# Sleep and Dreams > Sleep and Health >  >  Should I fall asleep while listening to binaural beats?

## superchaz

When I sleep and listen binaural beats, its uncomfortable because of my headphones. Making me sleep on my back which is cool but when I fall asleep I'm gonna move and get uncomfortable.

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## CarloC

I don't know much about Binaural Beats, even though I searched a lot about it.
But about your headphones.. Don't use them. Use a speaker on low volume, or something like that
Or you could try to set the volume to the MAX and use your headphones as a speaker.
Binaural Beats are a little scary to me, so I don't know if I'm going to try it..
Best of luck to you

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## superchaz

cheers, there pretty safe

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## patrick45

_Well, using speakers defeats the purpose of binaural beats, since the 2 headphones both produce a different frequency, which is what binaural beats is about, isn't it?

using speakers, you lose the effect._

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## Signet

Hey, I actually know about this one!  ::D: 
I have to admit that I've fallen asleep with headphones on probably six days out of the week for the length of this school year so far.  I haven't had any problem with discomfort but, hey, I sleep on the floor too.  Apparently I'm immune to sleep discomfort.
I wear headphones to bed because I listen to music as I go to sleep.
HOWEVER...  [grins]   ...I tried this binaural beats stuff for a bit once.
For a week, instead of listening to music, I had a stereo track running 200 Hz in the left ear and 201 Hz, 205 Hz, or 210 Hz in the right. 
Even though a friend of mine has had some success with binaural tones in his dreams [read: he had some *WEIRD* dreams], they had no effect on me.
I even made it so that my computer would play the tones for a couple hours (so that I'd be asleep) and then switch to a dubstep track.  :Big laugh: 
Even then, no dice.
Bu then again, I'm a thick, bull-headed deep sleeper.  Heaven knows if my brain even payed attention when this came on at 3 AM:
Foster The People - Pumped Up Kicks (Butch Clancy Dubstep Remix) [FREE] - YouTube
...Can you imagine what the part starting at 1:28 would DO to a dream if it came on your stereo when you were right in the middle of one?!? O_O

So, to summarize: Binaural tones work, just not for me.  They're freaky things sometimes (just like dubstep) and if nothing else they are quite relaxing.

No go learn how to use Audacity so you can create your own!  :wink2:

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## Maltti

I tried binaural beats some time ago. I don't know if it was the beats or something else but I had the most vivid almost marathon-like dreams for a few nights in a row. Then I had some creepy dreams too, like one where there was another head growing out of my forehead  ::shock:: 

I stopped using binaural beats because I couldn't sleep with them. Not because of discomfort with headphones though. I just couldn't fall asleep while listening to them so I'd stay awake in bed for hours. Decided it wasn't worth it. 

Still, I'd say if you find that binaural beats work for you and the discomfort is not too much then go for it.

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## AjWasHere

Using binaural beats to change the way you sleep is the same as wearing a specific pair of socks to change the way you sleep. The general fact that the conditions have changed might make your brain act differently, but it won't be any function inherent to binaural tones, just like it wouldn't have anything to do with socks having magical powers. Binaural beats have been repeatedly proved to be a result of the placebo effect, except by people that sell them. At the least they're wastes of money and time. At the most they're easy ways to get a migraine headache.

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## Bizarre Jester

I wouldn't listen to them while falling asleep at night. But I have discovered that they can be quite helpful during a wake back to bed WILD. This morning I woke up early but then got tired again so I went to bed while listening to binaural beats. 10 minutes later I had a lucid dream.

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## Phion

I love falling asleep to bineural beast, try with some comfy ear buds or small speakers placed near your bed, like on a night stand.

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## superchaz

Thanks you everyone for your help.

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## reshmita

Getting sleep is important as many don't get it. But, listening to that and sleep while listening is good for once in a while. But, if you continue doing that for a prolonged period of time, then it can cause a bit of trouble I guess.

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## superchaz

what trouble?

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## NewZealand

I guess you can get dependent on binaural beats, and you may eventually feel that you NEED to listen to them to fall asleep.

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## superchaz

I used to have that. I get it when I used them on a nightly basis.

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## ibedreaming

> I guess you can get dependent on binaural beats, and you may eventually feel that you NEED to listen to them to fall asleep.



I never tried beats myself (yet), but I have listened to Enya before bed or other such types of music. Like you said, eventually you feel that you NEED them in order to sleep. Even so, some of the replied here are interesting... I might check out what these binaural beats are all about...

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## ibedreaming

Me again... I started researching beats and came across this site My Altered Mind. There's a free report about beats that was pretty cool... Anyways, I thought I'd post it here since it helped me...

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## mckings

Are the beats better than listening to just music?

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## superchaz

yes. Music isn't great for getting to sleep, even though it might feel like it's doing wonders.

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## superchaz

Thanks, this looks helpful.

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## Crashyy

When do you need to start listening to binaural beats?
Like when you fall asleep at like 11pm? or after you've woken up at 4am for your wake back to bed method?
I really need to know, so I know what to do tonight. Because I'll use my phone to listen to the binaural beats and I also use it as an alarm :d.

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## SuperSonicFan

Ignore my noobishness but I actually know A LOT about this one.

Ok so from my research I have concluded that there are 3 frequencies that your brain operates at during a typical REM cycle. Delta, Theta, and Alpha.
Delta is a very low frequency that is associated with VERY DEEP sleep usually before you begin to have dreams. Then, when you begin to dream your brain operates at a slightly higher frequency called Theta. This is the majority of your brain's activity during sleep. Since we wake up multiple times in a typical night (although if you are not focusing on dreaming / recording your dreams you probably forget it) your brain needs to shift up to a higher frequency to awake your body from SP. This is the alpha frequency. I personally listen to binaural beats every night and I can say that while they are not miracle makers, they tend to help me have dreams more consistently and the dreams not be so chaotic and changing (which I believe would make it easier to have a MILD). Also, the alpha waves especially are very helpful in completely waking you after the REM cycle has ended so you can remember your dream and record it.

