Lesson 17 music is meditation. How often have we been entranced by and relaxed to a soothing piece of music? It makes sense that listening to music we like can be a wonderful way to meditate. If it puts us in a focused state. It can speak directly to the heart and raise our spirits, which is the point of meditation. But does it have to be soothing music?
No. The latest scientific research on music therapy is that listening to music is healing when you enjoy the music you're listening to. So if that's rock and roll, so be it. By all means, listen to whatever relaxes you at the end of a hard day. Perhaps that will then get you ready for a regular meditation practice. Or you may choose to meditate On the music and that's fine too, particularly if it gets you out of your wandering 50,000 thought mind.
I think the too often we consider music a background for other activities. How often do we just listen as an a mindfulness exercise. The point is to listen and feel it in your body, let it transport you to another realm. Music and native cultures was more than entertainment. It has a role in ritual and tapping into the source energy which creates wellness and vitality. Traditional Buddhist meditation would not include music while sitting in meditation or focusing on the breath.
Listening to relaxing music while getting a massage or healing session is more of a modern movement. It's become termed meditation music, and that may give people the notion that it's to be played during meditation. But classic meditation is meant to be done in silence. If you want to meditate Music alone fine, but take it seriously and don't be doing anything else. Use it as a mindfulness exercise. To make a meditation out of listening to music.
Start by being mindful and paying attention the same way you pay attention to a mantra or your breath, or eating an apple. When your mind wanders, return to the music, turn off your phone, lower the lights, get comfortable, and just listen. You can also meditate listening to natural sounds such as water, wind or bird singing. For people who live in cities where the sounds of nature are rare, a recording of nature sounds could be a lovely meditation. I live in the country and in the spring after a long hard winter. I love to open the window and meditate on the bird saw.
If it can transport us out of a cluttered mind it has done its job Our next session will give you the opportunity to listen to some native american flute music as a meditation. to Native Americans, the flute played a role in healing, meditation and courtship. The flute is one of the oldest musical instruments known to man. Bone flutes have been found to be as old as 60,000 years. There's a reason this ancient instrument has withstood the test of time. If you're not partial to native american flute pick something you would like to meditate on.
YouTube has a lot of music meditation videos