A pilot study investigating preferred background sounds during mindfulness meditation: What would you like to hear?

Abstract

Music and meditation have affirmative effects on the parasympathetic nervous system. To investigate individual preferences for background sounds during meditation, using a series of paired, forced-choice comparisons. Interventions included music with a distinct melody (one sample) and without a distinct melody (MWDM) (three samples), nature sounds with embedded alpha brainwave pulses (one sample), alpha brainwave pulses alone (one sample), and silence. Participants rated how much they liked hearing a sample during meditation and whether they felt they could meditate deeply while listening to it. Heart rhythm coherence scores were recorded using HeartMath emWavePro software and hardware. Participants were ranked as novice or adept meditators (NM vs AM) based on coherence scores. Rankings were based on preference selections, rating scales, and coherence scores. Rankings were highest for silence and MWDM. AMs preferred silence, followed by MWDM. NMs preferred listening to MWDM during meditation. Those with greater experience preferred meditating in silence. A preference was also seen for a composition style that incorporated altering arrhythmic and rhythmic patterns, and alternating asynchronous and synchronous patterns. These results indicate a compelling case for further research investigating meditation, music, and the potential interactive effect of the two on mind, body, and personal performance.