Tips on Using Yoga and Meditation Music

Music is everywhere and is used to represent many different things, mostly according to what type of music you listen to or play. One reason for this is the ability of music to inspire certain emotions or thoughts among humans. This also explains why music has taken on a major role in some styles of yoga, which is due to its cathartic ability.

Beginners and expert yogis alike can benefit from the use of yoga music. In fact, it is used on either yoga exercises or meditation. The main reason for the use of music as a medium is to facilitate in the formation of thoughts and setting of one's mood, which are all crucial aspects in a successful performance of yoga. More importantly, it enables you to go beyond the physical and enter a whole new realm of experience. Music enables you to reach beyond your physical body and stay in touch with your mind and soul.

But still, you cannot dismiss the benefits of using music during yoga to your body. The calming and relaxing effect of yoga music is very profound. Hence, it becomes easier for you to reach your contemplative state to meditate without any source of distraction. You can learn more about what types of music will cater to this experience and how you can choose the specific kind of music to use for your own yoga and meditation practice.

Literally, Nada Yoga means”union through sound”. Therefore, it is both an art and science of transforming sound or music into a spiritual practice. After all, meditation has long been identified as one of the paths leading towards the ultimate goal in practicing yoga, which is self realization. The introduction of music as a medium in yoga has opened up several opportunities to make that end goal more accessible for everyone.

There are quite a few yoga styles or form that utilizes music and sound as medium, Kriya Yoga being one of them. Through these techniques, music is subtly incorporated into the practice and is basically there to enhance spiritual awareness and growth. Aside from Nada Yoga, there are also other forms such as Surat Shabda and Laya Yoga that employ music during performance to achieve the goals stipulated above.

Practicing Nada Yoga

Here are some tips and guidelines so you can begin practicing Nada Yoga or using music for your yoga and meditation:

• Begin by playing the music you have chosen. It basically depends on what type of mood you want to create during your practice. Is it calming, full of emotion, or just plain quiet? There are different types of music to use for each one.
• Sit down quietly as you focus solely on the music that is being played for about 10-15 minutes. Develop this routine by choosing the most appropriate time of day for you to perform this. If possible, listen to the same type of music as you perform Nada Yoga on a regular basis.
• Dedicate your full concentration onto the music until you begin to hear subtle sounds coming from within you. At this point, you are also able to successfully block out any sounds coming from the outside. Once the inner sound arises, focus on it for a given time.
• Relish this experience. Never force yourself to make shortcuts as this experience is unique. The time it takes to hear your inner sound varies from one person to another, so you need to focus more on the activity you are doing instead of trying to think how fast you can get there.

The human mind is naturally absorbent to music. Therefore, yoga taps this natural ability in order to maximize the effects of yoga to both mind and body. As early as during infancy, humans are already listening to music due to its ability to help one achieve inner bliss. One way to achieve that is through full concentration of the mind.

In yoga, there are two concepts of sound according to its source: external and internal. For a successful meditation, what you are aiming for is the internal sounds produced from within after deep meditation and concentration. But in order for that to happen, you need to use external sources of sound to manipulate your thoughts and energy to produce its own effect all throughout your body.

Suggested Music

As noted above, proper selection of music to use for yoga and meditation is highly important. First, it determines the kind of mood you want to set during your practice. Second, not all types of music are able to produce the desired effect needed to facilitate in yoga. And third, each experience is unique so the choices vary from one person to another.

Here are some of the best possible choices, if you have no idea how to get started:

• classical music
• special yoga music
• meditation music
• instrumental music
• trance music
• New Age music
• world music
• nature relaxation music

If you pay attention to music often used in the practice of yoga, you will learn that there is a huge distinction against other types of music. These characteristics are what define yoga music and facilitate in bringing its benefits.

Instrumental music is much preferred over music that include voices or lyrics, since they only serve to distract your mind. The pure presence of sounds or tones and the melodies it produce are all very powerful in evoking your emotions and thoughts. But instrumental music needs to produce a sense of direction, providing a seamless flow of tunes that cater to the subtle flow of energy or prana in your body.

The use of music in yoga offers quite a few enriching benefits. To learn more about why it is important, you can check out the benefits below:

• It helps establish your mind focus.
• It relaxes your mind to free off any disruptive thoughts.
• It creates the most appropriate atmosphere for your yoga practice.
• It soothes your muscles, allowing the entire body to relax.
• It heightens your level of concentration.
• It makes doing yoga a lot more fun and interesting.

Possible Sources of Yoga Music

Music has been very accessible nowadays, especially with the quick spread of music online. Therefore, you can simply use your computer and internet to search for specific music you can use for your yoga practice. If you do not want to spend an extra amount for this, there are several websites that offer yoga music for free.

Or, you can also do it in the old-fashioned way and visit your nearest musical store. Head on over to the classical, instrumental, New Age, or trance section for music you could possibly use.