Staying Engaged: A Case for Meditation & Music
Julia Kugel Montoya
Welcome to the New Decade. 2020 has surely been a transformative year...and we’re only halfway through. Great (and some arguably quite positive) shifts in global consciousness have been spurred by crises and unrest. First Covid-19 arrived, and seemingly overnight our lives were turned upside down. In response, businesses and schools shut down, shelter in place orders were assigned, and masks in public were made mandatory. Unsurprisingly, every order, every decision regarding the pandemic has been excruciatingly controversial. On May 25, 2020, the death of George Floyd spurred another great shift in world social consciousness. The brutal murder of Mr. Floyd resulted in a heartbroken outcry for justice from his Minneapolis community and soon, the world. Protests have been organized all over the planet in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, an organization dedicated to confronting the systemic disease of racism and oppression. Although the officers in that case were eventually arrested and charged, the conversation is far from over. Feels like every day more and more information is revealed while the world spins faster and faster. As we move forward and confront the pains of our collective history, we must develop strategies to deal with the emotions that arise.
The acceleration and transformation we feel can be attributed to the celestial shift into a new era, sometimes referred to as the Age of Aquarius. The shift began in 2012 when the Mayan calendar ended, famously marking the “end of the world.” Until then we had been living in the Piscean Age, marked by hierarchy, power and an insatiable need to belong and believe in something beyond oneself. Charismatic religious leaders, daring political personalities and all kinds of celebrities were able to achieve god-like status. During the last age, a myth permeated humanity that only a chosen few were blessed with the keys to life, and the rest were to follow blindly. The “chosen few” wrote our history books, set our moral standards, and enacted laws pertaining to our freedoms. And then we hit 2012 and entered the new Age of Aquarius! Networks, information, and a powerful belief in self are the overarching themes of the Aquarian Age. Over the next few thousand years, the need for leadership outside oneself will be replaced with a belief in the power and wisdom of the individual. A leader of one: yourself. Right now, every person on the planet is sharing a unique transition into a new and dynamic society.
This paradigm shift has the potential for exponential growth. We could be heading toward a world where the old-era social constructs are eradicated. Many social movements gaining speed over the past few years have advanced us toward this transfer of power. The Me Too movement, started by a few women with little social prestige, succeeded in destabilizing the unspoken Hollywood system and inspired a cultural dialogue about the misuse of male power. The Black Lives Matter movement has been instrumental in strides towards police accountability, social awareness of racism and the problem of privilege. The Extinction Rebellion movement has made global environmental issues its priority and the LGBTQ+ movement has been making strides towards legal equality. There are a great many people working together to expand and uplift our collective consciousness. But for those who mistrust change, this time brings a lot of discomfort and suffering, along with a longing for the “old ways.” Makes sense then that “Make America Great Again” was the slogan that Trump rode all the way to the White House. Fear is a common reaction to change and can be a great impediment to progress. But even fear can be confronted and transcended.
Our personal actions are in fact political statements. Right now, taking care of our mental health is the most socially responsible thing we can do. As we confront our cultural and historical demons, feelings of sadness, anger, helplessness and even guilt could surface, requiring self-reflection to truly take hold of the soul. Stepping away from news and social media is vital in trying to find our own voice, our own power in the matter. If we don’t tend to the needs of our frazzled brains, we may be plagued with mental fatigue and depression. If we don’t acknowledge and tend to our own development, then we are simply spreading further chaos into the world, even when the intention is to help. We need to keep engaged and interested, level headed and strategic. Daily meditation is an easy way to purge the emotion but retain the knowledge.
Meditation is an ancient, somewhat mysterious idea, and a practice that varies in cultures around the world. Universally though, it has been shown to increase mental clarity and emotional stability. One study found that students who engaged in a meditative practice showed lower levels of perceived stress, and greater levels of self-control, engagement, emotional awareness, and distress tolerance. Traditionally, meditation is sitting alone quietly with your thoughts or trying to have no thoughts at all. But a modern meditative practice can look like a lot of varied activities. Yes, some people have the patience and time to sit with their thoughts, but others choose to walk, cook, or garden to clear their minds. A meditative moment may be as simple as taking three long deep breaths and looking at a picture you particularly enjoy or as intense as a two-hour yoga class. As long as there is a connection between mind and body, and an effort is made to touch back in with the world in a real way, it doesn’t seem to matter. Constant connection with others means that now, more than ever, we need to make sure to connect with ourselves. In fact, in the modern world, any time spent away from technology can be qualified as a meditative practice.
Incorporating music into meditation is combining two disciplines that both boast tremendous healing power. Music is the art of sound, expression and connection. Music therapy has been shown to reduce anxiety and the physical effects of stress, improve healing, and reduce symptoms of depression and other psychological disorders. Ever since the 1960s, music has been used to enhance communication and cognitive abilities in children with Autism. Music therapy is even credited with helping Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords to regain her speech after she survived a bullet wound to the brain in 2011. There is no shortage of evidence that listening to and playing music is therapeutic across ages, genders, and nationalities. It’s a universal, global healer. Listening to music that makes you feel good is an amazing way to instantly change your brain chemistry and ease your body out of the physical crisis of anxiety.
Music is inherently meditative, but making music is also evocative and cathartic. Creation is a connection to the world in an exceptional way. When creation is paired with expression, a hugely meditative and therapeutic transference of energy occurs. Music is able to manipulate the subconscious into expressing itself in a regenerative way. The shift in focus from world to self, coupled with the acceptance of suppressed emotion, is the valve release of the pressure-cooked brain. I am speaking of the kind of music making that is either improvisational or rehearsed. Is not about the result: the noise created is not for judgment or commerce. It is the act itself that is the meditation. To some, it can feel intimidating or frightening to create, but overcoming those fears is part of the meditation as well. There is much growth that can result from trying something awkward: discomfort grows into comfort and then magic happens. “Magic” is the freedom of self-affirmation and a connection to the universal language of sound, patterns, and waves.
A daily practice of meditation is one of the keys to managing the transition into the new world of information and transformation. It may be the difference between living consciously and being immobilized by fear, despair and anger when things start to feel overwhelming. We have a presidential election on the horizon, and I don’t imagine it will be any less emotional than what we have been experiencing. So do your part, stay informed and connected, but know you are no good to anybody unless you are good to yourself. So be good to yourself and let’s keep going!
Photo by Scott Montoya
Julia Kugel Montoya is the guitarist for The Coathangers and has a new project called Soft Palms with her husband Scott Montoya. Soft Palms debut album comes out late Summer 2020 on Everloving Records. Watch the video for their first single, “Rainbows”, here.
