Skip to main content

Natural Awakenings Central New Jersey

Palo-Santo-Candles

Meditative Melodies: How Sound Deepens Meditation

Aug 31, 2018 11:51AM ● By Dudley Evenson

wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock.com

When life is stressful, we know we need to relax. The question is how. Many wonderful ways involve combining music with a meditation practice. Although we can’t always control our surroundings, we can learn to control how we react to and internalize what happens around us.

On the value of meditation and mindfulness, Jon Kabat-Zinn, founder of the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care and Society, at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, observes, “When we do studies of this, we find we can change our brains. We can change our relationship to our emotions. We can change our relationship to the actuality of things in ways that are healing. The immune system responds.”

Because sound affects us on all levels—emotional, mental and physical—combining musical processes with our meditation practice can be highly effective in easing stress. Cultures worldwide have long used music to lift the spirit and enhance meditation and healing.

Choosing Meditation Music

Choose recorded music that helps calm mental chatter. Here are some criteria.

• Slow rhythms. These entrain bodily systems, including the heartbeat, pulse, digestion, respiration and muscle functioning, to a more natural rhythm.

• Natural sounds. They give a sense of peace.

• Nurturing tones. Typically, these are clear, warm and gentle.

• Uplifting, not gloomy. The music should give rise to a sense of joy and beauty.

• Absence of hooks and refrains; avoid repetition and familiarity that engage the analytical mind.

• Flowing. It is soothing and feels akin to nature.

• Sub-audio frequencies. The presence of these is an optional way to entrain brainwaves to an alpha or theta state that allows relaxation and healing to occur.

• Intention. It’s important for both the musician and listener.

Here are several self-generated ways to further enhance meditation.

Controlling Breath

We can live without food for weeks and water for days, but breath for only minutes. A simple way to begin breath work is by taking a fast, full inhalation, followed by a long, slow exhalation. With practice, both breath control and stress levels will improve.

Vocal Toning

This uses the human voice to produce elongated vowel tones or humming sounds that can empower meditation. It also slows and lengthens our exhalation by putting a brake on the breath.

Begin by taking a deep breath and then, with the mouth open, make a simple vowel tone such as ahh or ohh. With the exhalation pushing out a sound, the tone follows naturally.

Mantra and Chant

Mantras can keep the demons of our monkey mind from distracting us. The word means “mind protection” in Sanskrit. A mantra is characterized by a short sound or phrase that carries a vibration and frequency that extends beyond the simple meaning of the words. Using mantras can help overcome mental chatter, de-stress and set us up for an expansion of consciousness.

Dr. Herbert Benson, founder of the Mind/Body Medical Institute at Harvard Medical School, in Boston, documented a phenomenon he named “the relaxation response”. His research discovered that those that repeated mantras for even 10 minutes a day experienced physiological changes—a reduced heart rate, slower metabolism and lower stress levels, all of which allow the body to return to a more natural state of wellness.

Singing Affirmations

Research led by Carnegie Mellon University’s David Creswell found that people using self-affirmation also can protect against the damaging effects of stress on problem-solving performance.

An affirmation is a positive statement spoken in the present tense asserting that a desired goal is already achieved. With sufficient repetition and focused intention, declaration becomes reality. Adding a melody to our affirmation and singing it repeatedly enhances its power.

Mind-body expert Dr. Deepak Chopra agrees, stating, “Music helps to take the affirmations to a deeper level of the mind so that a process of emotional and spiritual transformation can start.”

We are constantly affirming in our mind what we believe. With perseverance, repetition and steadfast belief in them, the words of our affirmations become a part of us. Before long, we notice we are achieving what we may have previously thought was impossible. Accessing the rich array of music and sound modalities available can help deepen meditation, decrease stress and allow us to benefit from a higher and much improved quality of life.


Dudley Evenson and her husband, Dean, are sound healing pioneers who have produced award-winning music since 1979 through their label, Soundings of the Planet. Their new book is Quieting the Monkey Mind: How to Meditate with Music. Learn more at Soundings.com.


This article appears in the September 2018 issue of Natural Awakenings.

Tick Talk

Spring officially sprung on March 21. We have turned our clocks ahead. We are looking forward to warm winds, sunny skies and the smell of fresh cut grass. The daffodils and tulips have recently bloomed and we are just starting with the yard work that comes with the warmer weather.  Sadly, another season has started ramping up.  Tick season.

•             The best form of protection is prevention. Educating oneself about tick activity and how our behaviors overlap with tick habitats is the first step.

•             According to the NJ DOH, in 2022 Hunterdon County led the state with a Lyme disease incidence rate of 426 cases per 100,000 people. The fact is ticks spend approximately 90% of their lives not on a host but aggressively searching for one, molting to their next stage or over-wintering. This is why a tick remediation program should be implemented on school grounds where NJ DOH deems high risk for tick exposure and subsequent attachment to human hosts.

•             Governor Murphy has signed a bill that mandates tick education in NJ public schools. See this for the details.  Tick education must now be incorporated into K-12 school curriculum. See link:

https://www.nj.gov/education/broadcasts/2023/sept/27/TicksandTick-BorneIllnessEducation.pdf

•             May is a great month to remind the public that tick activity is in full swing. In New Jersey, there are many tickborne diseases that affect residents, including Anaplasmosis, Babesiosis, Ehrlichiosis, Lyme disease, Powassan, and Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiosis.

•             For years, the focus has mainly been about protecting ourselves from Lyme disease. But other tick-borne diseases are on the rise in Central Jersey. An increase of incidence of Babesia and Anaplasma are sidelining people too. These two pathogens are scary because they effect our blood cells. Babesia affects the red blood cells and Anaplasma effects the white blood cells.

•             Ticks can be infected with more than one pathogen. When you contract Lyme it is possible to contract more than just that one disease. This is called a co-infection. It is super important to pay attention to your symptoms. See link.

https://twp.freehold.nj.us/480/Disease-Co-Infection

A good resource from the State:

https://www.nj.gov/health/cd/topics/tickborne.shtml

 

Follow Us On Facebook