What is meditation?
Meditation is a difficult practice to define because it is multifaceted. Each culture has developed its own system of meditation, often with its own techniques, although some are more or less similar to others.
Thus, there are at least 140 different meditative practices, ranging from Buddhism to Taoism to Christianity [1]. Each of these major schools of thought has, in turn, a whole range of techniques.
Chinese Zen meditation, for example, is divided into various techniques developed by Tao-hsin in Lankavatara's Dossier of Masters and Disciples or by Hung-jen in The Essentials of Spiritual Culture [2].
Alongside these ancient practices, more Western techniques were developed that are less characterised by religiosity and attempt to omit the divine. Musical meditation is part of these developments, which can also serve the believer who wants to get closer to the Word.
What is musical meditation?
Music meditation is a practice that is distinct from three other forms of listening [3]:
- entertainment listening,
- liturgical listening,
- aesthetic listening.
Entertainment listening is primarily a festive listening. Aesthetic listening is a much deeper listening that places the actors - from the composer to the musicians - in an almost sacred role. Liturgical listening, on the other hand, accompanies the perception of a divine message.
Musical meditation is a fourth form of listening based on a contemplative approach to music. What does the tongue drum have to do with this quest for spirituality, relaxation and inspiration? Quite simply, it makes things easier.
Why use the tongue drum for meditation?
Because all indications are that it could become for meditation what the saxophone has become for jazz: an indispensable and essential instrument for meditative practice.
Why is it so? Because of its ease of use, the precision of its notes, the fact that it requires neither tuning nor maintenance.
It enables the layman in meditation, the novice in musical practice, to be able to find the rhythms and their rhythm and to enter more easily into deep meditation.
An author once said the following: ‘You may never have studied music, but if you pray and meditate in your soul, then within your prayers, within your meditation, by the grace of God, the power of music will spread’[4].
With the Drum of the Tongue you take control of the music, according to your desires, your own harmonies.
The Tongue Drum will pave the way to transcendental experiences or allow you to save God to extend the power of music within you.
For this reason, the Tongue Drum is perfectly suited to meditation: because it adapts to each performer, just as meditation adapts to each meditator through its own technique.
So what to do if you want to meditate but don't have a clear idea of the right technique, where to start, what to look for? We will present some techniques to illuminate this path of contemplative upliftment.
Musical meditation: which rhythms, which techniques?
We will offer you here a step-by-step plan to enjoy a successful meditation with the Tongue Drum. First, we will give you instructions on how to enter into a deep meditation and then tips on how to slow down your Tongue Drum according to your needs.
How can I enter into deep meditation?
Successful meditation is based on an accumulation of techniques [5] :
- affirmations
- visualisations,
- prayers or the recitation of a mantra,
- posture,
- concentration,
- breathing.
Use affirmations to strengthen your concentration on the object of your meditation. For example, you can say: ‘I will find inner peace’.
Visualisations are images that you project mentally. The purpose of these images is to calm you.
Prayer or mantra repetition consists of reciting a verse, sura or other part of a holy book over and over again until you concentrate on it alone.
Posture is important in meditation. It is not said that the classical cross-legged posture is the best. For many people, this posture is accompanied by joint pain and discomfort in the back muscles.
So you have to find the position in which you feel most comfortable at the time of meditation. If lying in bed or sitting in a chair is the position you like best at that moment, go for it!
Concentration is the essential element of meditation. The whole exercise revolves around it. You must concentrate on a single element and return to it again and again whenever you lose your concentration.
Concentration can be based on an image you imagine, on a prayer or mantra you utter, or on your breathing.
Breathing is the path to a deep meditative state. Start by breathing deeply and slowly for a minute or two. This will bring you into a state of relaxation.
How can I use the tongue drum for meditation?
This is a question that deserves to be asked: How can you make music while controlling your breathing and concentration, visualising an image or reciting a mantra? However, the brain is not designed to perform multiple activities simultaneously!
The Tongue Drum serves as a point of concentration during musical meditation. At least in the beginning. Once you get used to playing it, it becomes an extension of your body, no more, no less.
Then you can imagine images or recite mantras while playing. Then there is the question of tempo: should the tongue drum be played at a slow or fast tempo?
The answer has been given by researchers at the University of Nevada in the United States [6]. They found that a fast tempo can make you concentrate better.
Upbeat music would lead to a more optimistic and positive outlook on life. A slow tempo, on the other hand, helps you to relax better, loosen up your muscles and release stress.
The ease of use of the tongue drum will allow you to master these periods of relaxation very quickly and enter a state of relaxation faster and faster. Deep meditation will then fall into your arms.
What benefits can I expect from musical meditation?
Musical meditation with a Tongue Drum will first of all help you to better control your stress. This better stress management will improve your overall health [7].
Meditation with the Tongue Drum as a musical support directly affects your psychobiology by inhibiting your endocrine system and therefore the physiological response that is stress [8].
Music meditation is now known to have a positive effect on brain waves, so music is now considered a therapeutic way to treat motor paralysis or to restore brain integrity in coma patients [9].
Order a tongue drum by clicking here.
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[1] The Meditation Bible: the Definitive Guide to Meditations for Every Purpose, Madonna Gauding, Sterling Publishing Company, 2005.
[2] Meditation Traditions in Chinese Buddhism, Kuroda Institute for the Study of Buddhism and Human Values, University of Hawaii Press Editions, 1986, Seiten 139-140.
[3] Musikalische Meditation, wie man mit der schönsten Musik der Welt meditiert, Kurdjian, de Smedt, Dervy éditions, 2019.
[4] Meditation, perfection of man in the satisfaction of God, Sri Chinmoy, Aum Publications, 1989, page 105.
[5] Meditation: a practical guide, Mark Chatterton, Hadleigh Books editions, 2021, Seiten 22-26.
[6] Releasing stress through the power of music, University of Nevada, Reno.
External link: https://www.unr.edu/counseling/virtual-relaxation-room/releasing-stress-through-the-power-of-music
[7] Meditation, The ultimate guide to relaxation, mindfulness and stress relief, Athena Doros, Efalon Acies, 19. Oktober 2020, Kapitel 4.
[8] The effect of Music on the Human Stress Response, Thoma, La Marca u.a., Plos One, 05. August 2013.
External Link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3734071/
[9] The impact of music on the bioelectrical oscillations of the brain, Ducikiené, Praninskiene, Acta medica Lituanica, 2018, doi 10.6001/actamedica.v25i2.3763.
External link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6130927/