Music is commonly used during meditation, especially by people who see meditation as more than a way of relaxing after a hard day. Traditionally, listening to music during meditation was out of the question, however, modern meditation can include relaxing music played silently in the background while people meditate. Also, traditionally speaking, most people used to meditate outside so they had nature as a background noise while today, in modern society, people who meditate on a daily basis sometimes do it in the comfort of their own house because they do not have a place where they can go where they won’t be interrupted by other people or distracted by loud city noises. If you prefer to meditate in the traditional way but you live in a very noisy place, you can use recordings of natural sounds like water running or birds singing.
During meditation, most people play something called meditation music, a music meant to be relaxing and to help people to stay focused and alert. If the music playing in the background is not relaxing, it can be pretty distracting and you won’t be able to focus on meditating.
There are also people who cannot focus on two things at the same time. For example, some people cannot concentrate fully on their breathing while listening to music and if that is your case, it is best to avoid music during meditation.
Some people prefer silence while other people prefer music, the decision is entirely up to you and how you feel during meditation but here are some pros and cons you should consider before deciding which option is best for you:
Pros:
- Music allows you to block the outside world and to focus only on your meditation.
- Listening to music can be a meditation technique in itself so you can alternate silence with music for relaxed meditation. For example, you can have an entire meditation session where your goal will be to focus on meditation music instead of focusing on other things like breathing exercises, your thoughts or yoga poses.
Cons:
- It can be hard to concentrate on breathing and other meditation techniques with music in the background.
- Music creates positive feelings and, even though this is an amazing thing in general, during meditation you want to find those feeling inside of you without external help.
- Music can be catchy and can easily distract you from the practice.
Meditation is a personal experience and people enjoy it in different ways so whether you are a person who prefers traditional meditation or a person who prefers modern meditation with music, it is nice to change things around from time to time and to try new things. As we already said, music can be a type of meditation on its own if you focus entirely on the relaxing music while sitting comfortably and taking deep breaths so, if you are the type of person who prefers silence during mediation, you can try this type of meditation as an alternative to your regular practice. Do not include music into your traditional meditation if you know you are easily distracted, try music meditation as a totally new and different type of meditation. On the other hand, if you are the type of person who cannot relax without music, try to meditate in silence for a few minutes and learn how to stay focused without background music.
