Take A Meditation Sound Bath with Josh & Eliza
While the sounds of your city may be overwhelming you at the moment, sound may be just the remedy you need to relax and realign.
Social media pings, global news broadcasts, ambulance sirens… Oh my! It seems that all of us need a magical getaway every once in a while to take a break from all the stimuli and stress. While the sounds of your city may be overwhelming you at the moment, sound may be just the remedy you need to relax and realign. Luckily for you, Josh & Eliza are bringing the vibrational sounds of their dojo in Upstate New York to your earbuds every Sunday.
Josh & Eliza’s Binaural Broadcast transports listeners to an oh-so-tingly multi-dimensional soundscape for an electro-acoustic journey into the self. Trade in the sounds of the street for gongs, Himalayan singing bowls, tuning forks and overtone-rich instruments. Meditate in ways you may never have before, and achieve states of clarity, peace and heightened awareness. Sound is a colorful language of enlightenment! Josh & Eliza provide us with a rare access into this healing language for a transformative experience that all of us can use right about now. Before joining Josh & Eliza for one of their broadcasts, read below to learn more about sound meditation, to prepare for your own practice, and to steal a few quarantine tips from the meditation gurus themselves!
How is sound meditation different from other forms of meditation?
Sound meditation provides a unique tapestry for exploring awareness. It is an expression of language and emotion without words. Some textures can inspire a sense of nostalgia, some joy. Sound serves as a vehicle and opportunity for exploring these emotions by simply observing the ethos carried in certain sounds without judgment or attachment to one concept. This approach makes sound meditation both immediately accessible and personal for the listener. The empowering, transformative, cathartic or balancing element, which we all seek in any meditation, is in the engagement with sound, our observations—the deep listening. It inspires active participation for emotional shifts.
How do you recommend preparing to begin your sound meditation at home? Where should we be? Laying down or sitting upright? Shall we be wearing an eye mask? Would you recommend the use of essential oils or incense?
There is no wrong way to listen. It is valuable to create an intentional space, done simply by lighting a candle, or incense. For our in-person sessions, we pair sections of the meditation and different instruments with different scents. We like to lie down and be as comfortable as possible, perhaps with a light blanket. Some people like to sit upright. In either case, it is very helpful to use an eye mask. We are constantly inundated with visual stimuli in our waking hours. Removing this sense allows one to heighten their ability to listen.
How do you each cope with anxiety and stress that comes along with staying at home and listening to the news develop?
It is hard to refrain from becoming addicted to the news. We are naturally drawn to the sensational. Lately, we’ve both had to work harder at being aware of our news media consumption. It’s important to be informed. And there is intelligence in fear. The challenge is to stay mindful of the fear, and to not feel consumed by it. We just need help remembering the simple and deeply meaningful ways to “stay grounded” in the turbulence, like gratitude and being in nature; calling a friend to just listen, without any agenda. As difficult and tragic as things are, there is tremendous possibility–an opportunity for collective listening, re-examining our potential, and the camaraderie in struggle, compassion, and understanding.
Morning routine to start the day off on the right foot?
When we’re living our best mornings, we meditate for 20 minutes before breakfast. Depending on the hours of sleep the night before, weather and mood, we may venture to a nearby waterfall, or sit outside on the porch. But generally, the only consistent routine to our mornings are making scrabbled eggs together.
Nighttime ritual before bed?
We like to create quiet, intentional spaces before bed, usually following an herbal tea. We’ve also found a subtle but helpful shift by leaving our phones in a different room, instead of on the bedside table.
Quarantine guilty pleasure?
Zoom game nights and dinner dates with friends. And the Netflix series Ozark, Season 3.
Feature image credit: Lance Allen
Teresa Deely is a graduate from Columbia University with majors in English and Creative Writing. She is a freelance writer and marketing assistant working for clients in the wellness, jewelry, creative, and sports industries. She believes that one’s skin is yet another canvas and vehicle for art, and has loved styling her hair and applying makeup from a young age. Spending much of her time in educating youth and leading enrichment programs for children, she is highly motivated in discovering new ways to care for herself and sharing them with others.
Sound serves as a vehicle and opportunity for exploring these emotions by simply observing the ethos carried in certain sounds without judgment or attachment to one concept.
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