The mindfulness movement makes a lot of sense to many in today’s chaotic world. Tuning in to the present moment stops ruminations and future fears from spiralling out of control, which can lead to depressed moods and maladaptive behaviours. However, you might be one of many who needs a bit of assistance with finding their Zen.
You can find the magic you seek in your favorite tunes. The right melodies have the power to alter human emotions and even improve health outcomes. Here’s how to tune in by using music for mindfulness, so you can then tune out your stress.
Music, mood, frequencies and healing
Music is powerful. Electroencephalograms (EEGs) can measure the effect of melodies on your brainwaves. In one study, 30 participants—half musicians and half not—engaged in mentally demanding activities. The brainwaves of the musicians showed a statistically significant improvement in attention compared to the non-musical group.
Another study zoned in on alpha waves, the waves that make up the normal electrical activity in your brain when you’re relaxed and at rest. It was found that once again, the musicians had an improved ability to enter into a meditative state than those who seldom listened to music or didn’t listen to it at all.
Music can improve more than your attention span—it can also jog your memory. Nearly everyone can recall an instance when they heard a tune they hadn’t heard in forever, and were instantly transported back in time to their high school prom. Similarly, research on those recovering from brain injuries shows that music can help them form new memories.
It helps to remember the science of sound from your high school physics days. All sounds occur due to vibrations that move the air around objects and then enter your ears. These movements might happen microscopically, but the particles dance.
The vibrations in music set off another series of rapid-fire movements in your body. External sounds move the fluids in your cochlea or inner ear, stimulating thousands of tiny hairs that carry electrical impulses to your brain, and your brain interprets these as sound. When you understand the science, you recognize the harmony in how a slick beat makes you shake your booty with nary a conscious thought.
Some people even believe that certain frequencies have the power to heal your DNA, easing many chronic ailments. Everything in your body is constantly in motion at the subcellular molecular level, with electrons circling the nuclei of each atom that makes up your physical existence. Easing them into the proper trajectories may spur healing.
3 mindfulness exercises that utilize music
Music, it seems, is all about motion. How can you use it when you want to sit still in mindfulness meditation? Here are some exercises to try.
The soundful sunrise meditation
Magic moments can happen in the morning as your brain rouses from sleep to wakefulness. This transition time is ideal for harnessing the power of the hypnopompic period, when your mind is particularly attuned to suggestions.
To perform this exercise, select a song to listen to upon awakening—it helps if you can program it as your alarm. If not, pull it up on your playlist so you don’t have to get out of bed to start your meditation.
Choose a song that embodies the mood you want to evoke throughout your day. It helps to focus on a single word, such as happiness or productivity. What tunes on your playlist help you get down to business or never fail to put a smile on your face?
Listen to your song before getting out of bed. Focus your awareness on your single word for how you want your day to go. Start to generate the requisite emotion in your heart, feeling the energy that’s generated. Imagine it filling your body, collecting in a ball in your belly where you can tap into it any time throughout your day.
The tension-taming release
Experiencing and processing an emotion won’t hurt you. It’s repressing and ignoring your feelings that causes them to come out in maladaptive ways. Fortunately, music wasn’t only invented to celebrate positive experiences.
If you’ve had one of “those” days, you can do this meditation in your car on your lunch break or during your commute. You can also crank up your speakers at home, if you don’t live in an apartment with conjoined neighbours.
Begin by identifying the negative emotion that’s making you feel dark—there might be more than one, like hopelessness mixed with rage. Let yourself experience it for a few moments. Remember, acknowledging how you feel is the first step toward healing. It’s what you do with that energy that matters.
Direct that energy into the song as you crank up the jams. Sing along, play air drums, dance on your furniture, beat your mattress with a pillow—vent that negativity. Surrender it up into the universe as you release it with as much frenzy as you can muster.
Then, sit quietly for several moments. Focus on the physiological differences you feel after the release. Feel free to repeat the process, if necessary.
The hypnotic healing sleep
This musical meditation can help if you struggle to fall asleep due to pain. Those with chronic issues sometimes toss and turn, finding it challenging to get comfortable.
Begin this meditation by tuning into your favorite solfeggio frequency music. A quick YouTube search will give you plenty for free—and all you have to do to thank your favourite content creator is click “like” to give those algorithms a bump.
Select one with a frequency that can help with your specific problem. For example, if stress leads to flare-ups, 528 Hz solfeggio frequencies reportedly reduce cortisol levels, a hormone that can wreak havoc on multiple systems throughout the body.
Get cozy in bed as you let the music play. Then, begin a mindful body scan. Start at your feet, breathing light and energy into each body part. If you notice any tight and stiff areas, pause, consciously relaxing any tension in that region. Breathe into it as your chest rises and falls with the tones.
Don’t worry if you fall asleep—that’s the idea. The music continues to play while you slumber, harmonizing your DNA and easing aches and pains.
Turn on, tune in, zone out
Mindfulness is an incredibly powerful practice that can help us stay calm within our hectic world, but you may be one of those people who’s having trouble connecting with their Zen. If so, research indicates that music has the power to alter your brainwaves. Try one of the three melodic meditation techniques above and reap the benefits.
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