Meditative Techniques
Meditation is a mindful technique that includes focusing the mind on one thing. According to the Mayo Clinic, meditation is considered alternative medicine because it minimizes anxiety and stress. Also, according to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) , meditation reduces blood pressure, psychological disorders, irritable bowel syndrome, depression, and insomnia. There are many types of meditative techniques, such as music meditation, movement meditation, meditative art, and meditative poetry.
Music Meditation
Music meditation is music performed to support meditation practice. There are people who believe that all music genres are meditative. Kirtan is one of the examples of music meditation. Kirtan is an Indian style of meditative music that included call-and-response songs or chants, mainly taught in Bhakti yoga and Kundalini yoga. Sound Therapy is another example of music meditation. Sound Therapy is a technique where the use of musical sound waves from instruments (such as crystal singing bowls, chimes, bells, harps, and tuning forks) are provided to treat physical and mental conditions. Therapeutic Music is similar to sound therapy, except this form of music meditation includes use of acoustic or electronic instruments rather than crystal singing bowls, bells, chimes, and tuning forks, and they mainly provide music meditation services at hospital bedsides. Therapeutic musicians can also provide music meditation services at mental health counseling clinics, psychiatric hospitals, and massage therapy spas.
There are some research studies and platforms that show that classical music (including New Age music) and jazz aren’t the only genres that are meditative. According to Dr. Edgar Tyson and J.C. Hall, founders of the Hip Hop Therapy platform, hip hop music is therapeutic. Its benefits relating to mindfulness include people getting moral or philosophical lessons out of the hip hop songs they listen to within their discussion. This platform has motivated the youth (including at-risk youth) to create their own songs to be able to share and discuss. A journalist for CBS News, Robert Pagliarini, has mentioned the mindful benefits from listening to pop music, such as gaining empowerment and motivation into staying positive. Zendo Stereo, a musical meditation platform created by Leo Canneto, a former rock musician, is an example of using pop and rock for therapeutic benefits. Leo Canneto fuses New Age classical music with psychedelic rock and synth pop. This platform is recommendable for rock enthusiasts, pop music enthusiasts, and anyone who view psychedelic music in general as therapeutic.
Strengthening Foundations Child and Family Counseling includes musical meditation services. One of our admins who provide musical meditation services fuse classical music with R&B, jazz, folk, gospel, and pop. Depending on which technique one chooses to practice music meditation, clearing your mind of negative thoughts is one of the ways to be in a comfortable position in order to practice music meditation.
Movement Meditation
Movement meditation is a type of meditation that includes movement and mindfulness. Any kind of movement can be done with meditation, such as dance meditation (where the dancing is ecstatic), yoga, pilates, basic kinetic stretching, cardio, or even walking. Within your movement meditation routine, you’re shutting out anything negative that comes into your mind and concentrating on your movement. Yogance, a meditative dancing platform created by a celebrity choreographer who’s a movement therapist and a retired gymnast, Tamara Levinson-Campos, is an example of movement meditation because of the meditation done throughout the ecstatic dancing through the yoga sequences and poses. The Let Your Yoga Dance platform (created by Megha-Nancy Buttenheim, a celebrity holistic health coach) is similar to yogance, except this platform focuses on ecstatic dancing rather than yoga poses and sequences. Running meditation and Walking meditation are examples of cardio meditation, whether the cardio is highly intense or low impact. Jënni Jalonen, a famous Obstacle Course racer of Europe, has a guided running meditation podcast called Run With Love. Kim Alexis, a Vogue model and actress, has a biblical-based walking meditation platform called PraiseWalk, where she encourages people to walk and meditate to Christian-based music. The Mindful Practice podcast includes guided walking meditation. The Mindful Movement platform includes guided meditation in Pilates routines, yoga routines, and basic kinetic stretching routines. Strengthening Foundations Child and Family Counseling includes movement meditation within our yoga fusion routines. According to AICHP (American Institute of Health Care Professionals), not everyone is comfortable with sitting in stillness during meditation, so movement meditation is beneficial for both mental health and physical health.
Meditative Art
Meditative art is a visual technique that includes using drawing or crafting to improve attention and awareness and to put the mind in a calming and stable state. A calming jar is one of the examples of meditative art. A calming jar is a type of craft recommended for stress relief and anger management. Its finished appearance, along with its sensory feeling, can help refreshed the overwhelmed mind. Another example of meditative art is meditative drawing. Meditative drawing, according to the JournalSmarter blog, is beneficial for mental health because it reduces anxiety, improves concentration, makes you a more kindhearted person, and it helps you to improve the way you see the world. Mandalas, which are Indian circular diagrams used for meditation, is another example of meditative art. Lots of art therapists recommended mandalas. According to Times Union, clinical studies have shown that mandalas increase the immune systems, reduce stress and pain, ease depression, and improve blood pressure from high to normal. One can either color in the mandalas that are already made or draw a mandala. Meditative art is recommendable for anyone in need of anger management, stress relief, concentration improvement, anxiety reduction, improving blood pressure, and improving views of the world.
Meditative Poetry
Meditative poetry is a practice of meditation with free verse poetry. People who love to read view reading poetry and reciting poetry as therapeutic. King David’s Book of Psalms and Psalms of Solomon are examples of biblical-based meditative poetry because they include some scriptures that one can view as positive affirmations. Songs of Solomon is also more than just romantic music and poetry. It includes some positive affirmations as well. Some Bible scholars also consider the Book of Proverbs and the Book of Ecclesiastes as poetic. These books include motivational and affirmative life tips. There are also some poems from the classical era, romantic era, the Transcendentalist movement, and modern era are also examples of meditative poetry, such as “Rubies” by Ralph Waldo Emerson, “On Isaiah 63” by Phillis Wheatley, “The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow,” “Evening Star” by Edgar Allan Poe, and more. According to Good Therapy, several clinical studies show that poetry helps improve self-esteem, self-understanding, and encourages expression of emotions. So meditative poetry is recommendable for anyone who view poetry as therapeutic.
Meditative Games
There are many people who view video games as just “entertainment” and “time killers.” But several research studies show that video games contain educational benefits and mental health benefits. According to Cornelia Geppert, a game designer of “Sea of Solitude,” and Amy Green, a game designer of “That Dragon, Cancer,” video games help cope with grief and loneliness. According to the American Journal of Play, research studies show that video games also help improve brain concentration, attention, and decision-making.
Music Zen is another example of meditative games because this app contains of bubble wraps, colorful particle smoke, calming water scenery (where you touch the water and hear sounds of the harp and flute), and the music lights game. This app also includes guided meditation, audiobooks and music meditation with scenery. This app is also recommendable for anyone in need of stress relief, unwinding, and overcoming insomnia.
Jigsaw puzzle apps are also helpful for stress relief and unwinding. According to the Baylor College of Medicine, research studies show that jigsaw puzzles in general help improve brain concentration, problem solving, and spatial reasoning with use of visualization. According to Julia Walsh, a certified Sleep consultant, jigsaw puzzles also help slow down your mind before bed.
Overall
Creative arts in general have holistic approaches to mental health. There are people who view basic breathing meditation techniques as “boring” and “dull,” so including creative arts in meditative techniques would make meditation enjoyable. From their, people who use creative arts in their meditative techniques would be able to have a different view on meditation, therapy, and on life.
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