Best Relaxing Meditation Songs

The benefits of meditation can be felt with only observation of the breath, but sometimes we can find it difficult to center all of our attention without becoming distracted. Meditation can certainly be difficult, but you may find it easier to find inner peace while meditating while listening to meditation songs. Most of us identify with the sound of music because our bodies create symphonies of their own—the rhythm of our heartbeats, the rush of blood through our brains, and of course, breathing. What makes these functions of the body so interesting is that they are all autonomous, or involuntary. Certainly, we can control our breath but as long as we are living, it will continue. Because these things happen whether we control them or not, it only makes sense that we find value in music. When it comes to meditation, we also can align with certain frequencies and natural sounds often found in meditation songs.

Meditation Basics

One of the things that beginning meditators often find hinders them from meditating successfully is that their thoughts are constantly distracting them. The real and unavoidable truth is that your thoughts will always be with you. While the ultimate goal of meditation—certain kinds of meditation—is to clear your mind of unnecessary distractions, it's called 'practice' for a reason. Even the most seasoned meditator will have an occasional thought steer them away from their focus. However, the practice of meditation is to acknowledge that distraction and come back to what our attention should be on—our breathing, observation of our body, or whatever activity we are participating in.

Understanding Your Mind

There's a plethora of music out there to choose from for meditation and yoga, but it's best to find something without lyrics. There's a good reason for this. You probably already know that the right side of the brain is our intuitive side and the left is the more rational side. Instrumental music can help stimulate that more creative, intuitive side of your brain while songs with words can trigger the more logical side of your brain—thinking. Thinking isn't really our goal here. We're trying to clear our minds not add more to it.

There are, however, meditative music that breaks the general rule that it shouldn't have words. You likely have heard people uttering the sound 'Om' in your yoga class or maybe on the streets depending on where you live. This is one of many sacred sounds and contains a certain frequency or vibration that can bring us closer to something bigger than ourselves. Some find it distracting or irritating. If this is you, choose something else. Remember, we're trying to find relaxing meditation songs not more distractions than we already have.

Creating a Space to Meditate

Once you decide on the music you'd like to listen to while you sit atop your cushion, remember to rid yourself of as many distractions that you can control. If you're able to find a private room, create your meditation space there and ask anyone else in the house to keep their noise level to a minimum for the duration of your practice. You won't be texting or taking calls while you sit in stillness, so it's probably wise to turn your phone off or at the very least turn it to Airplane mode. Set your alarm for 5-10 minutes the first time and gradually increase your time as you continue your practice.

Meditation songs can help us surrender to relaxation. In this article, we'll give tips on how to make the make the most of your practice when using this type of meditative music and suggestions on what type of meditation songs you may want to explore. Use this list of suggestions of meditation songs to get you started and inspired. There are many to choose from, but these choices are certain to help you start your journey through space and time, finding inner harmony while enhancing your meditation practice.

Steven Halpern, along with many others, believe that the human body is a self-healing instrument. With certain sounds and frequencies, the body will move towards homeostasis, a more balanced state. Using a synthesizer, Halpern's artistic compositions create balance between the two hemispheres of the brain and amplify the production of alpha waves. In doing so, our bodies and minds, we can more easily find ourselves in a meditative state, allowing for self-healing and balance.

Don't let the name throw you off guard. Yoga is not limited to the popular form you see in gyms and studios. Yoga is the practice of finding balance of mind, body, and spirit. We can do this with sitting mediation also. Mixing Eastern sounds and harmonies, Terry Oldenfield creates the perfect music for your meditation practice. Each meditation song, approximately 8 and a half minutes, is full of rich tranquil tones of deep flute, mantras, and tanpura, an Indian instrument, that drones in certain frequencies that put you in a trance-like state. If you're looking for something to help you relax, try Yoga Harmony and see how you feel. Find a nice quiet space, put on your headphones, and watch those distractions disappear.

In this recording from Splendor of Meditation, gentle sounds of rain and waterfalls, are paired with Tibetan singing bowls, powerful healing instruments used for millennia. If you're unfamiliar with singing bowls, you can find samples with a simple search on the web. Used in many meditation songs, these instruments are traditionally made of metal, but you will also find them made of crystal or glass and tuned so that when played, they can induce relaxation quickly and easily. Some people even use these vibrations near or on the body for healing purposes. Check out singing bowl therapy or sound therapy and you may find some practitioners in your area.

After studying botany and forestry science in his youth, Rudy Adrian grew up to find himself exploring film music and atmospheric composition. If you're drawn to water and the sounds of waterfalls, waves, and streams, you'll want to give this a listen. Accompanied by nature sounds and piano, the sounds of water go from one environment to another but also explores the depths of space as if you're at the bottom of the deepest parts of the ocean, another world of its own. Take these meditation songs with you on the cushion and you may find yourself trancing out with ease.

In the 1980's, Robert Rich made a name for himself by playing for large audiences during the night—while they were sleeping! From 10pm to 7am, they drifted into sleep only to wake up to tea served by Robert himself. Rich primarily focuses on playing spacious, ambient music that is sure to prove itself therapeutic and conducive to meditation. The meditation songs within this album will be to sure to take you on a journey through nature, space, and movement through time as you meditate.

If wind chimes and Tibetan singing bowls aren't your thing, you may prefer the work of Pat Metheny. Having made a name for himself as a contemporary jazz musician, Metheny occasionally experiments outside of the box as most real artists do and creates albums like this gem. With out of this world reverb and delays, his complex, expert guitar playing becomes spacious and contemplative, building a dream like environment formed by jazz melody. For the meditator with an appreciation for guitar, this is the album to get.

Mixing melodies of serene harmonies of flute, piano, guitar, and synthesizers, Shajan creates an ideal environment for relaxation and journeys into the world of the mind. A master of Reiki, a Japanese healing art, Shajan uses his expertise to help those with trouble finding peace to let go of the stress that holds them back from finding inner harmony. If you're looking to chill out to serene and sensual sound, you'd be doing yourself an injustice by not hunting down this album.

David & Steve Gordon have made a name for themselves and prolific meditation song composers. Using Tibetan temple bells, wind chimes, tanpuras, and flutes, the two masterfully create the sounds necessary for pleasurable, altered states. Float into a euphoric calm with their ancient acoustic instruments as you contemplate the things that meditation is all about—inner peace, bliss, and universal oneness. With twinkling textures, droning vibrations, and space winds, this album will take you “there” wherever “there” is. Maybe it's floating through space or traveling through time. One thing is for certain—your time on the cushion will definitely be enhanced by this amazing album of meditation songs.