The Best Meditation Music?

Which is the best meditation music? Many say that baroque music has some meditative effect on your brain, although it may be just particular pieces, possibly according to the beats-per-minute in the tune. Several compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach are commonly recommended, including Prelude from Cello Suite, Allemande (Cello Suite 3), and Be Thou Near Me. Music by Frederick Handel is also recommended by many people.

Some who meditate with music prefer works by Ravi Shankar and other eastern composers. Others listen to Jazz and claim that is best. Gregorian chants are considered useful by some as well. The bottom line? Opinions vary, and there hasn't been that much research into the effects of different types of music on our brainwaves.

I could just leave it at that, and recommend that you try a few types of meditation music to see what works for you. I personally like nature sounds (rain in particular) on a meditation CD, with or without music. And it is very possible that we're all unique enough that different things will work better for each of us. But there is another element here that we can't overlook.

What the science has shown is that our brainwaves can be altered by sound. Scientists believe that this is why certain musical pieces have more of a relaxation effect than others. It has further been demonstrated many times that embedding certain beats into music can directly slow your brainwaves. This is the basis for the technology of "brainwave entrainment" CDs and MP3s.

I know from experience (with several different products) that these really work. In just minutes my meditation CDs slow my brainwaves to the alpha range (8 - 14 hertz) and so put me into a relaxed meditative state. The ones designed to synchronize brainwaves to the theta range (4 - 8 hertz) either facilitate deep meditation or put me to sleep if I am laying down. In short, this technology works.

Most brainwave entrainment CDs use music for the background. So instead of just looking for meditation music, why not use these great products? My wife and I have tried Centerpointe (Ana found that her threshold for stress and general self awareness was raised significantly when using their CDs), and other products. We have even made our own. My current favorite is in the recommendation box below (I like them better than my Holosync CDs from Centerpointe, and they are cheaper).