As I type this, I’m listening to a 10-minute-long high alpha binaural beat on a pair of Sony ear buds, and I feel very relaxed. Drowsy, even. 

Hitting stop will make the tones disappear, but I feel just a little more mellow than I did five minutes ago.

Sometimes you just need to relax. And binaural beats seem to do the trick.

Binaural beats are not a recent innovation.

They were first discovered in 1839 by German physicist and meteorologist Heinrich Wilhelm Dove, who published more than 300 papers on experimental physics. However, it is unclear how Dove discovered the effect, since headphones are needed to listen to the beats, but didn’t exist in the 19th century. 

Since then, binaural beat frequencies have been used by neurophysiologists studying hearing and cognition, among other things.

And, they can be used for relaxation.

Calling them “beats” is misleading, since the sounds are neither steady nor danceable. When listening to the beat, the human brain perceives two slightly different tones mingling in a droning pulse.

The beats interact with your brain waves and, depending on the frequency, can be extremely restful, aiding the listener in falling asleep or, in the short-term, refreshing the listener’s mental state.   It’s sort of like Red Bull for the ears.

The technique only works when you listen to the beats on headphones, so that each ear is receiving its own frequency.

Two audible tones are sustained — one in the left ear and one in the right, and the difference between them produces an ultra-low frequency that will affect your brain waves — especially when listened to for an extended period of time.

Because human brain waves tend to match external vibrations through a process called entrainment, or frequency-following response, they mimic the beats, which produces a noticeable effect on your mood and alertness.

In its more exotic and controversial uses, binaural beats can be tools for meditation.  Some   anecdotal reports state that the beats aid in lucid dreams, out-of-body experiences and even telepathy.

The first binaural pattern I tried was a relaxing 4 Hz.  Since I didn’t know what to expect, I wasn’t sure whether the drowsiness I felt was a result of the tones, or because it was late and I was sitting quietly in front of my computer.

Once I tried the same pattern again, however, I realized that there is a distinct effect. 

In some cases, especially after listening to it for a while, my head felt like a great weight on my neck and all I wanted was to let it sink down onto my chest.

I didn’t want to open my eyes.

The best part is that once I finished listening to the tones, I felt refreshed, as though I had awakened from a satisfying sleep. 

Whether or not these physical effects are directly related to the binaural beats is subject to debate.

Would the same relaxing, refreshing effect occur if you simply sat still for 10 minutes and cleared your head of worrying thoughts, for example?

Yet, binaural beats aid in meditation though meditation is not contingent upon listening to binaural beats.

It’s relatively easy to relax yourself, but it takes effort to become more alert without some aid from artificial stimulants like coffee, energy drinks or drugs. 

It could be argued that binaural beats are just as artificial.  

But, there are two main differences: the stimulation generally only lasts while the beats are playing, and there are no lasting side-effects, unlike drinks or chemicals.

Wayne Hoover relaxes and meditates to beats about three times a week and is founder of a site called healingbeats.com.   

He says binarual beats are not “dependence forming,” so there’s no risk of becoming addicted to them, as in being unable to sleep unless you’re listening to a theta beat. 

But reaction to the beats is entirely subjective. I have a stronger reaction to a high beta beat of 25 Hz than I do to mid or low beta frequencies, but someone else could find just the opposite. The possibilities for experimenting are extensive.

A number of websites, including healingbeats.com, provide free binaural beat mp3s. These files can then be burned onto CDs, so you can take your beats on the road. 

Other sites feature free programs that allow users to either listen to preset beats or create their own.  

But don’t expect to have a strong reaction the very first time you listen to a beat. The effect isn’t so pronounced that it’ll hit you like a sledgehammer. 

It’s subtle, and like most meditation, takes a while to get used to.  

But it’s well worth trying.