Brain waves 101: The frequencies that fuel genius, flow, and deep rest

Some days, your mind is a high-speed train. Thoughts connect effortlessly, ideas spark like fireworks, and conversations flow easily. On other days, though, it’s closer to being like dial-up internet: slow, glitchy, and stuck “buffering” mid-sentence.

That you can swing from one state to the other boils down to brain waves. They’re your tiny electrical impulses responsible for why you’re laser-focused one moment, lost in a daydream the next, or seconds from passing out on your keyboard when y...