The lovely Brooke, who is an artist and therefore, I assume, really good at hallucinating, listened to the same binaural beats I did. But if you’re going to listen to them, at least listen with a friend – if not for safety, then as a control study. I got a bit hot, but that’s been happening more regularly since my diet became 60% dry Nutri-Grain. The screen got a bit wider at one point, and I started to see images in the fractals more clearly: kidneys, fists, trees, eyes. Still not high, I tried a 12-minute video that offered fractal patterns as well as mind-melting audio. I did hear a drumming in my ears after the video stopped very slow and not rhythmic at all, like a drummer who keeps forgetting which hand the drumstick is in. I just got a sore forehead from squinting. I tried staring into the sky while listening, hoping the sun madness would bring forth little green men from the walls. At one point I felt sensations in my legs, but this turned out to be pins and needles. I put my headphones on and settled down in bed.

It had 2.6 million views and “WARNING high intensity” in the title. Many videos had millions of views, and the creators hawked everything from headphones and therapy to weighted blankets and cryptocurrency.īut I was here with a purpose: the first video I watched was called “digital drugs”. My income hasn’t changed, nor has my sphincter loosened. There were videos that claimed to promote kidney healing, induce anal stimulation, and even help manifest wealth. After a four-day digital drug bender, I emerged as my healthiest self.Īs I scrolled past the top-viewed binaural beats videos, the content showed a more varied demand than just “get high” or “go to sleep”. My bosses agreed, and let me go on an audio binge last week in pursuit of even a tiny buzz. I am no scientist, but I don’t think listening to drugs is the same as doing them. These binaural beats, sometimes called “digital drugs”, can be downloaded as audio files, watched on YouTube, or streamed on Spotify from playlists named after the drugs they emulate – peyote, DMT, cocaine. While most listeners are using the beats to relax or get to sleep, a recent study published in Drug and Alcohol Review indicated that about 12% of people listening to binaural beats are trying to mimic the effects of psychedelic drugs. It’s very whale song, pan flute vibes – but, the internet says, it could have the added benefit of getting you high. It sounds very clinical, but most binaural beat tracks sound like something you’d hear at a spa. This video is one of hundreds on YouTube that uses “binaural beats” sounds created by playing a different frequency in each ear, so the brain creates a third inside your head. I hadn’t fallen down a New World Order rabbithole – I was using sound frequencies to manifest organ healing and material abundance.

Last Tuesday I spent three hours listening to a YouTube video called “ The Great Awakening ”. Josie Adams gave these auditory hallucinogens a whirl for IRL – with mixed results.

For some people, playing different sound frequencies in each ear of your headphones produces a drug-like effect.

8hz binaural beats