If (like me) you spend many hours on a computer, having some music in the background can really make the difference in what kind of day you have. Here are four pieces of music that are perfect for listening to during or after work to relieve tension and help you relax:
Sri Chinmoy
As this site is inspired by The Jewels of Happiness book, it is worth mentioning that the author Sri Chinmoy was also a noted performer of meditative music who gave many concerts for peace at venues all around the world. At the start of these concerts, Sri Chinmoy would enter, humbly bow to the audience, and then meditate, enabling thousands of people to participate in shared moments of peace and silence. Then Sri Chinmoy would play his own compositions on a variety of different instruments, including flute. This flute performance is from a 1984 concert in Melbourne, Australia.
Agnikana’s Group
Many of Sri Chinmoy’s meditation students have also been inspired to perform his music at concerts around the world. Agnikana’s Group is one such group, most of whose members come from the small town of Zlin in the Czech Republic. When you listen to them play, you feel a sense of sitting serenely beside a stream, which washes away everything that is bothering you. This music is really a balm to the nerves.
Alap
Alap is a very highly regarded musician from Switzerland who creates compositions that have aptly been described as “musical landscapes.” The sound is very expansive, and when you listen to it you feel that all your worries are dissolving in a wide ocean of music. In some compositions he uses electronic instruments; in others he plays a wide variety of flutes, many of which he has made himself.
Boris Purushottama Grebenshikov
Boris is a household name in his native Russia, where he is endearingly referred to as its “poet laureate.” He has been singing and performing since the seventies, when he and his group Aquarium gained widespread popularity through underground channels despite being blacklisted by the Soviet authorities. His music and lyrics, which have a philosophical, enquiring nature, have drawn comparisons to Bob Dylan’s songs. You can hear this Russian singer’s dulcet tones as he narrates a chapter on the audiobook of The Jewels of Happiness. The following track is from his 2007 concert at the United Nations in New York.