I love meditation, and I love music. I sometimes try to combine the best of both worlds by listening to music while I’m meditating which made me wonder whether listening to music while meditating is actually a good thing to do or not. This is what I’ve found out!
You can meditate with music. As listening to music has many benefits, it is a great tool to help let your meditations flow with much more ease. Music has the ability to relax the body and mind and let go of unpleasant thoughts. Therefore it is great to incorporate music in a meditational practice.
Now that you know you can definitely meditate with music, let’s dive in a bit deeper and find out what kind of music is best for meditation.
Table of Contents
What Music Is Best For Meditation?
The best music for meditation is generally music that is characterized as calm and relaxing such as classical music or nature sounds. It is best advised to listen to a music style that still allows you to focus on your inner self instead of getting distracted by the sounds surrounding you.
While I obviously personally won’t recommend listening to some extreme hardstyle beats pumping through your headphones when you’re trying to reach a zen-state-of-mind, it really is a matter of ‘whatever floats your boat’ (my boat floats better on rainforest and soothing ocean sounds though, but maybe that’s just me).
When choosing meditation music, try to find music that flows with your breathing and can actually guide you during your meditation without having to think about it or becoming annoyed by the sounds.
Music should always support your meditation, not distract you. Some music and sounds that work best for me during meditation are:
- Ambient Music
Ambient music is great for relaxation and improving sleep quality. This type of music stimulates your senses and has the potential to improve your mood.
- Instrumental Music
Instrumental music can help you concentrate better and improve focus. As instrumental music doesn’t involve lyrics, you are less likely to get distracted or influenced in a specific way.
To know what type of music you will benefit from the most during your meditational practice, it is best advised to try out some different music styles and sense which one serves you best (if at all).
Where one person might truly appreciate the calming notes of an Indian flute, you personally might feel the need to crack the flute in half in order to reach peace of mind.
Can You Meditate With Rap Music?
As meditation is a very personal experience, you can meditate with rap music as long as you feel it creates a sense of relief and relaxation. Even though listening to aggressive language can better be avoided, choosing rap music that energizes your senses can definitely work.
Can You Meditate With R&B Music?
As R&B music has a wide variety of styles, some R&B music is great for meditation. R&B artists such as Lauren Hill are a great example of having created the type of music that would match a calming mediation perfectly. Searching for chill R&B jams or instrumental R&B music is recommended as well.
Can You Meditate With Pop Music?
You can meditate with pop music as it is a very broad music genre that offers a variety or songs that have the potential to be calming and energizing at the same time. Choose a pop song that makes you feel relaxed and content while listening to it to ensure optimal results.
Can You Meditate With Rock Music?
You can meditate with rock music. Even though listening to loud music during meditation is generally not recommended, choosing soft rock as your meditation music can be very soothing and relaxing to the body and mind. Classic rock is another rock genre that could fit a meditation.
Can You Meditate To Music With Lyrics?
Even though most people tends to like to listen to meditation music that doesn’t include lyrics or singing, it entirely depends on your personal preference. As long as you don’t get negatively distracted by the lyrics, you can definitely meditate to music with lyrics.
Can You Meditate With Headphones?
You can meditate with headphones. As headphones generally allow you to feel more focused and concentrated, using them while performing a meditation can be greatly beneficial to easily reaching a zen state of mind. Headphones help to drown out unwanted sounds during meditation.
I personally love to use these noise cancelling headphones whenever I’m practicing meditation. They are great as the noise cancelling function helps to exclude external sounds and increases the ability to focus.
Do Monks Meditate With Music?
While Monks generally are not known to meditate with music, they do commonly practice meditation with gong sounds. In order to generate positive energy during meditation, Monks also like to practice chanting as a way to relax the body and mind. The chant Om Mani Padme Hum being the most popular.
Om Mani Padme Hum is a popular mantra that is used a lot during yoga practices and meditation.
To Conclude
Now, to conclude, meditating with music has great benefits for anyone who notices a deeper sense of focus and relaxation while meditating and listening to music simultaneously.
However, when you notice your mind becomes more distracted or feel like you have to multitask while listening to any type of music when meditating, you should consider leaving music out of your meditational practice as it probably won’t serve any purpose for you. A great alternative to this would be to listen to some relaxing music before you start your meditation, or after you’ve finished.
The best type of music to listen to during meditation is music that helps you flow with your breath. By focussing on relaxed breathing, you will eventually get in a calm state of mind which is the true purpose of meditation to begin with. The right music can help you with that. Good examples are Binaural Beats, Ambient Music and sounds of nature.
Now, if you’ve become more interested in meditation and would like to find out more about how meditation can be a helpful tool to raise your energy levels, I’ve written this other article for you that might be beneficial to you as well!