wouldn't say it's like a deep state. We are not like entering into psychedelics here. It's not going to feel quite that intense. But when you do allow your body to calm and to rest and get into a more rested state. The window tolerance, this deeper relaxation can sometimes bubble up emotions or feelings you might not know why they're servicing. And they're probably most likely related to emotionaltriggers of the past or childhood trauma. So just being mindful that some of those things could bubble up as would bubble up with talk therapy or like a yin yoga or a sound bath.”
“You know, I think about all these people that take sound baths, they don't even know what kind of frequencies are bouncing around their ears. Okay, so who should avoid this or who should at least use it with caution? Certainly people with epilepsy, certainly people with hearing sensitivities, potentially those that are experiencing acute traumatic symptoms. And if you do want to try it and you are feeling that way and having some trauma symptoms, maybe just like really slowly introducing it. And then any individual with a hearing disorder and pregnant individuals, just because there's not a lot of research around that with pregnant people. So they say to cautionably use this with pregnancy.”
“Okay, so ultimately using theta waves is about creating a, a somewhat like intentional environment where these audio frequencies help the brain shift into a relaxed, more meditative, more calm state. And that's the goal. And there's, there's not a lot of like therapeutic programs out there yet that are using this. It's a newer ish area of study, but it's definitely something that you could access on your own. Just ease into it.”
“If you have any concerns, check with a medical professional or therapeutic professional though Therapeutic professionals may not have a lot of background in this, so maybe more medically based.”
“But for me, someone that's like super curious and intuitively this feels like, oh, I want to know more.”
“I definitely am starting to to use this myself because I don't have the concerns of the epilepsy or hearing disorders or trauma that I feel like is going to overtake my mind or body in these moments. So in an attempt to get my nervous system a little bit more regulated, I can't wait to jump into this.”
“So we'll report back on how it's going with that. Feel free to do your own research, look into this in any way, or just play around with playing some, some isochronic beats in your car, Maybe feeling some binaural beats while you're working out? No, maybe not while you're working out. Unless you want to relax with a deep state of meditative calm while you're working out. Maybe you do, I don't know. But maybe a good thing to do before bed instead or wake up to your your morning and have your morning with a slow start. That would be nice, wouldn't it?”
“All right, I'm done here. To wrap up our show, I'm going to share with you our Try it at Home tip, which is just natural lighting. And we talked about this a little bit earlier in the episode, but some like lower lighting, even better if it's natural lighting can release some chemical things in your brain and body that are helpful to achieve a more rested and relaxed state and help with your nervous system. So essentially you got some serotonin popping up there when you're experiencing natural light or even like lower warmer levels of light that aren't so artificial, like the fluorescence. And we like that when we're trying to calm down and regulate, stay regulated and just get our nervous systems reset for maybe a stressful day. So how can you integrate more lower level light or natural light to just stay in a state of calm and access a state of calm?”
“That's it for today's episode of Returning to Us podcast. Remember our Try at Home tip, which is natural light or lower level light to induce a state of calmer? If you're looking for more support in the areas of stress, trauma, behavior, or the brain. Jessica Doring, Dr. Jessica Doring and I would love to be a part of this learning journey with you. We created Five Eyes F I V E I V E S5Ives. It's a scale that we walk people through and as individuals, but really at a holistic systemic, organizational level. So we basically audit. Audit. It doesn't sound so friendly, but it's a really friendly audit of organizations of where they are on this scale. Are you in as an organizational whole more in a survival state or revival state. And we go through the other eyes to get people into a thrive and hive state organizationally. So we look at practice, we look at practitioners, we look at people, people you're serving, even some of the policy. And get all these things into a place of like high level functioning so that the organization can function well. Meaning like people are happy, they want to come to work, they're not burning out, they're managing their stress and they certainly aren't leaving their job. If you want to learn more about any of that, fiveives.com f I v I v s.com is the place to go and Jessica and I have contact information on there. You're welcome to reach out to us or you can even schedule a call and just chat with us. We always offer a no cost discovery call to learn more about the work that we do and how it can be integrated into the work that you do. Until next episode. I am Lauren Spiegelmeyer and thank you for joining me.”