Music Recommendation: Dizzi Dulcimer – Dulci Solo
Fans of medieval and folk music will surely appreciate this beautiful album.
9 Morning Songs to Wake You Up
Do you listen to music in the morning? As for myself, I try not to rely on external stimulation when I begin my day. I prefer to sit in silence and meditate for a while. But sometimes (especially when I feel very sleepy) I need coffee and music. I hope you will find the following list useful.
Eivør – Morning Song
Mama Cass Elliot – Make Your Own Kind of Music
Petula Clark – Downtown
Capercaillie – Dr. MacPhail’s Reel
Bo Hannson – The Twice-Victory
Eivør – Green Garden
Eivør – Wake Me Up
Wolcensmen – Yerninge
Popol Vuh – Morning Sun
5 Positive Evening Habits
Painting: Pieter Claesz, Still Life with a Burning Candle, 1627, oil on panel.
Spread kindness
Figure out how can you make this world a little bit better place than it was the other evening. Talk to persons you like or love. Catch up with their online content and consider leaving a few positive, uplifting comments here and there. If you live with someone dear to your heart, make him or her a nice hot cup of tea or hot chocolate. Also, there is no need to initiate arguments or dramas. Focus on the positives and you will witness how this attitude makes you feel better about your own life.
Fight light pollution
Too much artificial light not only obscures the night sky dotted with numerous celestial bodies. It also negatively impacts ecosystems by bringing confusion into patterns of animal activity. Our streets and motorways are cluttered with glowing neons, billboards, and many other illuminated signs, which demand our constant attention. To make things worse, we often see the light from street lamps literally trespassing on one’s property, shining on the walls and through the windows.
Is there any way we can fight with light pollution on an individual scale? Yes, I think so. First of all, we should generally go to bed earlier (whenever it’s possible) and start using candles. Secondly, we should cover the windows with curtains every evening. Those who own cars should avoid driving after dusk.
Avoid violent or too stimulating entertainment
Oftentimes we are tempted to spend our entire evening watching that latest action or thriller movie. But it’s not very good for emotional health. The evening is a time for relaxation, not for stimulating our minds with violent images. If you want to entertain yourself, read a book or listen to some quiet music. Or just sit in silence, listening to your heartbeat.
Take a relaxing bath/shower
It’s a good idea to take a relaxing bath or a shower, in order to relieve muscle tension and to lower the level of cortisol (stress hormone). You will sleep better afterward.
Stoic self-examination
I explain the importance of this habit in the following video:
20 Albums to Listen to When You Feel Stressed or Anxious
La Ghirlandata by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 1873, oil on canvas.
It is beyond any question that the frenetic pace of life in the modern world contributes to the accumulation of all kinds of negativity in our bodies and minds. Fortunately, we can always let ourselves unwind in the magical realm of music.
I prepared a list of twenty quiet, calm, slow-paced and relaxing music albums you may want to listen to when you feel stressed, anxious or just a bit down. Enjoy!
- Brian Eno – Ambient 1: Music for Airports
- Brian Eno – Ambient 2: The Plateaux of Mirror
- Brian Eno – Discreet Music
- Harold Budd – The Pearl
- Alan Stivell – Beyond Words
- Alan Stivell – Renaissance of the Celtic Harp
- Popol Vuh – Hosianna Mantra
- Florian Fricke – Kailash
- Boreal Taiga – Arctic Remixes
- Ulver – Teachings in Silence
- Dizzi Dulcimer – Dulci Solo
- Lisa Gerrard – Twilight Kingdom
- Enya – The Celts
- Grouper – Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill
- Julianna Barwick – Nepenthe
- Agnes Obel – Philharmonics
- Vangelis – L’apocalypse des animaux
- Jan Garbarek – Rites
- Hans-Joachim Roedelius – Einfluss
- Enigma – MCMXC a.D.
Eventide Contemplation
I sit beside the fire and think
of all that I have seen
of meadow-flowers and butterflies
in summers that have been;
Of yellow leaves and gossamer
in autumns that there were,
with morning mist and silver sun
and wind upon my hair.
I sit beside the fire and think
of how the world will be
when winter comes without a spring
that I shall ever see.
For still there are so many things
that I have never seen:
in every wood in every spring
there is a different green.
I sit beside the fire and think
of people long ago
and people who will see a world
that I shall never know.
But all the while I sit and think
of times there were before,
I listen for returning feet
and voices at the door.
Forgotten Roots 