Setup for listening to binaural beats: 
1. Use earbuds / headphones. They only work this way because each ear has to recieve a slightly different frequency for your brain to 'normalize' you might say. This is what actually makes them effective.
2. Make a 90 minute loop of the beats (because a typical REM cycle is 90 minutes). I have mine set to play delta for 15 minutes then theta for the remainder of the loop. Right after the theta I have the aplha waves go for 6 minutes. I am able to wake up almost every night and record my dreams thank to the aplha waves.  :smiley:  I guess if you wanted to be really tricky though you could set the delta waves for say 45 the first loop, then 30 the next, etc... since as the night progresses your brain shifts from heavy duty sleep to sleep w/ dreams.  ::D: 
3. Set them to come on after x minutes it takes you to fall asleep. I find that if I start them while I am trying to fall asleep I can't focus on the phrase I say to myself while going to sleep ("Next time I am dreaming I will remember I'm dreaming, and wake up after the dream") So say it usually takes you 15 minutes to fall asleep, set your mp3 player or whatever you use to start the first loop after 15 minutes and then start falling asleep.

Hope this helps.

Almost forgot to mention...
There is a program called Audacity that lets you record the sound going through your computer's stereo mix (or whatever handles your sound). Anyways, these beats are on YouTube and you can just record them w/ Audacity and export them as .wav. Then simply add them to your player.  :Shades wink:

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## SuperSonicFan

> When I sleep and listen binaural beats, its uncomfortable because of my headphones. Making me sleep on my back which is cool but when I fall asleep I'm gonna move and get uncomfortable.



Haha I forgot to mention about that. I would recommend using those earbuds that have the little silicone fitting that actually goes IN your ear, not the type that are standard w/ an ipod. I find that these have little to none actually extending past your ear and you can roll over or whatever and not even know they are there. They also stay in the whole night pretty well too. Only thing to watch out for is strangling yourself with the cord but I guess now they even make wireless earbuds if you move that much in your sleep.  :wink2:

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## superchaz

Can you send me a link to a certain brand of those earbuds of which you speak,friend.

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## imfivebyfive

Try using a memory foam pillow with in-the-ear headphones for this. The ear-buds will be snug in your ear and if you lay on your side the memory foam will conform around the shape of the headphones. I've done this a few times and it's fairly comfortable. Just make sure to keep the volume low as to not damage your hearing.

I can't say they have helped me LD but I do enjoy listening to binary beats while relaxing/meditating before I try to LD.

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## TruMotion

I once used binaural beats and they worked pretty good on me. I actually had my very first LD while listening to BB.
I stopped using them now because only one side of my headphones is working, and I've read that it won't work with earbuds.

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## dutchraptor

> Using binaural beats to change the way you sleep is the same as wearing a specific pair of socks to change the way you sleep. The general fact that the conditions have changed might make your brain act differently, but it won't be any function inherent to binaural tones, just like it wouldn't have anything to do with socks having magical powers. Binaural beats have been repeatedly proved to be a result of the placebo effect, except by people that sell them. At the least they're wastes of money and time. At the most they're easy ways to get a migraine headache.



Links please, I dont think you understand the basis of binaural beats.

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## TheSHM

> I once used binaural beats and they worked pretty good on me. I actually had my very first LD while listening to BB.
> I stopped using them now because only one side of my headphones is working, and I've read that it won't work with earbuds.



I use BBs with earbuds, and I've had amazing well-done LDs for some time (despite a little 'Alien' problem I'd had for a while. Fixed, though.) 
In fact, for me, BBs are a real conduit. I probably never would've had such voracious periods of lucid dreaming had it not been for binaural beats- but then again, my mad mind seems... naturally tuned towards lucidity and vividness. (A gift, perhaps?) 
Whether you should fall asleep with binaural beats is one thing. I've done it both at normal bed time as well as the 4-5 hour back to bed WILD cards, and I've seen results both instances.

I've also used binaural beats to have, what I've dubbed, 'lucid day dreams...'

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## selfcontrol

My main rule during listening binaural beats is to use comfortable headphones! So you need to change your headphones to a more comfortable, if you want to use binaural beats to have a lucid dream.

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## Emreoz28

Hey I just found this thread, but I have a question, do I listen to the beats as I am trying to sleep? Or should I find one long enough to listen to throughout the whole night?

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## jonesn

I wouldn't go to sleep from the beginning of the night with audio stimulus since there's really no point. Your brain naturally needs to go into Stage 2 and Delta (deep) sleep closer to the start of the night so binaural beats can't contribute in any regard.

If anything, wake up after 5-6 hours of sleep so that you can put on the headphones just prior to when REM 4 & REM 5 occur later in your sleep architecture. Keep the volume low.

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## jonesn

By the way, for anyone saying binaural beats are pseudo science, here is recent research showing that binaural audio matched to a sleepers brainwaves will actually prolong and enhance slow wave sleep. Can't argue with proven science.

Neuron - Auditory Closed-Loop Stimulation of the Sleep Slow Oscillation Enhances Memory

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## TwitchLucidity

Okay, so, no one else can answer this. I have a Binaural Beat track, and it has two stages. First stage, relaxation and REM inducement.
Second Stage, inducing the lucid dreaming.

Now, my MP3 loops a song no matter what I try. So, would it be fine to loop this or does anyone have another BB track that I can loop all night? I dont want to mess up my sleeping patterns or my brain, so I was just curious.  :smiley:

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