Do you feel stressed & anxious on a daily basis? Coping strategies like listening to meditation music can help us improve our mental state & relax our mind.
The power of music
Elizabeth Scott, MS, wellness coach in stress management, explains “Music can be a powerful tool in relieving stress and can be used in several ways.” Listening to relaxing music can help you cope with stress and anxiety and enable you to calm your mind. And it has even been backed by science. A 2018 study revealed that “exposure to melodic music increases dopamine and serotonin activities” which makes us feel calmer, peaceful and happier.
Music can significantly influence our mind and listening to meditation music to relieve stress and anxiety can actually make us feel better psychologically, emotionally and physically.
Can music reduce stress? Read The Power of Beats: A Look Into the Psychological Effects of Music
What is meditation music?
Meditation is an ancient practice for bringing awareness to our thoughts & emotions and attaining mental clarity. Music, with melody and rhythm, can transform our mood, emotions, thoughts and minds. Listening to relaxing music tends to have a calm and soothing effect on us.
Meditation music utilizes the calming properties of meditation and music and combines them together to no only facilitate our meditation practice, but also to alleviate our daily stress, anxiety and other difficult emotions.
Although music was not incorporated in traditional meditation practices, listening to music while meditating can be highly beneficial for us today. Buddhist practitioner, teacher and author Bodhipaksa explains, meditation music is a “modern notion, and probably comes from the fact that many alternative health practitioners play relaxing music in the background while performing their healing arts. This music became known as ‘meditation music’.”
Meditative music is believed to be highly relaxing and meditation has been proven to relieve stress and anxiety. A 2011 study showed that meditation is an “efficient tool in reducing stress” and “induces a positive response during stress events.”
Bodhipaksa adds “Listening to music, if done properly, can be a meditation in itself, just as walking or washing the dishes can be. You can take many activities and make them richer and more satisfying by taking more awareness into them… Listening to music as a meditation practice can be a very powerful practice.”
Can you feel music? Read If Music Gives You Goosebumps, Your Brain Might Be Special
20+ Best meditation music you need to listen to
If you are looking for the best selection of relaxing songs for stress and anxiety relief, then we have assorted the best collection of meditation music for you.
Here is a list of best meditation music according to the public research University of Nevada, Reno –
1. A Moment of Peace Meditation
It is a beautiful piece with contemporary piano music, accompanying instruments and nature sounds.
Here’s the link to the music
2. Echoes of Time
This is a serene music composed with Native American flute and provides a very spiritual experience.
Here’s the link to the music
3. The Winding Path
This is another wonderful piano composition which is highly appreciated and rated by meditation practitioners.
Here’s the link to the music
4. Classical Indian Music for Healing and Relaxing
This track is intended for “Pure Deep Meditation”. The rhythmic piece is composed by using the ancient Indian musical instrument Veena.
Here’s the link to the music
5. Angels of Venice
This is a classical music track using 3 instruments – Harp, Flute & Cello to provide you the best relaxing experience.
Here’s the link to the music
6. Earth Drum
According to a University of Nevada post, this is a “serene and lovely contemporary Native American informed-drumming music utilizing Taos Log Drum and Incan Pan along with other instruments.”
Here’s the link to the music
7. Buddha Spirit
This track is a powerful yet reflective contemporary music that incorporates different instruments and humming voices.
Here’s the link to the music
8. Spa Relaxing Music
This peaceful piano-based track is a contemporary instrumental piece that can make you feel relaxed and stress-free.
Here’s the link to the music
9. Relaxation Music: 1-Hour Meditation Candle
Here’s the link to the music
“Serene contemporary instrumental with piano and one flickering candle,” as explained by the University of Nevada, Reno.
10. Sleep Deeply
This is an exceptionally calming instrumental sleep music which also contains tranquil nature sounds.
Here’s the link to the music
11. Weightless
Considered to be the most relaxing song by psychologists, this track has been carefully composed with “harmonies, rhythms, and bass lines that help slow a listener’s heart rate, reduce blood pressure, and lower levels of the cortisol stress hormone.”
