Stress, anxiety and obsessive thinking are all common causes of mental and bodily stress. As technological advances continue to speed up our world, more and more Americans are searching for ways to slow down and realign themselves to inner calm and tranquility. Whether you are seeking ways to eliminate stress, improve your sleep cycle or simply augment your meditation practice with music therapy, these techniques can help you reconnect with your inner peace.
Choosing Your Relaxation Music
Although a vast number of relaxation CDs are available--from whale mating sounds to Chinese bamboo flutes--the relaxation and depth of the music ultimately relies on your personal taste. Go to a record store or browse iTunes for albums of relaxation music and sample the different varieties available. In most cases, you will want to select music that does not involve words of a familiar language, so that the mind does not get involved with thinking for "mentally processing" the ideas in a song. For best results, choose an album that involves instruments that already naturally soothe you, such as piano or violin, and select a CD that seems to put you in a meditative state just by listening to a few minutes of its composition.
Progressive Relaxation to Music
According to Linda J. Adams, Ph.D, the progressive relaxation technique is among the most efficient and simple methods for releasing tension in the body. Begin by playing an album or composition that involves simple, soothing melodies. Lie down in a comfortable area and begin tightening and releasing each part of the body starting with the feet. Gradually tighten and release the muscles in each isolated "group" or bodily region up your ankles, calves and thighs until you reach your hips. Continue until you reach the very top of your head and see what happens when you attempt to tighten and release your scalp. This method of bodily relaxation guides parts of the body into stillness by locating tense muscles and reminding them of a relaxed state. Continue for 15 minutes or until the music is complete.
Visualization
Perhaps the most common relaxation technique set to music, visualization relaxation uses the imagination to connect the body with a meditative state. Begin by putting on your desired music at a low volume and lay down in a comfortable place. Close your eyes and imagine relaxation physically entering your body, in whatever form you visualize: for example, the relaxation can take the form of a gentle waterfall or water spring emerging from the head and gradually filling your body as a pool. Breathe deeply as you visualize your breath entering your nostrils and lungs and physically expanding your chest and dispersing throughout your body. One popular method of finishing this technique involves mentally "seeing" your tension leaving as you breathe: imagining any tension in your body leaving as a shape or color as you exhale.
