For many people, falling asleep — and staying asleep — isn’t easy.

When I have an excitement-filled day, I may be happily awake after my bedtime… but I still need a good eight hours’ sleep to wake refreshed.

I’ve tried medications — over-the-counter and Rx — as well as herbs and other food supplements such as calcium citrate.  Warm milk doesn’t help, either.

Then I tried binaural audios.  They’re recordings with binaural beats in them, usually behind music or sounds of nature.  For me, they’ve worked well.

Click to listen to my brief explanation of how binaural audios work

Binaural beats — sounds that create a meditative state — have helped me, but some recordings are better than others.  Here’s a quick summary of the ones I’ve tried:

Evening Reverie by Steven Aitchison

Rating: Evening Reverie was one of the series of downloads I received through Steven Aitchison’s Binaural Heaven program.  At this time, I don’t think you can buy it individually.

Unlike his Deep Sleep recording (reviewed next), this recording seemed generally relaxing, but not consistent.

I tried it a couple of times, and both times I felt anxious.  Those episodes were fleeting, but odd.  Being an innate control freak, I suspect the recording took me too quickly to the Delta level… but I’m not sure.

Others may not have the same experience with this recording.  Personally, the anxiety was so counter-productive when I was trying to fall asleep, I’ve retired that recording from my listening shelf.

Deep Sleep by Steven Aitchison

Rating: Unlike Evening Reverie, reviewed above, Deep Sleep delivered exactly what it promised.  The first time I listened to it, I was asleep in about three minutes.

And, though it was an unusually stressful and sad week for me, I slept soundly and had happy dreams.  I literally woke up smiling and refreshed… after just six hours’ sleep.  (I normally need at least eight hours.)

On a second listening, I was awake for much longer.  However, I felt happily relaxed and just barely awake.

This recording will definitely stay next to my bed, on my listening shelf.

Like Evening Reverie, this recording is only available to subscribers of Binaural Heaven.

Click here to learn more about Binaural Heaven

Sound Sleep by Brain Sync

Rating: Sound Sleep is a Brain Sync product, available for instant download or on CD.

This recording takes you from your normal waking state to the Delta level of sleep, and it does this very smoothly.  This 60 minute recording contains no spoken or subliminal messages, just soothing music and the binaural beats that relax you.

From my experience with this recording, it eases me into sleep gradually.  I can generally listen to it while reading or working on a Sudoku puzzle for five or ten minutes, and then turn out my light for a good night’s sleep.

Though I haven’t been using Steve Aitchison’s Deep Sleep for long enough to make a good comparison, I don’t recall having unusually happy dreams with Brain Sync’s Sound Sleep recording.  They were just normal dreams.

Brain Sync’s Sound Sleep recording works well enough for me to use it regularly, rate it highly, and recommend it to others, especially for anyone who wants the beneficial effects without any added messages hidden behind the music.

Click here to hear a sample or to order Sound Sleep

Deep Sleep by Brain Sync

Rating: Deep Sleep is another 60-minute recording from Brain Sync.  Like Sound Sleep, reviewed above, Brain Sync’s Deep Sleep takes you to the Delta level of relaxation.

However, it has subliminal messages hidden behind the music.  The exact messages are listed on the Deep Sleep webpage.

I’ve had good results with this recording, but not great results as with Steve Aitchison’s Deep Sleep and Brain Sync’s Sound Sleep recordings.

For me, the vocals on Brain Sync’s Deep Sleep may be too distracting.  I tend to hyper-focus on lyrics, and Brain Sync’s Deep Sleep has a vocal track.

The problem is, the voices are singing notes in a way that sound a little like words… but not quite.  I find myself trying to figure out if they’re singing “wahh, wahh,” or “mwah, mwah,” or even “pwahh, pwahh.”

The latter make me laugh because I’m reminded of the chicken noises made by characters in the original Stargate movie.

If I could relax and ignore the sort-of lyrics, I might enjoy this recording more.  And, I’m telling you this entire story so you can judge for yourself if the sort-of lyrics might be an issue.  If you’re like me — in the ADHD, slightly OCD band — they may distract you, too.

However, I expect that most people will listen to the free, sample recording online and wonder what I’m talking about.  They’ll barely hear the vocals.

Even though this isn’t my favorite sleep-inducing audio, I have it on my listening shelf for rare occasions when I want something different to listen to as I drift off to sleep.

Click here to listen to a sample of Deep Sleep, or order the recording

Energy Blast from Steven Aitchison is a great, fast way to recover your sense of fun and super-charge your energy reserves.

It uses binaural beats to refresh you and restore a feeling of deep-down happiness.

You can download this MP3 instantly and listen to it with stereo headphones.

I tried Energy Blast with my Windows Media Player. The on-screen graphics generated by the music… well, they were delightful.

In fact, everything about this MP3 is sheer fun.

The music has a disco beat, with a slight nod to the 1980s, and a sense of humor added.

For me, the first three minutes were like a mental whiff of tea tree oil or menthol.  If you’ve seen those York Peppermint candy ads — the ones where they talk about being so refreshed, it’s like an exhilarating winter moment — that’s what Energy Blast is like.

After those first few minutes, I couldn’t not dance in my chair.  The music, the fun, the sense of delight… it took charge and added to how happy I felt.

I listened to the full nine minutes of this MP3, but I was ready to get back to work, fully refreshed, after about four minutes.   So, you may not need to listen to the entire recording to get the full benefits of this genuine energy blast.