Here’s the link to the music
Why is ‘Weightless’ the most relaxing music? Read Listening To This Song Reduces Your Anxiety by 65%
Here are 10 more excellent meditation music that you can listen to according to Classic FM:
- Arvo Pärt: Spiegel im Spiegel
- Alexis Ffrench – Radiate
- Jan Sandström: Det är en ros utsprungen
- Max Richter: Dream 3 (in the midst of my life)
- Debussy: Clair de Lune
- John Tavener: The Last Sleep of the Virgin
- Morten Lauridsen: O Magnum Mysterium
- Erik Satie: Gnossiennes
- Thomas Newman: Any Other Name
- Charles Villiers Stanford: The Bluebird
Why you should listen to meditation music
If you are still wondering how meditation music can help you, then here are a few ways relaxing music can impact key aspects of your life:
1. Stress & anxiety relief
The biggest benefit of listening to soothing music during meditation is that it relaxes your mind and body. By elevating your thoughts and emotions, music can noticeably reduce the levels of stress & anxiety you experience. Soft and pleasing music while meditating will make you experience inner peace as the burdens of your life will fade away. It will help you to quiet your mind and connect with the source of inner peace. Meditation music is like an anti-stress shield around your mind and body.
An article published by the University of Nevada, Reno, explains that music, when enjoyed, can have a deep impact on our mind, emotions and body. “A slower tempo can quiet your mind and relax your muscles, making you feel soothed while releasing the stress of the day. Music is effective for relaxation and stress management.” The paper reveals that studies have found “that music around 60 beats per minute can cause the brain to synchronize with the beat causing alpha brainwaves (frequencies from 8 – 14 hertz or cycles per second). This alpha brainwave is what is present when we are relaxed and conscious.
Another 2015 study discovered that music can help with mood disorders and depressive syndromes. It stated that music “can represent a valid and without side effects intervention for reducing psychological and behavioral disturbances related to neurological disorders and also for promoting functional recovery.”
2. Better meditation
As relaxing music enables you to calm your mind, you will be able to tap into the elusive place of inner peace and stillness which is usually a result of meditation. Moreover, music will help to create a relaxing atmosphere for you to practice meditation. Although your experience may vary, there is no doubt that you will gain a more profound understanding of yourself and enjoy relief from stress and anxiety.
3. Relaxes the body
Music, like Yoga, Tai Chi or Reiki, or even a spa session or a walk in nature, can help us relax physically as much as psychologically. Listening to soothing music enables us to let go of daily worries and give in to emotional healing and physical relaxation. The longer you listen to meditation music, the more relaxed you will feel.
In an article, wellness coach Elizabeth Scott, MS, writes “Music can promote relaxation of tense muscles, enabling you to easily release some of the tension you carry from a stressful day. When you relax your muscles and loosen your body, your mind also relaxes, which can help you to reduce plenty of tension and stress that you may not have realized you were carrying.”
Moreover, a 2014 study found that music therapy can “promote psychological and physiological relaxation”, especially in palliative care patients.
4. Deeper sleep
By taking our focus away from all the noise in our minds, meditation music helps to relax our body and stimulates our parasympathetic nervous system. Hence, listening to relaxing music for stress relief right before bed helps us to fall asleep faster. It allows our worries to drift away easily, silence our thoughts and experience more restful and deeper sleep.
According to a 2012 scientific analysis, studies have “revealed a significant increase in objective and subjective sleep efficiency and a significant reduction in depression level following music relaxation… The study’s findings provide evidence that music relaxation at bedtime can be used as a treatment for insomnia among individuals with PTSD.”
5. Enhanced healing
When our mind and body relax, our natural healing abilities are significantly increased. Listening to relaxing meditation music can allow our bodies to enhance it’s healing powers. Studies have found that music can help patients heal faster. A research paper noted, “Music therapy is treated as a method which complements conventional treatment and makes up part of an integral whole together with physiotherapy, kinesitherapy and recuperation.”
A publication from Harvard Health also states that “Music therapy can calm anxiety, ease pain, and provide a pleasant diversion during chemotherapy or a hospital stay.”
6. Balanced life
Nowadays, it can be really challenging for us to have a sense of balance in life as we are always busy with something or the other. Meditation music allows us to tap into our inner peace and create a blissful space where we can practice balance on a daily basis. Perhaps this is why nature sounds and relaxing music is very popular among modern-day practitioners of meditation, Yoga, T’ai Chi, and Qi Gong. Meditation music can bring a positive difference in your life as well.
Relax yourself & let go of stress
Meditation music can be easily incorporated into your daily life to feel it’s beneficial effects, even if you do not meditate. Relaxing and soothing music can not only help you manage stress and anxiety it can also make you feel more peaceful and regulate your thoughts, emotions, and mood. You will feel a lot calmer and happier simply by listening to meditation music just for 10 to 15 minutes every day.
So go ahead and listen to the music listed above whenever you feel stressed out or when you simply want to let go of all worries and tune into your inner peace.
Want more? Read 36 Most Relaxing Songs For Anxiety, Stress, And Depression
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