How to Use CRUX

🎧 Before You Begin

• Use stereo headphones. Binaural beats only work when each ear receives a slightly different frequency. Speakers blend the two channels and eliminate the effect entirely.
• Lower your volume first. Set your device to a low, comfortable level before pressing play. Loud audio causes discomfort and reduces the benefit. The audio fades in gently over the first three seconds — there is no need to start loud.
• Find a quiet space. A calm environment helps your mind settle faster. If background noise is unavoidable, use the Noise Therapy section to mask it.

🧠 Choosing a Session

• Focus (25 Hz Beta) — Concentration, studying, or any task requiring sharp mental attention.
• Calm (12 Hz Alpha) — Unwinding after a demanding day or easing into rest.
• Sleep (4 Hz Delta) — Falling asleep or returning to sleep after waking at night.
• Creativity (8 Hz Alpha) — Open-ended thinking, problem solving, or creative work.
• Energy (30 Hz Beta) — Physical exercise or building mental alertness before a demanding task.
• Meditation (6 Hz Theta) — Daily mindfulness practice or grounding after a stressful event.
• Learning (10 Hz Alpha) — Reading, studying, or absorbing new information.
• Anxiety (8 Hz Alpha) — Reducing stress and quieting an overactive nervous system.
• EMDR 50 (50 BPM Bilateral) — Slow, rhythmic left-right audio — a gentle pace for unwinding or quieting a busy mind.
• EMDR 60 (60 BPM Bilateral) — Steady left-right audio at a natural, comfortable rhythm — easy to settle into.
• EMDR 70 (70 BPM Bilateral) — Brisker left-right audio for those who find a livelier rhythm easier to relax with.

▶️ Playing a Session

• Swipe or use the arrows in the Audio Library to browse, then tap the centre card to load it into the player.
• Press the large Play button to begin. Audio fades in softly over the first three seconds.
• Each session is 15 minutes and fades out gently over the final five minutes — no abrupt ending.
• Thebuttons jump to the previous or next binaural beat.
• Space bar pauses and resumes; ← → arrow keys change track — useful if you have your phone in your pocket.

🔁 Loop Mode

Press the Loop button to repeat the session continuously — useful for extended meditation, sleep support, or long work blocks.

• While looping, the fade-out is suspended and a lap-timer shows how far through the current 15-minute cycle you are.
• Turning loop off re-anchors the timer to your current position in the cycle, so the fade-out resumes naturally from that point.
• Loop resets automatically when you switch tracks.

🌊 Noise Therapy

White, pink, brown noise, and rain can be played alongside — or instead of — binaural beats. Steady background noise masks sudden environmental sounds that can trigger a stress response, giving your nervous system something predictable to hold on to.

• White noise — all frequencies at equal strength, like a fan or static. Good for concentration and blocking unpredictable sounds.
• Pink noise — stronger at low frequencies, like rainfall or wind. Promotes deeper sleep and reduces sensitivity to intrusive thoughts.
• Brown noise — a deep bass rumble like distant thunder. Preferred by many for reducing hypervigilance at night.
• Rain — a natural recording of steady rainfall. Familiar and grounding, it blends well with any binaural beat and is particularly effective for sleep and deep focus.
• Enable Auto-sync to have noise start and stop automatically with your binaural audio.

💨 Box Breathing

Box breathing is a regulated breathing technique used to reduce acute stress. It activates the parasympathetic nervous system, slowing heart rate and calming the body's threat response. The pattern is simple:

Works well combined with the Calm or Meditation sessions.

🌿 Aromatherapy Pairing

Above the player you'll see an Aromatherapy Pairing card that updates as you browse tracks. Each suggestion pairs a specific essential oil with the session you're about to play — certain scents have well-documented effects on alertness, calm, and sleep that complement the audio. It's entirely optional; the audio works perfectly without it.

• Electric diffuser. Add two or three drops of the recommended oil to your diffuser and switch it on two to three minutes before pressing play. This gives the scent time to spread through the room so it's already present when your session starts.
• Candle (tea-light) diffuser. Light the tea-light and add two to three drops of oil to the water in the dish. Allow three to five minutes for the heat to release the scent before starting your session. Never leave a candle diffuser unattended, and keep it away from anything flammable.
• No diffuser. Place one drop on your wrists or the back of your hands, rub together gently, and cup your hands over your nose for a few slow breaths before pressing play. Always use a carrier oil (such as coconut or jojoba) if applying directly to skin, and avoid contact with eyes.

The pairing card can be turned off at any time in Settings → Personalisation → Aromatherapy suggestions.

✨ Combining Sessions for Deeper Relaxation

You can layer all three tools at the same time for a richer experience. Try this sequence:

1. Start with Noise Therapy. Pick a background sound — Brown Noise, Pink Noise, White Noise, or Rain work well — and set the volume low (around 30%). This becomes your gentle base layer.
2. Add a Binaural Beat. Open the Audio Library and choose a beat that matches your goal — Calm or Sleep for winding down, Focus for deep work. Set it slightly louder than the noise so you can feel it through the background.
3. Open Box Breathing. Follow the visual guide — breathe in, hold, breathe out, hold. Let the animation set your pace.

Together, the noise softens distractions, the beat shapes your mental state, and the breathing brings your body along. Try it for 10 minutes and notice how you feel.

No wrong way. If three feels like too much, use any two — or just one. The right combination is whichever one you'll actually use.

⭐ Make CRUX Yours

CRUX remembers your preferences so you spend less time setting things up and more time actually using it.

• Favourite beats and noises. Tap the ♥ heart on any beat card in the Audio Library, or on any noise card in Noise Therapy, to mark it as a favourite. Favourites float to the top of each list automatically.
• Save a default session. Press the Default bookmark button in the player controls to lock in the current beat, volume, and loop state as your starting point. The same button appears as Set as my default in Noise Therapy.
• Choose your launch screen. In Settings, set the Launch screen to open straight to the player or the library — no scrolling required.
• Choose a colour theme. The Appearance section in Settings offers four colour schemes — Air Force, Army, Midnight, and Navy — each inspired by an Australian Defence Force branch. Pick whichever suits your environment or personal preference.
• Adjust brightness. The Brightness control in Settings dims or brightens the entire interface — useful for low-light environments or before bed.

Everything saves automatically. There is no save button. Close the app, come back later — your defaults will be waiting.

📲 Save CRUX to Your Device

CRUX can be installed like a regular app — no app store required. Once installed, it opens in its own full-screen window, works offline, and your settings are always waiting for you exactly where you left them.

Your settings stay private to your device. Everything is stored locally in your browser — nothing is sent to any server, and no one else who uses the same link will ever see your preferences.