INSIGHT TIMER PLAYLIST: Sound Contemplations

 

In the following recommended recordings, music is the object of concentration. Listeners are meant to focus their attention solely and directly on the sounds of the track itself.

 

Unquestionably, the fundamental obstacle to developing strength in contemplation is relentless distraction from internal chatter, daydreams, and/ or external sounds and movement. These distractors draw attention away from the chosen object of concentration, such as the breath. For millennia experienced instructors have verbally guided their students’ attention back to those chosen objects of concentration. An instructor’s voice itself can offer an alternative point of focus that helpfully draws practitioners’ attention away from distractors in their minds or environment. Simple soundscapes, whether musical or naturalistic, can similarly mute  more distracting background noise in a practitioner’s  external environment. As such, a majority of Insight Timer’s recordings feature some kind of ambient sound accompaniment. 

 

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. According to the theory, this method causes changes in brain wave frequencies and phase synchronization across various brain regions, thereby inducing states of active attention, deep rest, and so on. Some claims around this effect can be overly enthusiastic (“Get ALL the benefits of meditation instantly!” “Modern science can help you reach monk-like states in minutes!”), and while some studies have demonstrated entrainment, other more recent studies contend that this is more of a placebo effect. Still the following recommendations offer compelling tracks for active contemplation. Listeners will find that here, as with contemplative content generally, there is a wide range of rhetoric and objectives, from secular-scientific brain health to emotional well-being and spiritual awakening.

 

Perhaps more than any other  content on Insight Timer, these recordings depend on optimal audio reproduction. As such listeners will extract the best experience by wearing over-the-ear headphones or streaming tracks through a high-fidelity, surround sound speaker system. Two notes of caution: (1) epileptics should avoid binaural tracks and (2) while a high-quality car stereo can provide an excellent listening environment, entrainment tracks should not be played while driving as some are intended to induce relaxation and sleep. 

*Note that for ideal functionality, it is best to link to the recordings in this playlist via the Insight Timer app on your mobile device rather than through the Insight Timer website.