Binaural Entrainment

[saucybrat]

Hello, I have come across something that I find a interesting, but am curious as to what the General Christian community thinks of it. It is called Binaural Entrainment. I would like to use it for helping me to lose weight, as there seems to be a few programs for this. But, my question is ... is this just "New Age", or is this a natural thing that God has designed for us to link into. I don't want to open myself up for the enemy to get in, but I do want to keep myself open for all that God has for me, regardless of whether others think I'm "weird" or "out there" or "totally lost my marbles"

Any responses and help for this question would be greatly appreciated, and I will prayerfully take all advice into consideration.

Thank you.

saucybrat

 

[fivesense]

Hello, I have come across something that I find a interesting, but am curious as to what the General Christian community thinks of it. It is called Binaural Entrainment. I would like to use it for helping me to lose weight, as there seems to be a few programs for this. But, my question is ... is this just "New Age", or is this a natural thing that God has designed for us to link into. I don't want to open myself up for the enemy to get in, but I do want to keep myself open for all that God has for me, regardless of whether others think I'm "weird" or "out there" or "totally lost my marbles"

Any responses and help for this question would be greatly appreciated, and I will prayerfully take all advice into consideration.

Thank you.

saucybrat

Hi saucy, I could not find it in the Scriptures anywhere, unless it has been translated differently again from something that already has been translated differently than the Original Greek. If you could point me to the chapter and verse where this binaural thing is in the Word, I'd be happy to offer my opinion on it. Not that that matters, though. For me there is so much already there in the Book to help me, that I might steer clear of it, but that's because I have not found BE in the Writings. So, if you could, supply a reference to it.

fivesense

 

[WhiteKnuckle]

Good news!

From what little I just read about this I see absolutely no harm. Here's why,,,

Based on my understandings from a book I read called, "This is your brain on music. The science of a human obsession" by Daniel Levitin.

A short overview, this guy was a neuro scientist, that studied the functions of the neurons in your brain. It was once thought that these neurons were what made up human thought and emotion. But,there's another science that branches off to try to understand the "Mind". It's odd how we seem to have a "Mind" as in personality, individuality, etc,, and also a brain, that controls all of this,, or is used by us.

Anyway,,,,,Here's the Music part, (sorry if It get's long, I absolutely love this stuff, as I'm a musician, and love music)

Basically, your brain is crontroled by neurons,,, these "fire" when certain parts of the brain are used for different things. For everysingle musical note, there is a single neuron or set's of neurons for that note.

Example,,,, When you hear an F#, you have a neuron in your brain that registers this particular note. On top of that, this particular deal, causes other neurons to fire and to signal the other neurons, which generates memories or emotions. On top of this, when you hear a song, it has many notes and tones from many different instruments. You end up with all this brain activity that stimulates several other things in your brain.

Your brain also keeps time with everysong within 1 beat per minute from the orginal time. In 4/4 time your brain is automatically keeping track, and count of the beats per measure.

You don't have a neuron that fires for the Colors,, such as,,, nothing happens in your brain when you see blue, there's no "Blue Neuron" as there is the F# neuron.

Anyway, this is very oversimplified, and I can't do any justice to the explaination. Check the book out if you have a chance.

As for my opinion, as long as none of this is suggestive of some sort of "spiritual" mumbo jumbo, and it's purely notes of the tonic scale to stimulate brain activity and generate a relaxed meditative state, I see absolutely nothing wrong with it.

The Lord wants us to meditate on Him and His word, the Lord loves music, and I believe it's a gift to us.

Why not use the benifits of Music as we would the benifits of an apple. Different nutrients for different things.

 

[truthquest]

Hello, I have come across something that I find a interesting, but am curious as to what the General Christian community thinks of it. It is called Binaural Entrainment. I would like to use it for helping me to lose weight, as there seems to be a few programs for this. But, my question is ... is this just "New Age", or is this a natural thing that God has designed for us to link into. I don't want to open myself up for the enemy to get in, but I do want to keep myself open for all that God has for me, regardless of whether others think I'm "weird" or "out there" or "totally lost my marbles"

Any responses and help for this question would be greatly appreciated, and I will prayerfully take all advice into consideration.

Thank you.

saucybrat

I hadn't heard of this before so I did some quick research on it. It sounds New Age to me as it involves such things as trances, altered states, and self-hypnosis; as the repetition of sound or beats can put one in an altered state where even dreamlike imagery can occur.
There seem to be similarities to yoga and transcendental meditation that uses mantras (repetitive vocal sounds) and produces certain types of brain waves. There is a danger in being in an altered state; for example being under the influence of drugs or alcohol where one can become more vulnerable to the influence of evil spirits.
So I would say, if you are going to do this, be very cautious. And as Whiteknuckle said, the Lord wants us to meditate on Him and His word.

 

[Rockville]

The science of brain/mind entrainment and varying forms of meditation are a very powerful thing. In its largest sense, it not only encompasses "audio" but all sensory stimuli as well, such as light & visuals, smells, and tactile sensations. Listening to music is probably the best-known and accepted form of brainwave entrainment, as is reading a book, watching a movie or video, changing your scenery or setting/location, or experiencing certain experiences. This is nothing new under the sun, ...just more technologically advanced and available to the masses than ever before (hey, look at the current VR technology we have now). I do agree with the statements from BOTH Whiteknuckle and Truthquest. As with anything, there are always lies mixed in with the truth, and bad mixed in with the good. I do believe that this is a very powerful media and practice, and as such, should be approached with all cautiousness and discernment (the same way we respect electricity), because it has the potential to either greatly help or harm you, because it deals with your mind and thoughts and has the potential to unconsciously alter the way you think and affect your body. Concerning the current media of entrainment programs and MP3/CD recordings available out there, you have to be careful, because the majority of them are produced by individuals or companies (even with the best of intentions) that knowingly or unknowingly believe-in or promote new age ideologies and thought which borders on practices we know we shouldn't be doing as Christians, as this media can be effectively used for this. Unfortunately, I jumped into all this years ago when I wasn't walking with the Lord and (unfortunately) took it too far and to extremes. Entrainment used to relax, calm, focus, and reduce stress and anxiety, as well as stating positive affirmations, biblical truth, or God's promises (whether audible or subliminal) to HELP you, are one thing. This is what it SHOULD be used for. However, entrainment that is used to blank out your mind, alter your dream state (such as forms of lucid dreaming), to try to attain "christ conciousness" or to bring you closer to God (or other diety), or otherwise put one's mind in a state that is unnatural is very dangerous, and these are the practices that border on new-age and occultism. God gives us a command in scriptures that we are to be in control of our minds and thoughts and to bring them under the subjection of Christ (2 Cor. 10:5,6). Entrainment can either help one towards this goal or take them dangerously further away from it. The last thing I must point out is that you do not need entrainment or anything else to bring you closer to God (in feeling, or emotionally). Christianity is not about us reaching out to God, but about God reaching out to us. He saves us, ...there is nothing more we can add to it. He literally holds us and everything together. Christ is enough! We actually get closer to God by meditating on scripture, to get to know Him, his mind, and who He is better. ...so once again, I implore everyone to use much discernment when choosing and using a particular mind entrainment program or set of MP3s/CDs, and research the people or company behind them that is putting it out there.

 

[Wafer]

What we call music, meaning western music, was invented by Christians to glorify their God. There is a lot to it, but it is all pretty well known. There are no PhD degrees in music.

Everything else is just wind chimes. The only verifiable discovery in sound/mind activity is white noise used to reduce pain in dentistry. But calcium pills work even better.