In my last post, I mentioned trying out Dragon Rising's free trial "Winds of Change" meditation audio, but failing to get anything out of it. This was not necessarily because of any problem inherent in the audio itself, so much as the fact that I have a persistent dry cough at the moment that's showing no signs of going away; and my meditation session was constantly being interrupted as I doubled over into coughing spasms. This is not going to make for a relaxing meditation session in anyone's book, so I figured it would make sense for me to call it quits that particular evening, and try again later.
OK, well, this morning, I tried again; and you know, I think I like the audio. It's not so much what I'd usually think of as a 'guided meditation' - it's more a description of a scene (and an incredibly vivid, imagery-laden, poetic description at that), that leaves me not so much with the impression of having undertaken an inner journey, as just with an intuitive sense of possibility and.. hope, I guess.
It started purely with the sound of a rainstorm; and that seemed real enough to me that I could feel myself, walking along a road, caught in a flash summer downpour - feeling the rain splashing on my skin, and my clothes plastering themselves to my limbs. Slowly, the storm eased and stopped, the music kicked in, and Sylvia Hartmann's vocals began to describe the sensation of feeling the wind approaching. Her words wove complex images of the places the wind had blown before it reached me, and I found myself totally entranced by it - caught up in the descriptions of sights and sounds and smells.
Looking back on it, I think that I enjoyed this audio mainly because I was in the right frame of mind for it at the time; and because I found it easy, when the storm sounds started, to just slip into trance state. It occurs to me that there was no deliberate lead-in into relaxation or trance-state - that state where your conscious mind with all its judgements and comparisons is... not completely quiet, but at least quieter. So perhaps if you're not used to doing this for yourself, you won't get so much out of the audio - I'm fairly certain that If I'd just been listening to it in normal, waking headspace, I would have been left with a kind of 'OK, so what exactly was the point of that?' reaction.
As it was, I did enjoy it, and I'm seriously thinking about buying the full audio to try it out - at least I am once I've finished listening through all the free and trial audios I've collected!
Blessings, and I hope your meditation practice is going well.
Starfire
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2 comments:
hey starfire,
i'm enjoying your posts and your comments as well...thank you for offering your ideas. i'm relatively new to blogging, and it's lovely to have a dialog with like-minded folks. as for audio to accompany meditation, i've been wanting to try this out...i find certain tones and repetitive chords greatly help me find my way into light trance.
anyway, i appreciate your enthusiasm and discipline. definitely stay in touch.
blessings,
lucid
Heya Lucid
Thanks so much for your comments - it's a huge boost to know someone's reading (I try to write in such a way that if people *are* reading, they're prompted to respond, but you never know until someone comments :-) )
With respect to meditation audios - I wrote a few days back on what these are for me. They're not integral to my practice, but I really do enjoy them. I get the same pleasure out of them that I get out of, say, reading a reasonably book or watching a similar quality movie.
There are a few sites that offer free downloadable audios (Dragon Rising is one, so's Meditainment.com) - and it occurred to me that I could review each of the audios as I listened through them, both for myself, and for anyone who was interested.
I'm glad you're enjoying it (and yep, I definitely have your blog on my reader too!) Thanks so much again for letting me know your thoughts.
Blessings
Starfire
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