Binaural beats are a technology used to produce relaxation, a meditative state and sometimes for self-hypnosis (e.g. along with subliminal messages to help you stop smoking, lose weight, etc.). The basic idea is that each of your ears is exposed to sounds of a slightly different frequency, and the brain synchronizes these two frequencies into a single sound. That’s why, when you listen to binaural beats, you’re not consciously aware of two separate sounds.

You can find lots of audio programs, some of them quite expensive for sale nowadays that use binaural beats, usually with ambient music and sometimes with subliminal messages. However, if you want to experiment with this, you can find lots of free videos on YouTube as well. The advantage of this is that these videos often add some great visuals, such as mandalas and fractal images that go with the sounds. The only caveat is that you should plug stereo headphones into your computer to get the binaural beat effect.

Below is one such video. The creator’s channel is called JezebelDecibel, and she has a large selection of videos you can watch, as well as complete MP3 recordings for sale. For many people, this is an easier way to meditate.