How to Listen to Music for Relaxation and Meditation
Listening to music can support relaxation, meditation and spiritual growth through music healing. All music can be healing especially when it is played in sequence using the entrainment principle.
Therefore knowing how to listen to music can increase the relaxation and meditation benefits you receive.
1. Selecting appropriate music means selecting for your mood if you simple want to listen to music you enjoy. If you want to change your mood, you need to select an appropriate sequence of music. According to the principles of entrainment, you can change your pulse, heartbeat, mood, etc. according to the beat and ambiance of the music you listen to.
Let’s say you are worried. The first music you listen to will reflect your current mood, maybe it will be slightly edgy music. The second selection will convey a feeling of change towards resolving your worry, and each successive selection will move you towards your desired state, whether it be happiness, serenity, strength, etc. The desired result will be exemplified by your final selection.
2. Use speakers, not headphones, when possible. Like a baby in the womb, we listen to music not just with our ears, but with our muscles, skin and bones!
3. Get your body ready for listening. Lie down, find a comfortable chair, stand in a comfortable position. Maybe loosen up with some movement. Turn off the computer, phone, cell phone, etc. Whether you are simply listening to music for relaxation or for meditation, getting ready is essential to your success.
4. Focus on the music. Just listen. Drop all unrelated activities. Don’t think of the music as background music or entertainment; contemplate it as you would seriously contemplate any work of art. Let’s compare listening to music to observing a lovely landscape. Imagine what is lost if the viewer of the landscape says “oh, how enchanting!” but can’t distinguish between rocks, trees, fields, forest, ocean, and sky, or the browns, the grays, the greens, and the blues.
5. Let the music move you. Don’t judge the music or yourself, just respond spontaneously. Close or open your eyes, move to the music, be still, hum along, sing, or do nothing. Listen with all your senses.
6. Music is both science and art. Notice when something in the music is new, a variation, or a repetition. Notice nuance, subtlety, grandness, strength, tenderness, joy, sorrow. Notice tone, tune, melody, and harmony. Savor it all!
7. Appreciate the silence when the music ends. This will help integrate listening to music into your everyday experience.
By knowing how to listen to music, you can increase your relaxation and deepen your meditation.