Jamming

[Walter D. Roy]

My question is whether once you "jam" on an instrument, if this can be equivalent to a sort of transcendental meditation.

I notice that if I spend 30 minutes to 1 hour of just solo jamming, whether it be hitting random notes, or laying down a groove that I can get into. I get a very clear mind afterward, and feel more at peace. This is similar to how I feel if I meditate for the same amount of time.

My guess is that is IS like meditation, just because you forget your thinking and sort of move into the moment. Especially when you improve on your own groove.

Any thoughts you guys have? Agree/disagree?

P.S. I did play bass once on a very light dose of aya and it was amazing! I also love playing after smoking some cannabis. But would this reach the same goal for a clear mind?

 

[anrchy]

I have many a time gone into a trance/game face mode while jamming on my guitar. And i agree 100%, it is definitely a type of meditation, your mind stops thinking and you become the instrument. You feel the sounds coming out and have no need to pre-think your future notes. My best riffs have come during this.

Just about everytime i would end up in such a trance that I would start to drool really bad. I also get this from playing the drums, snowboarding, and a couple other things as well. I am kind of a introvert, and I believe this leads to my ability to enter this mode easily. Sadly, i have no drive to play guitar any longer and it just sits on my wall. And I really want to play drums but they are pretty spendy. Not sure if i wanna purchase or not.

 

[DMTripper]

That's definitely a form of meditation.
I don't play any instrument but I like to sometimes make some beats and bass lines on some music programs on my computer and that has always felt like meditation for me. I get lost init. Hours can pass and I can feel some flow. Maybe not the same but related

 

[anrchy]

That's definitely a form of meditation.
I don't play any instrument but I like to sometimes make some beats and bass lines on some music programs on my computer and that has always felt like meditation for me. I get lost init. Hours can pass and I can feel some flow. Maybe not the same but related

I think thats completely relative. I have the same thing happen when doing different things on the computer, photoshop, editing videos ect.

 

[Guyomech]

That's that place we call The Zone. I don't play an instrument but I paint, and I imagine it's a very similar kind of meditative trance: focused yet relaxed, easy to let go and let the paint (or music) flow... The less you try to control it, the better. Time changes. Thoughts take on a certain detached clarity. I believe this is in the same spectrum as tripping, maybe equivalent to 10-15ug LSD. The "runners high" effect is very similar too.

When I paint, I usually smoke weed first. Longstanding habit. But on some occasions I won't, and I find that once I put on the music and start painting, I'll end up in pretty much exactly the same space as if I were stoned. The Zone is its own kind of buzz.

 

[anrchy]

Snowboarding meditation for me is a very unique one. The snow and nature, quiet and peaceful. All you hear is shhhh from you board sliding over the snow. A very trance inducing sound for me. Some people listen to music, I just can't do it. The feeling I get from hearing the sound and flowing over the terrain, it's amazing. I wish the winter season lasted longer where I live.

 

[Gowpen]

Oh yes playing guitar, skiing , staring at a fish tank, busy road, people watching...all forms of meditation . Even my work is meditation.

Great stuff

 

[endlessness]

Def playing an instrument is a great form of moving meditation through intuitive playing. I have played the guitar many times on acid, shrooms, pharma and aya, and had great experiences with all of them (and some days when I also couldnt play at all).

Indeed different activities can be meditation, but busy road, really? lol that's way too stressful for me to be meditative

 

[jdubs]

In one Buddhism book I read it said that the definition of meditation is focus. It may have been a Zen one, but don't quote me on that. It may also have been Tibetan.

Anyway, it was during a section about giving every task, however mundane, your undivided, very focused attention. This could be washing up, painting a wall, or whatever. If you wash a pot, focus on every curve and sensation of how it feels in your hands, the temperature of the water, etc. This is meditation.

Whether it be focusing on the breath, the feet while walking, or playing a guitar, the essence of focus is the same.

 

[Seldom]

Interesting thoughts. In the Tibetan tradition the word for meditation is 'gom, which translated literally means familiarization. didj is supremely meditative, and i agree it can be practiced in any situation where it's possible to cultivate a non grasping awareness of the moment .. i don't think it's necessary to be alone, jamming is a pre-symbolic exchange of energy that can summon some crazy intense states, for eg.