I tried a viral music trick to cure my insomnia - it worked in just 45 minutes
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They sound like a mixture of long slow notes with no discernible tune or beat, but videos featuring a 'binaural beats' have millions of views on YouTube. This is the latest craze which promises to banish anxiety and calm nerves, simply through the power of very carefully selected sounds.
I've just moved to London and am feeling jangled by the busy pace of life. I've also suffered from insomnia for three years so when London fitness chain, Gymbox, started offering a binaural beats relaxation class, I jumped at the chance to try it. When it starts, however, I'm anything but relaxed.
I’m lying on a hard dance floor with just a thin mat and cushion under my knees for comfort, my back cannot get comfortable and the hair stuck in my headphones itches. I'm waiting for the affects of this neuroscience-approved brand of electronic music to kick in and boost my sense of calm, reduce my stress and improve my sleep.
Unsurprisingly videos featuring binaural beats are a hit with Gen Z, going viral on TikTok, while Spotify offers seemingly limitless soundtracks, with hundreds of thousands of saves each. So what is this apparently magical music? “Binaural beats are an auditory phenomenon that occurs when two tones of slightly different frequencies are played in each ear,” says neurologist Dr Faye Begeti. “When each ear hears tones of different frequencies, the brain perceives the difference between the two frequencies as a third sound. For example, if a 300Hz tone is played in one ear and a 310Hz tone in the other, the brain perceives a 10Hz beat.”.
