“Paying attention NOW allows you to conduct this moment on purpose, just like a beautiful piece of music”.
Michelle Townsend
As well as being a holistic therapist working with hypnosis and hypnotherapy, I am also a private music teacher. Music plays a very big part of my life and my family’s life. Music plays an important part in everyone’s life in fact. More than we realise.
Have you ever tried to get through a day without hearing or listening to music? Have you ever asked yourself that question? Most people haven’t, not even noticing or realising the fact that music is everywhere around them. It becomes something running in the background. Just like we become automated in our routines and our thoughts.
Could we use Music to Help Promote Mindfulness? …
I’ve come to realise that if we can use music as an example to help describe and understand mindfulness, we can start to apply being more mindful more easily in everyday life. By looking at life just like music, being aware of it, stopping in the moment to be aware of what we are listening to, and what we are seeing in the same moment, are we not already practising ‘mindfulness’?
Daily Music …
Most of the time no matter how hard we try we won’t get through a day without hearing a piece of music. Those wonderful resonating sounds and frequencies that we take for granted are always there. I especially hear many different tunes during a day. I have various pupils at different levels and standards. Music serenades my life most days. I am truly blessed.
Become Aware of the Harmonies …
Think about when you are watching TV. Each programme has a theme tune, each advert has music in it. We even associate songs and riffs to advertisements; that’s how they sell the things they are advertising! Even films have music in them; the drama appears, or an exciting moment is about to happen, the orchestral film score performed by the orchestra creating the atmosphere in a split second. We even experience it in shopping centres, shops, and public places where it is known as ‘muzak’. Having light background music entertains and is known to increase sales, it runs at a subconscious level. You may even start to be aware you are doing a little dance whilst hearing it or start humming the tune under your breath.
Become Aware on Purpose …
So, what are we referring to here? If you can become aware of hearing music, you can become aware of your surroundings and what you are thinking. Mindfulness is being aware on purpose. It is the key to making conscious decisions instead of impulsive ones. It is the art of pausing and considering your options and choices in any moment.
Concert Sounds and Surroundings …
Both our boys are musicians living in London, and we often go to concerts to see and hear them play. Recently a couple of weeks ago we did just that. I noticed just before and during this specific concert of how aware I was, being observant of everything happening around me, my surroundings. Not only was I aware of the concert hall that we were sitting in to enjoy the amazing performances, but also the details about it. The layout, the colours, the people attending the concert.
I really listened to the sounds, timbre, and pitch of the different instruments during the performances. How all the performers brought it all together to create the harmonious sound which was well balanced and well rounded. I really focused on being mindful of what I was aware of and listening to, the intricate detail of it. As I did this, I became aware of how easy it was to change my focus, to redirect it. Since experiencing cancer 13 years ago I practise mindfulness daily; but it was at this concert I thought let’s really see what I am aware of here, let’s see how being mindful creates a change within our mind and body, bringing in the benefits of NOW. I often choose moments do this to deepen my practise of being mindful. You can choose to do this at any point during the day. Holidays, special occasions and performances like the above are perfect for trying this.
Bring it Back to NOW! …
We spend most of our life on autopilot. We respond from practised thought processes, old beliefs, and programs. If we allow ourselves to become more mindful, we can start to change these old habits and responses, creating new ones; finding you are not worrying about past or future making better decisions to find joy in the moment. Once we choose to do this, and we create a habit around it, we can start to change our mental vocabulary and our inner language. This then brings forward the awareness of what we don’t want, then knowing more clearly what we do want. Mindfulness brings our awareness back to NOW!
Music in Meditation …
You often find a lot of the time music is used in guided meditations and relaxations. It’s usually a gentle soft flowing sound, generally not having a specific melody to it which helps create calmness in that moment. It is also there to bring an awareness, a focus, training the brain to maintain being in that moment. This is how beneficial music can be.
Using Music as an Awareness Tool …
If we can use music to bring in that awareness surely, we can use it during our everyday life, using it to help redirect our thoughts. Therefore, using music as a metaphor of awareness. When we become aware of the music we hear, we can then be aware of what we are thinking. We are more than our thoughts. Just thinking about what we are thinking can stop the thinking; think about that! In that moment we can pause and consider our options; just like a conductor conducts an orchestra, we can conduct our thoughts and decisions deliberately in any moment. We can then make better choices from a conscious aspect rather than an unconscious aspect.
A Simple Technique …
So, next time you hear music throughout your day, when you are out and about, acknowledge it, be aware of it. Then, transfer it into being mindful in that moment to train your brain to make your decisions more consciously. Because music is everywhere, use music to remind you to ‘train your brain’ in practising mindfulness, practise being mindful in your daily life. Bring your awareness to NOW! You’ll start to become aware of just how much you miss out on during your day.
Rather than having your ‘mind full’ of automated thoughts, running your life on autopilot. Have your mind ‘mindfully’ making choices that will better create your future choices the way you want it! Use Music as the tool to help you get there. Make it fun! Enjoy!
Want to know More? …
Would you like to know more on Mindfulness? Get in touch for help and advice in navigating a deeper understanding. If we can use simple things to help change our approach, we can start to experience a change of perspective. Get your life back on track by being mindful.
As Eckart Tolle says in his book ‘The Power of NOW’… ‘Realise deeply that the present moment is all you have. Make the NOW the primary focus of your life.’
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