Neither of these methods is conducive to practicing with music. But there is a practice style you can use called mindfulness that does allow for listening to your favorite music created by your favorite musicians. The best part is, mindfulness is the most popular form of meditation across the world and thousands of people combine it with music that they find relaxing every single day. Music has transformative powers and there’s a whole range of styles and genres to choose from. It’s difficult to put any kind of music into a certain box, because the truth is, the sounds are different for every person.
Studies from the UK show that we often have a kind of cathartic reflection to depressing music that feels great in the long run. For thousands of years, Buddhist meditators have known the effects of an activated default mode network as “mind wandering,” and the tools to transcend it are built into the meditation system. Most meditation traditions assume the answer to this question is yes. They work with flow as a tool by utilizing meditative states called “jhana,” which fulfill the criteria for the flow states that music listening and playing can generate. As the great sages of southeast Asia have been telling us since the Axial Age, the gateway to happiness is opened when we can let go of our sense of self and the neurosis that comes with it.
These are the sounds familiar to anyone who has tried using meditation apps on their phones. It's ambient sound and new-age music that has become very synonymous to the Mindfulness practice. I live in a city so there is always street noise. I've tried white noise but it doesn't do much, so I usually listen to mind relaxation Ravi Shankar to block out the sounds of the city. Those ragas are meant to induce specific mental states and I feel like it helps.
Meditation teachers often suggest focusing on breath, and focusing on music can also be effective for the same purpose. It can help to protect us from the often negative thoughts that can creep into our mind without us watching. Lots of people believe music must be categorized as spiritual in order for the result of listening to be spiritual. If you have this preconception, meditating with anything other than kirtan, chanting, new age, sacred music, binaural beats etc. would seem less productive. If you enjoy these styles of music, then by all means, practice with them! You need to be doing whatever encourages and supports you in the challenging task of maintaining a meditation practice.
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