The Practice: Satiating Musical Hunger

photo by Patricia Herlevi

Satiated by the right music at the right time

Often I compare music to food.  With my book Whole Music (Soul Food for the Mind, Body, Spirit), in progress, the food-music comparison occurs to me on a daily basis.  However, so many aspects factor into the right music for us at the right time.  First, planetary transits will play a key role especially the outer planets Pluto and Neptune, while Uranus will throw us some truly shocking musical moments.  Our state of health plays a role, as do our moods, stress levels and life circumstances.  This is why I have included essay on purposeful music and keeping a music diary on this blog.

I will give you an example from my life.  With Pluto transiting in the first house of my natal astrology chart, I feel blocked energy in my first three chakras. It doesn’t surprise me one bit that I am drawn to primal music with roots in Africa. Africans with their polyphonic rhythms, earthy lyrics, and vocals represent the first three chakras or at least their music does. If you want to heal first chakra issues for instance, you would not play Bach or Mozart that affect the higher chakras.  However, if your issues are more Neptunian, and if you find that you lean towards an ethereal state and your main concern are your heart and higher chakras then I would recommend Debussy and Ravel’s music.

Of course, ultimately you need to find the music for yourself that satiates your hunger.  You first need to develop an awareness of how different types of music affect you.  Subconsciously you have this awareness and you find yourself acting impulsively in choosing a specific music for a specific situation.  This morning I felt sluggish and blocked in my lower chakra, faced with survival issues (what’s new?) so I put Earth Wind & Fire’s Greatest Hits, Volume 1 in my player.  Those polyphonic beats and earthy vocals boosted my energy and the lyrics ignited my spirit.  After all, how can you listen to a song about singing a song to make you happy and not feel uplifted? And how would lyrics to Shining Star--“You’re a shining star, no matter who you are, shining bright to see...” not boost confidence? I needed to feel love coming at me from the Universe and this music did that for me.

Bach was not the right music for that moment.  However, Bach’s music is perfect for relaxing and for curing writer’s block.  European classical music has its place and so does African roots music.  All music like all whole foods (not junk food) has its place.  Sometimes we need comfort, sometimes we need to boost our self-worth, some times we need to boost our immune system and sometimes we need to relieve stress.  Determining which music fits the occasion leads us further into music consciousness.

Similar to a food diet, a music diet keeps us healthy, but not just our bodies, our minds and spirits too.  Some days you crave macaroni & cheese and other days you crave a healthy smoothie for a detox cleanse. On days when we need to clean our mental and emotional palette, try listening to new age music without a melody or drone music or try silence.  Many sound healing CDs will accomplish this task and I recommend you add one or two to your CD collection.  On days that you need stimuli, listen to music from Africa or American jazz or soul music. Duke Ellington comes to mind and so does Stevie Wonder. You can find both at your local library or watch YouTube videos featuring this music.

So feeling like the music you just listened to hasn’t left you satiated? Follow your gut instincts and don’t deny yourself the music you need at this time. You might even need to listen to children’s music, like old Disney movie tunes or maybe you feel nostalgic for Broadway show tunes or your favorite piece of classical music. Or maybe you need to chant along with an Indian kirtan song. One last caveat, do not mistake hunger for music for hunger for food.  Sometimes we think we are hungry for comfort foods that will just lead to weight gain, when comforting music will satisfy your hunger.  As you grow more conscious and aware, you will learn to avoid this pitfall.  Enjoy your musical meal.