Music For Meditation

[ranparas]

It is interesting to see you guys using music as the object of attention in meditation.

I have tried a bit and found it difficult to stay with the awareness of hearing with music. Depending upon the music, if I liked it, I ended up enjoying it without being aware for a large swath of time, or reacting to the lyrics or the tune in one or the other way. None of that is a problem and one can continue to work with that.

But then when I went to monotonous sounds e.g. clock ticking, it was easier to stay with the awareness of hearing.

With many people I found that they were listening to the music and feeling the soothing or the relaxing effects of soothing music, without much awareness. Which is different compared to mindfulness. Of course, if music is relaxing and if you find it helpful, by all means you can go for it.

[JonW]

With respect, I don't think anyone here on the forum is confusing mindfulness meditation with relaxation.
Jon

[ranparas]

Jon,
I understand that. I didn't mean to accuse anyone of confusing between the two. I'm merely pointing out that, with soothing music that is something one may have to watch out for.

Regards,

[tanjilatanu_353]

Thanks Gareth. I'll try.

[MiM]

I've been trying out meditating to music, as I have been slightly ill and very tired, and thought that would help me staying awake, even in a comfy chair (it did!). As I didn't have any special meditation music set, I just started a playlist with some of my very favourite slowish tracks. To be frank, I am a bit at a loss with what I should do when I meditate to music (jeajea, no shoulds, I know .

But then I noticed how I automatically tend to do an internal sing-a-long whenever the music has lyrics, and often even when it doesn't. So I tried to stop this sing-a-long and just listen intently. That turned into quite a concentration demanding exercise. I can do it for brief moments at a time, mainly by following my breath at the same time as I listen, but I very easily fall back into the sing-a-long or hum. I even noticed I tend to become more agitated after such a meditation, normally meditation makes me mellow down.

Does anyone have similar experiences? Do you regard such exercise a useful part of a mindfulness meditation practice? Any other thought or comments?

[Happyogababe]

I haven't tried meditation with music, I think I'd find it a bit challenging right now

[JonW]

I often meditate to music. I have an 8GB iPod that is stuffed to the gills with appropriate meditation music though, of course, that's all subjective.
Unlike Gareth I find music with lyrics very difficult to meditate to. I prefer the music to be as unobtrusive as possible.
For me, it doesn't get any more meditative than Marconi Union's Weightless which I'm happy to see is now available in a ten-hour version!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKsEqFgKhoA
Expert sound therapists have judged that track to be the most relaxing of all time. No kidding.
As with any sound meditation, we bring our attention to the raw sensation of sound in the moment, the spaces between sounds etc. What we don't do is build a narrative around the music..."Hmm, that's a nice tune there from Brian Eno. Didn't he used to be in Roxy Music? My ex-girlfriend used to love Roxy Music. I wonder what she's doing now..."
When the mind wanders, simply notice that and bring your attention back to the sound.
Rock on Tommy.
JW

[Gareth]

Lyrics are funny. I often find them to be quite a good hook into the present moment, as I try to make out what the artist is singing.

Lyrics tend to set off the thinking mind sometimes though. I think it's due to words demanding the use of higher areas of the brain than just listening to raw sound.

You could try lyric-less music instead. Jazz, ambient, classical, techno. Whatever floats your boat.

[Happyogababe]

I'm guessing at some point (maybe soon) I'll be giving this a go. Not sure what track I'll choose, I think it will be whatever takes my fancy at the time.

[JonW]

It's interesting to me that, as we get older, we tend to use music as a background noise while we do other stuff. When I was a teenager, I spent hours just listening to music and nothing else.
Jon