Healing Music

Music can be used as a tool for focusing and fusing our minds and our bodies, making it a perfect medium to aid the healing process. While this approach seldom finds purchase in the "just give 'em a pill" variant on Western medicine, music has long been part of the therapy in Asian and Native American cultures, and we begin with a batch of sounds perfectly suited to the hybrid Japanese/Buddhist practice of Reiki: sink into the synths of "Healing Hands". Alternatively, try the new age balm of Llewellyn: with its airy arrangement and subtle progression, "A New Day" is sure to deliver you to a better space.

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It isn't absolutely necessary to be beat-free when making this healing music, nor does it have to be Asian-influenced — Icelandic guitarist Fridrik Karlsson, whose classical technique has formed the basis for pop collaborations with the likes of Madonna and Boyzone, pulls in minimal percussion on the effortlessly regenerative "Cruising". In fact, you don't even need human artistry at all — as long as you can harness the soft symphony of bird song available on a daily basis in the Amazon jungle: check out our offering from the Ultimate Nature Sounds Collection. From Gandalf's ambience to the masters of the bansuri flute, all these pieces share a life-affirming essence.

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Dean Evenson's "Heart Chakra Breath of Love" probably conforms to what you might expect in healing music, with its synthy, weightless Buddhist-meets-Gregorian vibe, but the Tibetan singing bowls heard on "The Master's Breath" do the trick every bit as well. It's all about what resonates with you, dear listener. A slow piano version of "Amazing Grace" is pretty far removed, musically speaking, from the Pilates Music Ensemble's "Find Shelter in Nature's Arms" but they're both paths to the same destination . . . and both will set you on the path to wellness faster than you can chant Hildegard of Bingen's "O Dulcissime Amator / O Sweetet Lover".

A good portion of being well is tied into being aware of what our bodies are telling us. Sometimes, to quiet the frantic background chatter that afflicts our everyday lives, we can chant, or meditate, or listen to music that will help to calm the turbulent waters of day-to-day existence. In large part, the New Age movement was conceived and designed to bring into harmony the several spheres that we inhabit — then that lofty goal was overtaken and diluted, sullying the New Age label, if not the concept. Nonetheless, committed practitioners of whole body-music therapy persist, and other music not specifically targeted for healing can be used in its aid. Even if you're sceptical, this is great chill-out music, from Aeoliah to Xumantra and all therapeutic points in between.