Of course, if you need just a short spurt of energy before going to bed, Energy Blast might be too much for you.  I expect to sustain my current, upbeat energy level for at least a couple of hours.

In fact, I’m going to load this into my MP3 player to use when I take breaks during long drives.  Combined with stretching, healthy snacks and fresh air, this might be an ideal way to stay alert on full-day road trips.

Right now, if you’re staring at your computer screen, taking a break and hoping to bounce back with something vaguely resembling energy, go download Steven Aitchison’s Energy Blast. It’ll put a smile on your face and add a disco beat to your day.

Click here to visit Steven Aitchison’s website for the Energy Blast download

P.S. I’ve subscribed to Steven Aitchison’s “Binaural Heaven” recordings.  I’ll review more of them in the coming weeks, along with other binaural products.

Meanwhile, be sure to see my previous, related article, Audio Guided Meditations.

Audio guided meditations are recorded meditations — usually spoken words with a background of music and/or nature sounds — that take you on a virtual journey that helps you achieve one or more specific mental, emotional, spiritual or physical goals.

They can help you relax or they can energize you.  You may find a sense of well-being or even physical healing, after repeatedly listening to audio guided meditations created for that purpose.

Some audio guided meditations have clear spoken tracks; others have subliminal tracks that bypass harmful and limiting conscious barriers.

Most audio guided meditations last at least five minutes but no longer than an hour.  Most are about 15 – 30 minutes long.

At this website, we review meditation audios, as well as other kinds of self-help audios.  The following summaries are based on three individuals’ experiences with each product line.

In general, we recommend the following:

Non-Subliminal recordings

Meditations 2GO (www.Meditations2GO.com) – CDs and instant downloads, affordably priced.  Good quality, and easy to listen to.

Reviewed here:

• Restoring Balance and Clarity – Helps you get centered and recover your sense of confidence and clarity in any situation.
• Releasing Emotional Tension – Methodically release the emotional tension that holds you back and keeps you down.  Ideal for mid-day breaks, and when you simply need a “time out” from everyday stress.

BrainSync offers both subliminal meditation audios and non-subliminal guided audio meditations.  We’ve tried both and recommend many of them.  We’ll review some of their non-subliminal tracks at a later date.

Subliminal recordings

Subliminal recordings generally include music and/or nature sounds, and a spoken track that is just slightly below your conscious awareness.  There may also be a clear spoken track, guiding you through a conscious meditation.

Some of these recordings also make use of “binaural beats” to help you achieve optimum meditation levels to accelerate your progress.

Binaural beats and brain entrainment

Binaural beats are to hearing what stereoscopes and 3-D movies are to video.  Binaural beats give the recording extra depth, and — using a slightly different frequency in each earpiece of your headphones — helps your brain “tune in” to the appropriate meditation level for your goals.

BrainSync is one of the top brainwave therapy companies, offering subliminal and non-subliminal recordings.

• Sound Healing is one of our favorites, whether you’re coping with an injury, a headache, a medical procedure, or simple stress.  It’s ideal for use when you want to fall asleep and wake refreshed.  It contains subliminal messages ideal for helping you heal mind and body.
• The Secret Universal Mind Meditation‘s spoken messages did not fit our spirituality, but the meditation seems to work anyway.  If you believe in “The Secret,” you may be astonished by the results of listening to this meditation.  We were, and we continue listening to it regularly, a year after purchasing it.

Immrama offers remarkable CDs — featuring different background sounds –  called Insight.  (We tested the gentle rain version, but the ocean one is equally pleasant to listen to.)  We still use this product regularly, and often prefer it over higher-priced brain “entrainment” products.  In 30 minutes, you can accomplish as much as you might with other programs that require a full hour, daily.  We listen to it at least once a week, and — after more than two years — still feel that we’re achieving excellent results with it.

Holosync is one of the largest companies in the brain entrainment field.  While we could ignore the voice in the free sample, we were truly delighted with Holosync’s “Level 0″ product, Prologue. It seemed to make a real difference in how we — all of us — felt about the world, and that optimism affected positive outcomes in our lives.

However, their Level 1 product — far more expensive — seemed less fun. It definitely seemed to contribute to dramatic changes in our lives, and none of us had the same cheerful optimism after listening to it daily.

Though we’ve heard favorable reviews from others, we’ve also heard from people who listened just once or twice and quit immediately.

We’re somewhere between those two extremes:  We didn’t stay with Level 1, but we’ve gone back to Prologue from time to time (with a pleasant result), and — now and then — listen to Level 1.

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2011 update: Our staff have tried some of Steve Aitchison’s binaural recordings.  So far, we like them and they seem to compare favorably with Holosync’s more expensive program.

See our detailed reviews of Mr. Aitchison’s recordings — including Energy Blast – Binaural Beats — in other articles at this website.

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Generally, the audio guided meditations — and self-help audios — you choose will depend on your goals and your philosophies.  Some people believe that any path is the right one if it gets you where you want to be.  Others disagree heartily with subliminal recordings and/0r binaural beats.

Our staff come from a variety of viewpoints, and our individual reviews reflect them.

In general, we like professionally made self-help audios.  (Watch out for recordings by amateurs.  Unless they know what they’re doing, they can produce unintended results.)

We also think that audio guided meditations can be very helpful when they’re high quality and used responsibly, with a clear understanding of what you’re using and how to get the most from it.

Photo credit: http://www.elitestockphotography.net