Hearing Music Mindfully

With this site, I intended to reach an audience of mindful music lovers like myself. This is why I thought it might be valuable for those readers to understand what I mean by mindfully music. This post is to explain a little more about how to listen to music mindfully and why.

Music has a way of passing through people, engaging their deepest feelings, enacting their biggest fears, changing their mood, adjusting perception. This is so much more is the response that our subconscious has to music. Music is a very impactful tool, from the time we are babies we listen to music to work, relax, sleep, clean, and so many other things. It is our perception of the music that engages our emotions. How we interpret the music determines what we take away from it.

Potentially equally important to our interpretation is the music we listen to. Much like the food we eat and the friends we hang out with, the music that we listen to affects almost everything around us. If we listen to music that puts us at ease and calms our emotions, we tend to be more patient and relaxed. When we want to pump ourselves up before a sporting event or a night on the town, we tend to lean more towards upbeat "party" music to get us in the mood.

If you stop for a moment and think about what it means to listen to music, and I mean honestly listen, absorb, almost become one with the music, you can almost feel it changing your perception. This is the impact that music has on a person, it comes in from the outside and almost immediately has the ability to change our internal view on the atmosphere around us.

Next time you find yourself riding in the car, or at a party, or just sitting with your thoughts while listening to music be mindful in that moment. Listen to the music with the intent of allowing it to become part of you, allowing it to bring you peace and serenity. Put on a song with a peaceful tone, a relaxing beat, and a melody that allows your mind to get lost in thought. In that moment of meditation, reflect on yourself and your life, relish in your successes, learn from failure, and grow with the music breathing life into you!

The Musician