The Whole Music Experience

Music Meditation If you choose to have your day go smoothly, then start your day with music, not the morning news (unless you wish to pray all day for what you hear in the news).  Now, that you have kept a music journal and you have an idea of how music affects your moods, it's time to set aside 20 to 30 minutes each morning for deep music listening.  You can listen to music through headphones if you don't want to wake others up, but keep the volume low so you don't suffer from hearing loss--ringing in the ears is not fun. Follow these steps: 1). Tune into your emotions and choose the appropriate music for releasing unwanted emotions or enhancing desired feelings. 2). You can choose different songs from different recordings or play consequitive tracks off of a single CD.  You can even listen to music you store on your computer or other devices. 3). Sit or lay down quietly with this music, removing all distractions. 4). Similar to sitting or walking medita...

photo by Patricia Herlevi I was unable to round up enough students for my class Exploring Music with Ecological Themes, but I still think it's important for us to connect to nature through sound vibration.  So I'm including a short list of practices you can learn to do on your own.  I feel as humans in the modern world we have lost contact with the natural world.  We have given animals human personalities, treated the earth as a resource rather than a living being, and have forgotten how to communicate musically with the natural world or to truly hear its music. Those are the reasons why I created the class.  Too bad only one student signed up for it. 1) Sit in a natural setting (yes, outdoors), and focus on birds singing or another nature-based sound.  Meditate on this sound for at least 10 minutes.  Follow your body's rhythms and pulses as you listen to this natural sound.  Do you start hearing a melody in it? Harmony? How do you feel?  ...

Depending on what level you find yourself, meditating with music can foster a relaxed body and a clear mind when done right.  Let's start with the beginner's meditation and end with an advance music meditation. Beginner: First thing you need is a piece of music performed on one instrument such as a piano, flute, or guitar with a duration of 3 to 5 minutes.  If you get easily distracted try listening to the piece of music on low volume through headphones, otherwise listen to the music on another type of device. Similar to breath meditation, you'll employ a singular focus, this time on the music itself.  Ask yourself is the music falling or rising, ascending or descending or are you listening to clusters of notes? Is the music soft, slow, fast, and hard around the edges? Listen for dynamics, tempo, tone, timbre, and emotions. Do you connect with the performer or do you only notice the music? Do you connect with the composer. Next, what images come up into you...