Meditation is very popular these days, as more and more people discover the enormous variety of benefits that a regular meditation practice can bring. There are many different ways to meditate, and many people find it beneficial to listen to a meditation recording. Many of these recordings include music, but is that always a good idea?

The goal of meditation is to deeply relax the body and mind. Many people find mental relaxation especially difficult, especially those who are new to meditation. This is not really surprising, as most of us have little or no experience with mind control techniques and as a result have minds that jump all over the place, rushing from one thought to another.

Using a meditation recording can make the relaxation process much easier, because it gives your mind something to focus on. Also, the actual sounds that appear on such a recording can have a relaxing effect of their own. This is why music is often included in meditation tracks; such music is usually very calm and gentle, and is specifically designed to have a calming effect on the listener.

There is no doubt that musical meditation recordings can work extremely well. But the main problem with them, at least in my experience, is that no matter how nice and calm the music is, it’s bound to get annoying with repeated listening.

Now, I am a big fan of music and I can happily listen to music for hours on end. But meditation music is a bit different, because if you’re meditating every day (as recommended) and you’re listening to the same meditation track regularly, then you’re not listening for pleasure, you’re listening for a specific purpose. And chances are you don’t feel like listening to that particular music that often. If music starts to irritate you, it can become a distraction from your meditation, which is exactly what you don’t want.

So this is something to keep in mind if you are thinking of buying a musical meditation recording. In my opinion, such recordings are better for occasional than regular use.

However, this does not mean that you should not take advantage of sound-based meditation recordings, as they have a lot to offer. Instead, it’s probably best to choose a track that has ambient sounds for regular use. These have a similar relaxing effect, but lack the irritation factor that melodic music can cause when played repeatedly. Such tracks may feature nature sounds such as running water or crackling flames, pink/brown noise, or synthesized sounds that are calming in nature.

The best meditation CDs will also include brainwave training technologies, such as binaural beats. These are sounds of specific frequencies that actively encourage your brain to descend into a deeply relaxed trance state. This makes brainwave training recordings especially good for those who are new to meditation, as they make it much easier to properly relax and focus the mind.