Music

During certain aspects of your meditation routine you will need to play meditation music that helps alter your brainwaves and allows you to slip into a deep relaxing state. The type of meditation music preferred varies among students and teachers of meditation. The only underlying theme is that the meditation music has certain beats per minute to help change your perception.

At one point in time music from the Baroque era was considered the perfect meditation music, but if you do not like the music you are listening to while trying to achieve that perfect state of consciousness you will only hinder getting into your meditative state instead of enhance it. What does this mean for you then? It means that you are going to have to try meditating to a wide variety of music in order to find the mediation music that works for you.

Like writers who find inspiration in the music they listen to, the same can be achieved by the meditation student. Mediation music is not limited to what others feel is the perfect piece to achieve your goal. Many people who meditate to music enjoy listening to Jazz, Gregorian chanting, nature sounds, guitar pieces, Indian sitar music, and even good old fashioned rock and roll. We are all individuals with tastes that range from one end of the long musical spectrum to the other. Because we all find certain music to be more appealing to us than others, it is imperative that we find that perfect combination of meditation music for our studies.

Meditation music should have one element within it no matter what genre you prefer and this element is called ‘binaural beats’. Binaural beats are musical beats that cycle through the song that are the same note throughout but are slightly off or out of tune with the rest of the composition.

These beats are what you train your mind to listen for and the better you become at doing this, the easier it will be to follow the beats and let your mind slip into a meditative state.

It is a form of ‘brainwave entrapment’ and when it comes to meditation music as an aid in meditation it becomes a focus for the mind. Binaural beats help slow your brain down from a waking state – or Beta state – to a state of very relaxed consciousness – the Alpha state. People who have mastered meditation can go into the even deeper Theta state which borders on being drowsy or even sleeping without being aware of it when they listen to the right meditation music.

So how do certain musical genres work as mediation music? Let’s take a look.

Meditation CDs– these compact disks are designed to provide you with soothing music that is purposefully equipped with binaural beats to take you into a meditative state. Some people find this type of meditation music very relaxing and often go to sleep to it.

Classical music– while once classical music was a soothing genre, many people hear pieces that are now associated with movies, television shows, commercials, or as ‘elevator music’. If you truly enjoy and appreciate classical music and can focus beyond these associations, it is still very good meditation music.

Ethnic music– many people love to use these types of compact disks as mediation music because of the syncopated rhythms and unique vocal accompaniment. African tribal music provides the binaural beats needed to slip into a meditative state while Native American music provides the same with the chanting of a specific language. With interesting instruments such as the Indian sitar or the Oriental guitar, ethnic music can provide you with meditation music that is more flavorful yet relaxing.

Heavy metal music– Believe it or not, many people go into a meditative trance when they listen to heavy metal music. Heavy metal is filled with very distinct sounds and binaural beats that stand out over the grinding guitar solos and screaming lyrics. Some even claim they enjoy listening to this music as much for the almost meditative state they slip into as for the content. You don’t need to blare it at 1,000 decibels to get the right effect, but calm listening to heavy metal as mediation music actually has some unique effects that make it easy to meditate to. It should not be overlooked as mediation music.