The 5 brainwave states & how to use them for creative insight
Do you notice it’s in our calmest moments that ideas just appear?
I’m sure you’ve been there:
You wake up in the morning and while you lay there, it comes to you. It might be a line of text, a piece of music, or even the thought ‘I haven’t spoken to Jack in a while, I wonder if he’s ok.’
Either way, there’s a point of clear insight. Summoned by… what exactly?
I mean, it’s still you. It's always you. But it’s like it arrives from another part of you: a wiser, clearer state only present during some parts of your day.
One reason for this more open state of mind is a switch to different types of brainwaves. These brainwaves lead to altered thought patterns—from the creative, to the meditative, to (some would say) the transcendent.
This article is about the various brainwave states, and how zoning into different ones can empower your creative output.
First, the quick science of how brainwaves work
What are brainwaves, exactly?
Brainwaves are patterns of electrical energy generated by the brain's neurons when they communicate. When neurons fire in big groups, the collective activity creates waves that can be measured with devices called EEGs (electroencephalograms—tough to write, even tougher to say).
These patterns differ in speed and strength. Speeds are known as ‘frequencies’, and strengths are known as ‘amplitudes’. Frequencies represent the brainwaves accessed, measured in hertz. Amplitude tracks the depth and consistency of that brainwave.
These patterns result in different brainwave states, grouped from fast to slow. Faster brainwaves, like Gamma and Beta, are active when we are more alert. Slower waves are active when we’re asleep, or in the deeper states that bring moment of unexpected insight and creativity.
Let’s break each one down into their mental states:
Gamma Waves (30-100 Hz): A state of hyper-focus, engagement, and peak performance. Triggered by activities such as learning, problem-solving, and critical thinking.
Beta Waves (12-30 Hz): A state of alertness, focus, and mental processing ranging from low to high frequencies. Triggered by activities such as conversation, working, problem-solving, or using your phone. Also prominent during periods of stress.
Alpha Waves (8-12 Hz): A relaxed but alert mental state, leaving space for creativity and reflection. Triggered by activities like creative visualization, meditation, yoga, or deep breathing exercises, prompting a sense of mental clarity.
Theta Waves (4-8 Hz): A deeply relaxed mental state associated with deeper levels of the subconscious, and a path to creative intuition. Triggered by activities like deep meditation, REM sleep, visualization, lucid dreaming, and hypnosis.
Delta Waves (0.5-4 Hz): Deep, recovery sleep and restoration of mind and body. Delta waves are thought to play a role in processes such as tissue repair, muscle growth, and the release of growth hormones.
4 Ways to enter alpha and theta brainwave states
If you’re seeking insights, ideas, or looking to solve problems through intuition, alpha and theta brainwaves states are fruitful zones.
Let’s explore activities that can get you into alpha and theta states of mind, to think deeply, imagine, and open a path to new ideas.
1. The creative nap
Artist Salvador Dalí wrote about his ‘slumber with a key’ technique in his book 50 Secrets of Magic Craftsmanship. Naps of no-longer than a minute helped him 'solve most of the subtle and technical problems' of his art.
Here’s how Dalí entered the dream-like state between sleep and wakefulness known as hypnagogia, which you can also use to trigger theta brainwaves:
Prep: Dali ate lunch, then headed to his napping chair, placing a plate on the floor beside him.
Rest: As he rested, he held a key between his finger and thumb.
Drop: When he drifted off, he dropped the key and it jangled against the plate.
Insight: This jolted Dalí awake with visions, images, and creative solutions to his art.
The creative nap has been studied too. Research by the Paris Brain Institute sought to discover if volunteers could better find a solution to a maths problem by taking a nap. Author Célia Lacaux writes:
Spending at least 15 seconds in this very first [hypnagogic] phase of sleep after falling asleep tripled the chances of finding this hidden rule, through the famous ‘Eureka!’ This effect disappeared if the subjects went deeper into sleep.
Salvador Dalí, Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee Around a Pomegranate a Second Before Awakening, 1944.
2. Jose Silva’s Mind Control Method
Jose Silva’s method has been met with skepticism. I will explain how it works, and you can develop your own conclusion.
The visualization method is focused on achieving alpha and theta brainwave states to access the subconscious mind and facilitate positive change, solutions, and ideas.
Silva argued that by tapping into this deeper level of awareness, people could improve their learning abilities, creativity, health, and overall quality of life. Here’s how it works:
Objective: Have a goal, challenge, or end state in mind
Relaxation: Get into a deep space of relaxation, using deep breathing and meditation.
Eye Position: Close your eyes and roll them upward as if looking toward the spot between your eyebrows.
Imagine: Imagine a screen (white) and you can add images to the screen
Visualize: Visualize your desired outcome or goal in vivid detail, using all your senses.
Experience: See and feel the process of achieving your goal, the struggles and difficulties, and then, symbolic or real action being taken to achieve it, before seeing and feeling the end result.
You can learn more about this technique in the book The Silva Mind Control Method.
3. Pre-creative meditation
Meditation not only gets alpha and theta brainwaves flowing, but increases dopamine in the brain that boosts visual imagery and imagination. This state of sustained dopamine and relaxation is crucial for creative thinking.
Rick Rubin, renowned record producer known for shaping the sound of contemporary music across various genres, swears on his Transcendental Meditation (TM) practice, and even brings it into recording sessions with huge artists:
I’ve bought TM for artists and I’ve made albums where we would meditate before each session. When we made Californication, we meditated before each session. At least two [of the Red Hot Chili Peppers] every time, sometimes three, rarely four. Tom Petty, when we made Wildflowers, we often meditated before we started each session.
Once you leave yourself in silence, the dust settles and after you can launch yourself into your creative work with full insight. As the buddha wrote, ‘If you let cloudy water settle, it will become clear’.
Rubin’s thinking supports this theory:
There’s a great deal of bullshit that people think about when they make music, things that don’t matter. TM kind of wipes that away, and you focus on the real job at hand, as opposed to thinking about what the management wants, or what the record company’s saying, or what somebody at a radio station might think.
So take some space before you work, and focus on the real job at hand.
4. The Bedside journal
Dreaming is where theta waves soak the mind and the unconscious makes itself known. The unconscious is a powerful creative tool if you train it.
A bedside journal helps you connect to the unconscious and theta brainwave states. Making the early effort to note down your dreams helps you remember dreams long-term. Don’t ask me how, but I’ve been remembering my dreams in far more vivid detail when I try to recall them for a dream journal.
Once you get in the habit of capturing dreams, you start to scope it for insights—inner desires and goals, insights into a challenge you have, or even material for your creative work.
Josh Waitzkin, the author of The Art of Learning, uses a decision-making tactic called the MIQ (Most Important Question) to arrive at creative insight. It takes the advice to ‘sleep on it’ quite literally. Read more on how sleeping on it can improve your decision making.
Let’s go surfing
Creative work takes a state of mind. Control over these states help you imagine new solutions and inspire you to put them into action.
I’m curious if you’ve tried any of these techniques, and if so, what your learnings were.
Drop a comment below and let’s chat further about brainwave states.
Hope you score some sick waves 🤙
