Recommended Music from Dr. Paul Haider

Music for Relaxation

Here are a few of my favorite pieces of music:

Harmonic Resonance – Jim Oliver
Let the Ocean Worry – Fred Weinberg and Joe Beck
Garden of Dreams – Aki Akbar Khan
Ocean Dreams – Dean Evenson
Higher Ground –Steven Halpern
Sedona Suite –Tom Barabas
Lost Oceans – John Huling
Seven Wheels of Light – Joel Andrews
Wind & Mountain – Deuter
Ocean Beach – Miramar
Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar — Dancing Cat Records
In the Key of Healing – Steven Halpern
Inner Dance – Dr. Jeffery Thompson
The Fairy Ring – Mike Rowland
Tear of the Moon – Coyote Oldman
Eternity II, a Romantic Collection – Real Music
Pachelbel’s Canon – Pachelbel–Leppard
Adagio for Strings, Op. II – Samuel Barber
Changes – Carlos Nakai
Any of the Series of Music by the Relaxation Company

Music has been used for years to control our feelings at events. Upbeat music with an energetic beat often causes people to get up and dance; it excites and energizes.
For relaxation, quieter music that is repetitive and doesn’t have a specific beat is soothing.
If you take a soft-boiled egg to a rock concert and set it on the edge of the stage, by the time the concert is over, it will harden, because loud noise has been found to coagulate protein. So what does loud noise do for our bodies and minds? If the egg is any indication about what loud noise can do, I’m staying home and avoiding those harmful effects!

There are all types of relaxing music: New Age, Classical, World/Ethnic and Light Jazz. Personal taste in music plays a big role. Some people find soft rock relaxing, and classical music lovers might prefer listening to Mozart. Choose what works for you. Whatever the type of music, just breathe it in and let it relax your muscles and nerves.

Some of the most relaxing sounds are sounds from nature. Many of us hear a call to return to nature, and the sound of a cooing dove or a trickling stream can be very relaxing. The ocean with its crashing waves induce relaxation. If you can’t hear it from where you are, you can get it on CD or tape.
Whatever the music, try to stay away from music with a distinctive beat. Otherwise, the beat takes over our minds and all we think about is the beat. But in certain instances a beat can be good. Indian drumming or our own heartbeat have the ability to carry us far away to another place and keep our minds away from our daily thoughts.