People often ask about meditation music. “Is there any good music to meditate by; is there any music that helps you de-stress, calm down and relax?

Sure, and if that’s your definition of “meditation music”. All sorts of instrumental music fits the bill…. anything from Western and Indian flute music, to orchestral pieces, to classical guitar, classical piano, ancient Chinese Naxi music, New Age rhythms. Whether or not this music is relaxing, depends on what works for you, your individual requirements & taste. It can be called yoga meditation music because you can move/stretch to it; whether it’s meditative-friendly is another question.

Is there “meditation music” that helps you with studying and super-learning? Sure.Studies have found that instrumental soothing music (not rock music, hip hop or rap) with higher frequencies tends to help with accelerated learning. Examples include Mozart, Handel, Corelli, Vivaldi and Bach instrumental pieces. Again, I would call this concentration music or relaxation music but not meditation music. Suggestions:    Divertimento for Strings, K. 136, Mozart; Four Seasons, Vivaldi; Water Music, Handel; Brandenberg Concertos, Bach

Baroque music, with its unique rhythmic structure and stability, is particularly conducive to memory, productivity and healthy, stress-free environments.

For brainstorming and problem solving, common upbeat pieces include:
Piano Concerto #5, Beethoven
Swan Lake, Tchaikovsky
Etudes, Chopin
Claire de Lune, Debussy
Piano Concerto # 26 & 27, Mozart

For creativity and imagination: try pieces by Wagner, Grieg, Ravel, Dvorak, Smetana, Berlioz, Borodin, Debussy, Glinka, Scriabin.

Drum music tends to put people into trances, when all other conditions are right. I would not call that meditation music, either. Trance states are NOT meditation but a side-path that access the shadow side of clear consciousness. Isolation (sensory deprivation or floatation) tanks also end up cultivating this shadow side or “solitary consciousness”, which is NOT spiritual cultivation.

None of this is really music for meditation. For calming, de-stressing, dreaming, visualization exercises… you can always find music, but for meditation you want a quiet mind. Listening to anything else other than the silence within or self-produced inner thought (such as mantra) is letting the attention go outward, and distracts from inner calming. You want to follow the principles of cessation-contemplation practice wherein you listen within to what’s going on in your head, and in time that noise of wandering thoughts (the monkey mind) will calm down.

So “real meditation music” is just listening to the silence within. Silence is the real music of meditation, the real producer of joy, harmony and well-being. Initially, when you first get started at meditation, what’s inside you sounds like a full orchestra. In time, that cacophony of sounds – thoughts, mantra recitations, prayers, whatever — will calm down to real inner silence. THAT silence the real music or meditation.

Pros & Cons Adapted from Bill Bodri Meditation Expert

Music: Om Shanti, I am a peaceful soul child of supreme soul. VIPS Gulzar Dadi, Dadi Prakashmani Dadi Janki.