Unquestionably, the fundamental obstacle to developing strength in contemplation is relentless distraction from internal chatter, daydreams, and/ or external sounds and movement. In the following recommended recordings, music is the object of concentration. In this playlist, however, the music and sounds are the primary focus. In some, the artists have deliberately applied entrainment theory to their musical compositions, which means they use binaural sounds (different tones in each ear) to create the illusion of a beat at carefully calibrated frequencies. Listeners are meant to focus their attention solely and directly on the sounds of the track itself.
Disrupted sleep patterns are common in busy, screen-driven modern lives. These contemplations present iterations of several popular aural remedies, from sleep yoga that guides progressive relaxation in the body, to visualization and bedtime narratives, to binaural music that helps the brain decelerate into lower frequency wave patterns conducive to a good night’s rest.
These are links to various resources on the CSC website, Insight Timer, and YouTube for those interested in practicing meditation or contemplation. There are tips for beginners, loving-kindness practices, instructions on how to use Insight Timer as well as specially crafted Insight Timer playlists on specific topics. Finally, some links to short contemplation practices recorded as part of CSC’s Virtual Meditation from the Lawn series in 2021-2022.
This brief outline on how to use Insight Timer explains the two types of contemplation sessions, basic and guided, and how to access them within the Insight Timer app along with saving presets for easy access to your favorite session timer. These instructions are somewhat outdated and will be updated shortly.
While all contemplative techniques relate to self-care or -development in some respect, this category specifically addresses thought patterns that may keep you down and hold you back. These can manifest as hard resistance to giving yourself a break, as the belief you don’t deserve kindness, love, or the respect of others, and as debilitating self-critique. These guided instructions invite listeners to deliberately affirm the positive aspects of themselves and their lives while addressing these negative thoughts with new patterns of acceptance and warmth.
Relaxing the mind and body has been the foundation of contemplative practice for millennia. When stressed and anxious, it can be difficult to concentrate, accomplish tasks, attain your goals, and enjoy the positive circumstances that are present right in front of you. In neurobiological terms, relaxation techniques activate the parasympathetic nervous system, thereby undermining the natural but often overactive physiology of the body’s stress response through deliberately engaging slow, deep breathing.
Insight Timer offers an array of resources specifically designed to help ease the stress caused by the challenges and uncertainties of the Coronavirus pandemic. While many of the other recommendations in this guide such as those under Resources for Relaxation at Ease can also help relax and redirect the mind during this difficult time, the resources listed here directly addresses the experience of living through the present pandemic.
Contemplation is often thought of as something you do with the mind; the body is just the thing that gets us to the cushion so we can start our contemplation and then distracts us with discomfort when we do! However, many contemplative traditions deeply integrate body practices into their total regimen, for one objective is not just to develop awareness when formally practicing in stillness, but to apply that awareness to everything we do, no matter the activity, whether in stillness or in motion. The guided content below provides instructions for mindfully experiencing the body in states of rest as well as states of movement.
This playlist includes guided practices and talks focused on the intersection of contemplation and racial justice. The practice of contemplation can fortify efforts toward racial justice in a number of ways—cultivating awareness, supporting activism, facilitate creativity, and promoting self-transformation. The talks included on this playlist cover a broad range of themes and perspectives on racial justice, many of which complement and build on the others. The guided practices involve a mix of meditations, affirmations, movement, and creative practices that address various dimensions of racial justice.
