Introduction

Binaural beats are a relatively new phenomenon in the music world, but they're already being used by millions of people around the world to increase focus and productivity on a daily basis.  In this article, we’ll explore how we can help you use this science-backed music to your advantage when you’re working.

The concept of binaural beats is simple: two different frequencies played simultaneously from separate channels to create a third frequency.  This third frequency is the difference between the two original frequencies, and it's what you hear when you listen to binaural beats. 

The resulting sound has been said to help people focus, relax, be more creative or fall asleep depending on the third frequency.

There are several benefits of binaural beats in terms of helping you focus on specific tasks at hand.  Here are just some of them:

Eliminates distractions.

Binaural beats can eliminate distractions so that you can spend time focusing on a specific task without being interrupted by outside sources of energy.  For example, if you're trying to write an article for your blog or finish up some homework for school, then listening to binaural beats may help you stay focused on what needs to be done instead of letting other thoughts enter your mind.

By pairing binaural beats with our AI-powered Coaches and mono-tasking, you can unlock a powerful and easy way to eliminate distractions and focus on command.

Helps with meditation

Many people listen to binaural beats while meditating in order to help them reach deeper states of consciousness or even go into a trance-like state where they're not thinking about anything at all — including themselves!

At The Sukha, we often think about the concept of the Flow State: a version of meditation when you’re so involved in an activity that your sense of self and awareness of time completely disappears.  Indeed, by pairing our binaural beats with our gorgeous landscapes and trance-like music, we like to think we help you fall into a state of active meditation whilst you’re working. 

What are some other benefits of Binaural beats?

Some other common benefits of listening to binaural beats throughout the day include:

• Reduced stress, anxiety and overwhelm
• Increased focus, concentration, and motivation
• Improved confidence
• Deeper meditation
• Enhanced psychomotor performance and mood

How does the science behind binaural beats work?

To understand why this phenomenon may affect us, we need to establish how we perceive sound.  The electrical impulses that originate from our ears receiving airborne vibrations travel to the inferior colliculus of the midbrain and the superior olivary complex of the brainstem, where auditory signals from each ear are integrated and trigger electrical impulses along neural pathways through the reticular formation up the midbrain to the thalamus, auditory cortex, and other cortical regions.

To be specific, this binaural perception occurs in a very specific range of frequencies - most notably when you listen to frequencies lower than 1500Hz (Hertz=cycles per second) and the difference between the frequencies in your two ears is less than 40Hz.

For example, if you listen to a 500 Hz tone in one ear and a 460 Hz tone in the other ear, you would be perceiving a 40 Hz tone (i.e. 500-460).  As the early research has begun to show, your brain activity starts to match the frequency of this difference between your auditory inputs.  This “frequency-following effect” implies that binaural beats may be a pathway to bring your mind and consciousness to specific mental states.

This “delta” or difference between frequencies is reconciled in the brain which leads to the perception for listeners to “hear” a beat at a frequency equal to the difference between the frequencies of the almost similar tones.

In short: the vibrations hitting your ears become electrical impulses that meet up in your brain and your brain is stimulated as it processes these almost-but-not-quite identical signals.  Imagine if your eyes individually saw two identical twins, but each one had a different haircut - it would be an interesting stimulation of your brain as it reconciled the two images.

So what frequency is right for me?

Different binaural beat frequencies can induce different mental states.  Check out the following infographic to understand which frequencies induce which internal states.

Here at The Sukha, we offer you an easy way to access binaural beats

We’re strong proponents in the idea that science-backed music can help you reach your Flow State - and we’ve created over 150+ hours of our own science backed music to help you stay in the zone whilst you work.

It’s essential that you’re listening to binaural music with headphones on and that noise cancelling is activated.  If you don’t have noise cancellation enabled, we recommend you listen to our Himalayan Dream Rain playlist - this type of white noise has been proven to mask and hide background noise from distracting your focus.  You can think of this as a more delightful white noise machine.

If you are looking to heighten your productivity practice, try the new "Binaural Heaven 40Hz" in The Sukha.  We optimized some beautiful nature sounds and have mastered them to have a 40Hz delta, ideal for productivity.  Try it and let us know what you think!

Binaural beats are an excellent way to get into the zone and do your work without distractions.