Beditation - Or Winter Meditation

Do you ever get that thing where you think you've invented something new, but then when you search on-line it turns out you haven't? Well, I've just had that experience. I thought I'd coined the term beditation xD - meditating in bed essentially. However, unsurprisingly, after looking it up on the Internet it turns out the term is already in use. On-line it seems to be used to describe meditation practices that help you sleep, or alternatively meditation done whilst lying down. My intention for the term was going to be slightly different though.

I use it to describe my own form of "lazy" meditation involving music. Basically I go to bed for an hour or so, put some music on, and then just relax and let my mind wander as I drift in and out of half-sleep. I'm sure other people do this too. Normally I'll put on some experimental music, like the Binaural Beats I mentioned in my last post, or something a little more atmospheric. I really like Kid A by Radiohead for doing this actually. It depends on my mood though. I usually do this beditation in the evening time, when it's too early to go to bed properly, but late enough that I'm too tired to be bothered doing anything else.

I do sometimes do traditional meditation and other more meditative things like Yoga, and can really see the benefit of them, however I don't have the discipline to make them a regular thing. Plus it's not really suited to the British climate, especially at this time of the year. It's one thing relaxing in silence with your eyes closed on a beautiful summers day, but when you're in a wintry Middlesbrough with cold feet and very little daylight coming in through the window it isn't as attractive. Why can't you meditate snuggled up in a duvet? Does everything have to be such hard work? I'm sure there's a lazier way to relieve stress and find enlightenment.

Listening to music whilst relaxing and falling in and out of sleep is something I find particularly enjoyable. Just as your mind relaxes and wanders more freely when you're walking or travelling than it does when you're sitting or standing still it's similar with music. The changing audioscape created by the music is like the changing landscape of a journey. It helps your mind wander and go to new places.

I think I've mentioned this on-line somewhere before, that I've always been interested in the concept of hibernation. We know that some other animals dream just like we do. I wonder do bears dream? Do they dream when they hibernate? It's weird that we spend 8 hours a day sleeping and dreaming. Imagine an entire winter of it. It would be like a spiritual journey into another world.

It's a shame the term beditation is already in use really. Maybe I should just steal it anyway, as I can see my version of it taking off. I can imagine celebrity lifestyle gurus and women's magazines recommending it as the latest health fad in 12 months time or so xD complete with advice about what music to use and which stylish onesies to wear. Maybe I should start selling bear onesies to go with the Northern Lights hibernation theme?

I guess beditation will also be good practice for when I eventually go to Antarctica and have to endure the wintry nights there as well ;)

2016: Year Zero

I'm deciding to make a nice fresh clean start in 2016. First up, I'm dropping the Flat Earth hashtag. What was a genuine free-thinking investigation into the nature of the world we're living in is now morphing into something a bit more murky. I don't know where it's going so I think I'll just sidestep it all and continue doing my own thing. I'm starting to feel like the snake is eating its own tail to be honest.

Amusingly, I even recently heard the conspiracy researcher Thomas Sheridan claim that flat earthers are using binaural beats to brainwash people. Now I make songs with binaural beats, or at least I used to, and I even used them in a few of my early Flat Earth videos! To my knowledge I think I'm the only person to actually do this, in fact if you search 'Binaural Beats Flat Earth' on YouTube one of my videos pops up top of the list. So I guess I'm part of the psy-op - now I really do feel like I'm in it far too deep. I even described the music as mood and mind control on the Facebook page I created for it. Talk about being hoisted by your own petard xD

https://www.facebook.com/freckledmonkey/

For those unfamiliar a binaural beat is an auditory illusion that is created by putting two different pure tones into a listeners ears. For example, say a tone of 400hz is put in one ear and a tone of 405hz put in the other, the listener will perceive to hear a third tone of 5hz - the difference between the two. Some people believe that this third tone, effectively created by the brain, can then help move the brainwaves of the listener towards that frequency. Helping to induce a different mood.

Opinions vary about whether there is any real evidence for this actually working, however when I've listened to this type of music I've found it very useful in helping me relax. Then again, of course, this could simply be some type of placebo effect. Either way it's interesting though.

In fact, in many ways all music is about manipulating another person's mood or inducing a feeling in someone. Think of the catchy advertising jingle, or the pop song you can't get out of your head. Or how a happy song can make you feel happy, or a sad one make you feel sad :(

Or think about how you may start tapping your foot or bobbing your head automatically even though you're not consciously aware that there's even music playing in the background. Also think about how hypnotic shamanic rhythmic tribal drumming can be - whoever has the drum is in control.

In modern culture it's no different, only much more complex. I love most genres of music, but I especially admire the irresistible force of catchy pop music, especially the type that often gets labelled "Illuminati Pop Music" in the conspiracy world. That's normally the good stuff! - Rihanna, Beyonce, Lady Gaga. It has a candy-sweet addictiveness to it. Possibly even more so than what used to get labelled the "Devil's music" - Rock & Roll.

It's often said that the pen is mightier than the sword, it might be worth adding though that the guitar is mightier than the pen. I think I might continue on this theme of the power of music in 2016 actually. It might be a fitting replacement for Flat Earth, especially given that it overlaps quite neatly with mathematics and the so-called Music of the Spheres.

I'll leave this article with one of my Flat Earth videos from 2015. This one is possibly the only one that had any real merit. The rest were all a little bit crappy. It has birds, bees, UFOs, a David Icke sample ..and a binaural beat thrown in for good measure :p

Good luck in 2016 everyone :)