A couple of week ago, I professed to my readers that I’d be conducting a series of Hemi-Sync trials. The mission of the trials is to determine if Hemi-Sync is all that it’s cracked up to be. If you haven’t already read the first article, check it out now –otherwise, this article won’t groove too well with you.
Hemi-Sync is Not a Synonym for Binaural Beats
A few days into Week 1, I discovered a critical flaw: I technically wasn’t listening to Hemi-Sync. I was listening to a similar, but nonetheless different, breed of binaural beats. Hemi-Sync is trademarked by the Monroe Institute. So, Hemi-Sync is basically the Monroe Institute’s brand name for binaural beats (of course, they’re not just pure binaural beats, the tracks are multidimensional). This is kind of like how Tylenol is the brand name for acetaminophen.
On Day 1 of the trials, I searched Amazon with the keyword “Hemi-Sync” and downloaded the MP3 album with the highest rating: Gamma Meditation System by Dr. Jeffrey D. Thompson. I knew Dr. Thompson wasn’t a part of the Monroe Institute, however I thought it was technically still Hemi-Sync –I thought the Monroe Institute might have had some kind of licensing agreement with other qualified beat makers. I was wrong.
As soon as I realized my error, I went straight to the Monroe Institute’s online store, and purchased a genuine Hemi-Sync MP3 album —The Tranquility Training Method. After all, this is The Hemi-Sync Trials, and credibility is my top priority. Before we dive into the Monroe Institute’s album, let’s first go back to the Gamma Meditation System.
A Blessing in Disguise
As it turned out, what I initially thought of as a mistake, turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The Gamma Meditation System (GMS) turned out to be a very powerful entrainment (i.e. brainwave inducing) system. The GMS is designed to stimulate gamma brainwaves, which are believed by some to be the crème de la crème of brainwaves. Gamma brainwaves are purported to induce feelings such as compassion and happiness, as well as increased self-awareness, universal unity. On the GMS product description, it states that researcher’s studying the brains of Tibetan monks found that they produce high amounts of the gamma brainwave. It is, however, important to note that there is some disagreement among neuroscientists as to whether or not gamma brainwaves even exist.
All of my experimental controls were quite strict. I kept virtually everything the same during my meditation (e.g. time, place, routine, etc.) with, of course, the exception of what I was listening to. Therefore, the GMS was the independent variable (for any of you research folks out there).
About 10 minutes into Day 1 of the Hemi-Sync Trials, I felt a significant change taking place. The GMS appeared to be putting me into a very relaxed state, almost effortlessly on my part –at the time I was merely beginning my breathing exercises, as I always do at the start of my meditations.
It was almost as if I could feel the entrainment affecting me in realtime. I was steadily falling deeper and deeper into a relaxed state. However, there were no earth-shattering revelations or anything during the meditation. The GMS just seemed to serve as an amplifier, which I like. As I mentioned in my previous article, I want my meditations to be as natural as possible. What would be the point of meditating if something did all the ‘work’ for me?
The Real Hemi-Sync
On the fourth day of the trials, I uploaded the Hemi-Sync album to my iPhone, and started to meditate in the same way I did the previous few nights with the GMS. The Hemi-Sync didn’t have the same “significant” effect that the GMS had on me –it was a lot more subtle.
The Hemi-Sync tracks on the album were accompanied by succinct narrations. The narrator –who, by the way, sounded kind of creepy– directs the listener through a series of steps that are used to help the listener ‘make contact’ with their higher self.
The only significant effect I experienced with the initial Monroe Hemi-Sync trial was a very intense feeling of detachment towards the end of the meditation. I particularly remember my hands feeling completely numb. It felt as if I was relatively close to having an out-of-body experience. However, subsequent trials didn’t produce the same effect.
Conclusions
So, as it has turned out, I had a better initial experience with a non-Hemi-Sync entrainment system (i.e. GMS). I really enjoyed the GMS. In fact, I’ve been listening to it every night during my meditation. I gave up on the Monroe Hemi-Sync album after three nights, when I felt as though my experience was regressing.
It is very important to note that the Hemi-Sync album I tried was one of many different Hemi-Sync albums that the Monroe Institute offers. The album I purchased was one of the cheapest ($15) offered, too –some of their Hemi-Sync albums costs hundreds of dollars. Therefore, this is not an accurate assessment of all that Hemi-Sync has to offer, rather it’s merely my first experience. Moreover, Dr. Thompson and the Monroe Institute take different approaches when it comes to entrainment methodology. Dr. Thompson produces generalized, brainwave-specific tracks (for our purposes); and, the Monroe Institute produces specific tracks for specific states of consciousness (i.e. “focus levels”).
I won’t be writing my next installment of The Hemi-Sync Trials until I’ve purchased, and experimented with, other Hemi-Sync albums made by the Monroe Institute. I will also do the same with Dr. Thompson’s work, for he offers an array of different entrainment systems, too (e.g. Theta Meditation System).
As I mentioned, Dr. Thompson and the Monroe Institute take two different approaches when it comes to entrainment. Therefore, the trials won’t be very scientific after all. It’ll essentially come down to subjective experience –personal preference. Again, the purpose of the trials is to determine if Hemi-Sync –Dr. Thompson’s entrainment systems included– is worth trying, and/or using on a regular basis as a supplement to your meditations (e.g. does it live up to the hype).
Stay tuned for the second round of The Hemi-Sync Trials.
metaphysicalexperience.wordpress.com 
It is revealing to me that you state that you tried “one of many different Hemi-Sync albums” as this gets to the essence of the matter for me: each of these products offers an experience. You’ve done a great job comparing subjective personal experiences with Brand X vs. Brand Y. My question: isn’t it more compelling to offer an “apples to apples” comparison. Do the Hemi-Sync Gamma meditations work as well as Dr. Thompson’s? (For that matter, does Hemi-Sync even make a Gamma based meditation? I don’t know…)
While I do not sense that you’ve made an absolute conclusion if binaural beats meditation systems “live up to the hype’, I do sense that you are already inclined to say “some better than others”. If this is the case, I think further exploration is in order.
Keep the good posts coming!
I’ve tried some of the Hemi-Sync audio mp3’s after a friend that bought them sent them to me, On a couple of occassions with one of them I had a vibrational experience like my spirit body was trying to seperate from my Physical body but then the initial fear set in and I couldn’t continue with it, I think a lot can be achieved with Hemi-Sync if you can overcome that fear and just let go.
I’ve had experiences before though with seeing images flash in my Mind’s Eye before, This only really started happening to me after I meditated for over a year, Sometimes it’s just like watching a movie but it’s hard to keep focus on them and I can’t get them at all now cause I haven’t been meditating for a while.
Well if you got an MP3 version of Hemi Sync sounds, that right there is another problem. These sounds shouls be UNCOMPRESSED or compressed with a lossless codec, NOT mp3.
Try to get them in .flac format, if your player supports it, that’s what I did. I am well impressed with the Hemi Sync so far, but I just started getting the GMS as well, thanks for bringing it up 🙂