What's the Best Meditation Music?
Some say that the best music for meditation is baroque music.
It seems to have some meditative effect on listeners. However,
it may just be particular pieces which have the right number
of beats-per-minute to affect your brainwaves (to lower them).
Here are three compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach which are
commonly recommended:
1. Prelude From Cello Suite
2. Allemande (Cello Suite 3)
3. Be Thou Near Me
Some compositions by by Frederick Handel are also common choices.
Others swear by the works by Ravi Shankar and other eastern composers,
while some listen to Jazz and claim that's the best meditation
music. Obviously opinions vary, and though the research has shown
some effects on the brain - especially from baroque selections,
most of the various types of music have not been looked into.
You might say then that the best meditation music is whichever
type works best for you. I happen to like the sound of rain on
a meditation CD, whether or not there is also music. You might
like the sound of Native American flutes playing. But beyond
our personal preferences, there is something else to consider.
Once science proved that sound can effect our brainwaves,
meditators did not limit themselves to looking for the best music
to do that. More than one person or company began to create the
right sounds to slow those brainwaves. They embedded certain
beats into music, and this became the basis for the technology
of "brainwave entrainment."
Though music is often used for the background on these CDs
or MP3s, it is these "binaural beats" that cause the
effect. having tried several different products, I can say that
they do what they are supposed to do. My meditation CDs slow
my brainwaves to the alpha range (8 - 14 hertz) in minutes, putting
me into a relaxed meditative state of consciousness. Those that
bring brainwaves to the theta range (4 - 8 hertz) either facilitate
deep meditation or put me to sleep (don't lay down if you want
to avoid this).
Although rain and other sounds of nature are used as background,
most brainwave entrainment CDs use music. I suggest skipping
the meditation music CDs that contain only music, and trying
true brainwave entrainment products. My wife found that her threshold
for stress and general self awareness was raised significantly
when using Holosync CDs, and we have both used others, including
making our own our own.
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