In April the world celebrated Earth Day. What significance could that day hold for you? There’s a lot of buzz these days about how the earth is suffering from the effects of climate change, what with deforestation, strip mining, pollution, toxic waste, and so on.
But did you know that the Earth has its own vibe? Yes, the Earth’s harmonic resonance is 7.83 cycles per second (a.k.a., Hertz, or abbreviated as Hz.) It’s referred to as the Schumann Resonance, and named after German physicist Winfried Otto Schumann who discovered it in 1952.
The Earth’s vibration of 7.83 Hz. is caused by lightning strikes, which, according to NASA occur 50 to 100 times per second around the world.(1) That creates the constant low frequency vibration that resonates from Earth’s core.
Have you ever noticed how calming it is to walk barefoot on the beach, or to stand barefoot on grass or soil? Your feet transmit the Earth’s vibration through your nervous system to your brain. Our brain waves oscillate at the frequencies from <1 to 100 and are classified in the ranges of Gamma (30 – 100 Hz.), Beta (30 – 14 Hz.), Alpha (14 – 8 Hz.), Theta (8 – 4 Hz.), and Delta (4 – <1 Hz.).
So, the Earth’s Harmonic Resonance (the rate at which it constantly vibrates) falls within the Theta range of frequencies, which are the same rate that your brain waves oscillate at during times of rest, daydreams, meditation, and REM dreaming.
Maybe in your busy life, you don’t have the time to get barefoot and ground yourself with Mother Earth – but don’t worry! You can get on the same wavelength with your headphones or stereo speakers, by simply listening to Theta frequency binaural beats. Just hearing them will entrain your brain to slow your brainwave activity down to match that frequency range, and the result is pure relaxation!
Listening to binaural beats in different frequencies will garner different beneficial results. For example, with your brain waves entrained to 40 Hertz (which is in the Gamma frequency range), you can maximise your cognitive and problem-solving abilities. If you think that binaural beats are some kind of new-age hocus-pocus, you are wrong! Colorado State University advises their students to use binaural beats for studying to increase cognitive function.(2)
In the Alpha frequency range of 14 – 8 Hertz, you can achieve deep relaxation and stress relief. And the more that you relax, the easier it is to slow your brainwaves down to the Theta level – which, as described above, is where you can meditate, daydream, rest or have REM (rapid eye movement) dreams.
There’s no entrainment necessary to be in the Beta range of frequencies because we are there during waking hours when all our senses plus our conscious and unconscious thoughts are keeping our grey matter busy! I have a treat for your senses that will help you relax and ground yourself to Mother Earth’s frequency! Check out the Earth Day 2023 video produced by my multi-talented sound colleague and guitarist extraordinaire, Yannaki Arrizza.
Bibliography
- Schumann Resonance https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/gallery/schumann-resonance.htm
- Increasing Cognitive Function with Binaural Beats https://csuglobal.edu/blog/increasing-cognitive-function-binaural-beats
Main image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
