Muse 2: the Brain-Sensing Headband

Before investing in the Muse 2, I tried doing breath and mindfulness meditation, but was just going through the motions. Using the Muse 2 has allowed me to gain real time neurofeedback from the device and effectively me a nudge back into the meditative state based on brain waves/heart rate/movement/synchronized breathing. Well worth the investment, biohacking in 2022!

I note that there have been a number of very positive and very negative reviews of this item.

I can only say that I while I am still at a novice level, I am reasonably pleased with the purchase. I acquired a biofeedback device years ago (which measured skin resistance and varied in volume depending on how I felt) which I then lost and since then had been from time to time looking for something which could track my various rhythms, and provide some feedback. As a student I was recommended to try meditation – but back then as a student of course I knew better. Now in retirement and experiencing some levels of stress from time to time I felt it was something I should at least try.

You may think you need headphones to connect to you smart-phone or android tablet – but a bluetooth speaker will work just as well. I found the app reasonably easy to download and set up – at least compared with some I have struggled with. Equally easy to use with the headband once charged. I do however have one of the later models of smartphone, purchased because my previous one kept running out of memory to run the already limited number of apps on there.

I use it in the evenings to try to get myself into a frame of mind to be able to sleep. I can drop off at a moments notice during the day but getting off an night can be a struggle and I don’t like taking drugs to sleep. I use a body, heart and mind session, and seem to get positive results. Is this accurate or as some might suggest just a placebo? Well unless I was going to hook myself up to a 25-30K University system to check for accuracy I may not have experimental evidence, but if it leaves me with a sense of relaxation and well being am I going to knock it? The mind can be a very powerful thing that can make you ill, so by extension, it must also be able to help.

I would have liked more ‘initial’ sessions to use it – I have a number of guided meditations downloaded which I have yet to try – something to act as a bridge might have been useful. A link from the app to a personal website or PC version might also be useful – like my fitbit app, as trying to read the screen on a smartphone is not easy!

I have given 4 stars – why? Because I have nothing else to compare it to.

All I can say is that it seems to work for me.

I’ve been meditating for a while now. I have started to experience tremoring and shaking during my practice. I want to understand whether this was an issue with technique or not.
Muse has been helped me to better understand this issue because of giving real-time feedback, and has helped me to improve my practice a lot.
I cannot speak exactly for its accuracy, as it is difficult to gauge against my subjective experience, however, it feels like the measurements are on point most of the time. I would be careful re the calibration because a ‘good’ session is always benchmarked against the initial calibration. An enhancement of comparing to a former calibration would be useful!

I think the simplest thing to say is that it works exactly as described. I wanted a device to help provide feedback for my mediation and this device does exactly what it say it does. I was not sure what this device would offer me as a I meditate regularly but through the feedback already I have seen areas where I can improve my practice. The guided mediations are very well structured and I was surprised how well they facilitate rather than interrupt my meditation. Muse paired seamlessly with the app and so far is providing me with valuable feedback in real time. I thought there might be problems with positioning the sensors but it has proved to be really easy and my Muse works perfectly every time. There is little I can add to the product description and I would also advise looking at the many Muse YouTube videos. It is comfortable to wear and you are aware that you have it on – . but not so much as to be distracting in anyway. I would advise getting a case as it feels quite fragile – think of it like a pair of expensive sun glasses in its structure hence mine lives in its case. I bought the original hard case which is quite bulky but of good quality and survived a trip in a suitcase without a mark. Two people can use the same muse and my wife and I have been using it successfully for a couple of weeks. It has been charged only twice since we had it and it seems to hold charge really well. The app is very (very) easy to understand and the degree of additional data available following meditation is adequate for me as a practitioner in mapping my progress.

I’m a believer in biofeedback, it makes sense to me that a bit of external reference would be a useful thing to deepen meditation practise, especially for beginners and at times when you’re distracted. I’ve owned a few devices like this and all of them before this one have been useless. This one actually works. There’s a bit of a delay between when you become distracted and when the sounds change (maybe a second or so) and I think more immediate feedback would be even better. Whether you ‘get many birds’ is very dependent on how still our mind was when you calibrate it at the start of a session – I go for what I call ‘hard mode’, making an effort to keep my mind very still during the calibration so that I have to really focus to get those bird sounds. I’m not sure if the other sensors are very important – they add some variety but there doesn’t seem to be a fusion mode so I tend to use the eeg most of the time. I’ve been using it a couple of times a week, doing normal sitting the rest of the time, and I think the quality of my meditation has improved even when I’m not using it. I’m quite an experienced meditator but can tend to be a bit lazy/distracted sometimes, and having the feedback really helps me focus. Of course one wonders whether the device measures the ‘right’ thing or are we training to get better at something that’s only loosely related to meditation, but the same is true whether you’re using something like this or not and the proof is in the results – for me I feel calmer and a deeper sense of clarity and resilience after using this and the effect has continued into my non-assisted meditation. In summary – this one is not a gimmick and although it’s unfortunately expensive, I think if you’re interested in this sort of thing it’s worth a go. By the way I’ve had zero calibration/connection issues but I have a large forehead and very little hair. My wife has a small head and thick hair and had a bit more trouble getting a reliable signal.

So after using this for a good period of time, I am still unsure of either its accuracy or value for money, but where I was initially sceptical about the item, on the whole, this has reduced and I am somewhat of a convert.

I always struggle to maintain a regular meditative practice in any form. I’ve tried them all and I desperately remain the type of person that needs to have one. MUSE has helped. It has made me want to keep coming back and once set up it is really easy to use.

PROS:
Calming selection of sounds
Guided meditation from good female voice actor
Apple health integration
Easy to use mobile app
1 device can be used with multiple accounts (1 account per phone is necessary)

CONS:
Battery life could be longer – you tend to get 5 x 10 minutes sessions before needing a recharge
You must have a mobile device to pair the headband with
I really don’t know if this all mumbo-jumbo
The bird song can be distracting (more on that shortly)

During each meditation you get bird song for achieving sustained moments of calm, however, I have found that this along with the intense weather noise (which increases when things are going badly) can be very distracting. All of this, however, is adaptable through the app. After each session, you get a little EEG style chart of your brain waves and those moments of calm and busy thoughts are highlighted.

It all seems great – only time will tell if it helps me in the long run. It is expensive but the manufacture of the item is to the highest standard.