The Practice--Mindful Practice with Nostalgic Music

When I first started researching music for healing and consciousness purposes, I worried too much about the frequency or vibration of music.  While there are still some musical styles I still find offensive to my nervous and immune systems, I felt like I was limiting myself when it came to popular music genres, such as 1960s pop.  While research has revealed that the rock n’ roll beat has ill effects on the heart because of the way our bodies entrain to dominant beats and rhythms, on emotional and mental levels, listening to rock or pop music from our past brings a different type of healing.

I thought I could live in an ivory tower of Bach and Mozart along with field recordings, but then I started slipping on visits to YouTube and I had to hear music from my early childhood, my teen and young adult years.  When I listened to these songs, memories were triggered and I could work through the hardships from those times in my life, clear garbage out of my psyche and raise my consciousness via music. 

At first this came as a shock to me since sound healers and psychoacoustic experts speak about how music entrains us and resonates in our bodies.  Metaphysical teachers speak about the power and intention of words and how those words create our reality.  I’ve found that words do indeed have intention and the power to manifest circumstances we want and ones we don’t want in our lives.  We still need to listen to music consciously and with intention. This comes down to mindfulness and knowing why we choose to listen to a particular song.  And we can always do a sound healing wash or listen to high vibration music after doing a clearing session with a nostalgic song.

Here is an exercise I created to use nostalgic songs to clear painful memories or to make peace with different eras of our lives.

Step One: Sit in a quiet place and ask your mind to bring you a song you heard and even loved in the past.  You can either find that song online or in a record collection then listen to it or just think about the song.

Step Two: What memories drift into your mind and then notice the emotions/feelings you feel in your body. Name the emotions and feelings.

Step Three: Listen to the song again.  The next time you feel a wave of emotions, get out a journal and write, usually in the form of venting.  Don’t worry because you can rip up the paper later.  If tears come up then allow yourself to cry.  If anger comes up find a way to vent that is healthy.  The point is to release those feelings or emotions until you feel peaceful or at least empty of the emotions.  You might have to do this with several sessions.

Step Four: Complete a session by listening to a sound healing CD or using sound healing tools to cleanse your body.  Envision amber or white light showering you from head to toe and removing any toxic feelings, thoughts or emotions.  Picture green light shining in your heart chakra then say the words, “I release all toxic emotions.  I fill my heart and being with peace and love.”

Step Five: Sit in quietness for 5 to 10 minutes. Then end the practice by writing the results in your music or other type of journal.

Later you can go back and listen to the song and see if you feel neutral with it.  Listen to the song for artistic purposes, pay attention to lyrics, the contours of the music (such as the melody) and listen to the way the musicians play their instrument or use their voice.  This detachment will help you grow more mindful of the music, especially its intention and power.