“Music comes closest to meditation.” — Osho
I love listening to music while undertaking everyday activities such as cooking, cleaning, writing or editing. I’ve found that the marriage of doing and being in these experiences often lends itself to the elusive state of flow.
Since I’ve been unwell over these past six months, I haven’t had the physical strength to dance, but the other night, something was different. As I was cooking dinner, I was listening to Sons of the East’s song “Lost Cause”. I have very fond memories of kitchen dance-offs with my sister to this song when we used to live together and, for a fleeting moment, I was transported back to those moments in time and very gently started to sway my body from side to side. I was being moved by the song.
The next morning, as I was editing a manuscript, I had a beautiful instrumental album from Lesfm playing in the background. The soothing piano music held so much resonance within me that I completely lost track of time and was fully present in my work. In this way, music was transporting me into mindfulness. Perhaps this has something to do with the fact that scientists have discovered the fascinating ways that listening to music engages your brain and can even enhance your memory.
Music is so captivating in the way it can connect you intimately with the present moment while also taking you back to pivotal moments in time. Listening to music also has a whole host of benefits for your mental wellbeing, such as improving mood, regulating emotions and helping to process feelings. The privilege of connecting with our sense of sound can have such a profound impact on our lives.
My aforementioned experiences of being mindful with music were a pertinent reminder for me that not only does music move us in physical, mental, emotional and energetic ways, it also has the ability to bring us right back into the beauty, wonder and awe of the present moment.
Being mindful with music is a theme we explore in Being issue 05, most notably on pages 6, 38-42 and 118-121. You can grab a copy of this issue from our online store.
