There are many different ways we chill out and relax, and many different types of music to accompany our own particular needs both emotionally and in terms of our focus. I tend towards the more atmospheric kind as my mind, being somewhat busy can often get distracted by music with words or distinct motifs and melodies.Over the last few months Ive found some really good ones and so Im going to share them for you here! (These are in no particular order)

Relaxing Meditation Music Listen to this track

Robert Rich is a fascinating character. In the 80s he was known for his large concerts at night time held entirely for sleeping audiences! People would come in at 10pm and sleep through to 7am when Robert would serve them tea! Amazing.

Roberts music is incredibly diverse and yet remains in largely within the realms of ambience in that its spacious and promotes relaxation. However, he is a true artist and explores different realms within his work so not all of his stuff works for me.

Im still exploring his massive collection of work but so far Nest has been the most useful for me in terms of promoting relaxation and my therapeutic work. Based around the theme of nature and internal spaces, the album begins with simple bird song and goes through a number of poignantjourneys. However, although there is pathos in the album, I have never felt sad whilst being with it.

Its a stunning work to guide and help with meditation and is often at the top of my meditation playlists.

Theres something incredibly ethereal about this album. Max Corbacho is brilliant at evoking reverence, space and a feeling of well the cosmos. Much of his work seems, bright, icy & celestial.

Ars Lucis has a vast sense of space within it. Inspired by cathedrals and the way light pours in through colouredwindows,Gorbacho spaces the highbell-like textures and low rumbling music far apart from one another. I find my mind benefits greatly from this construction as there is so much space within the track, and onedoes not feel cluttered by the music.

Not the blinding light from outside but light filtered through high windows of coloured glass, broken and transformed into coloured gems, transferring that which is material to That which is immaterial. (Gorbacho)

Corbachos Ars Lucis is about as non-invasive and atmospheric as music gets. Theres deliberately nothing to hold on to and so the mind is held & the body can breath without distraction. It is atmospheric and reverent music at its best.

Like many, if not all of my favourite composers, Rudy Adrian is connected deeply to nature and this ultimately features in his work. He studied botany and forestry science when he was younger, going on to then to film music and atmospheric composition.Twighlight, Desert Realms and Par Avion are just some of his albums, but my chosen album for relaxation is 2005s MoonWater.

MoonWater features water sounds (surprised?), nature sound at night and piano. What more could you want in a relaxation album? The album does not stay at the sea but moves into other realms, exploring light, darkness and space. At the end, we are returned gently to the sea, before two live tracks of Adrians Three Views of a Japanese Garden. These last two are stunning and pull thematic feelings from the album into a different light interspersed with stunning ethnic-sounding vocals drifting in and out.

Calming OceanMusic Buythis track

Pat Metheny is a huge Jazz artist with a massive scope. As well as maintaining a high level career in contemporary jazz, he often comes out with fringe albums like this one, and spacious/contemplative music forms a corepart of his musical identity. Methenys guitar playing on this album is rendered with large-scale reverbs and delays giving great wash to his already incredible sounding guitar and guitar playing.

Ive set a number of his tracks to wake me up gently in the morning, allowing my transition from sleeping to waking to be as relaxed and slow as I like.

The king of ambient guitar drifts and textures, Jeff Pierce is well known to the new age music community. What I admire about Jeff is just how many sounds he gets out of the guitar and how many textures & spaces he creates.This album, With Evening Above explores the feeling of night time and while largely being made from atmospheric textures, it is sprinkled with Pearces distinctive guitar playing.

At all times, his playing is gentle and and thought provoking. Its paced and powerful. Whilst for some it might not be good as meditation music, it certainly can be used as music for yoga, tai chi or movement. The rhythmical guitar playing is broad and un-focused in a good way. Pearce uses delay, reverb and multi layering which causes more of the wash type effect, allowing your mind to de-hinge from any particularly melodic content.

Relaxing Spa Music with Water Sounds Buythis track

Officium is aseminal album recorded by some of the top Jazz and Classical musicians in the world. Recordedin a vast Austrian monastery, the ensemble consists of foursingers (The Hilliard Ensemble) and Jan Garbarekon Soprano and Tenor Saxophones.

I dont listen to lots of choral musical at the moment but this album is truly stunning. The voices are so pure and clear, the recording so crisp and fresh that I feel complete serenity when I listen to it. The arrangements that the three singers explore within the monasteries acoustic, sometimes feel like great waves of sound, and over the top, Garbareks soprano saxophone sings beautifully. When one thinks of saxophones and relaxing music, one can often assume more seedymusic, but this is truly powerful and authentic playing.

Some people relax to heavier, more rhythmical music. I remember sleeping to RageAgainstTheMachine in the car when I was a teenager weirdI know

This album by David Helping & Jon Jenkins includes drums. Drums!? For relaxing! Yes however, whats marvellous about it is that the whole album is highly compressed, which means squashed in terms of its dynamics. Basically the difference between quiet sounds and louder ones are smaller giving the ear a more continuous bath-like experience.

Im a big fan of relaxing workouts paced workouts. I used to only feel happy if id pushed myself to the brink of pain during running and weights. Now however, especially in the morning, Im looking for music that allows me to warm up without pressure or intensity. Found and much of Davids work with Jon Jenkins is helping me do this. If you want to know more about relaxing warm-up music, make sure you post in the comments below.

The album also has some wonderfully space-filled tracks like Only Ashes and Almost Never. But at its heart its an album for movement and positive visualisation. I find myself connecting with emotions of passion, purpose and power when I listen to this, but all from a place of centred-ness and calm.

These guys are some of my favourite composer/producers and actually have their own podcast about their music you can check it out here.

Recorded in his rural New Jersey home studio in 1997, this is a homely, dry and warm selection of some of Jazzs most folk-like and melodic ballads. This is my perfect album for relaxing to at the end of the day, or playing outside during drinks etc. Keith Jarrett is quite a firey artist sometimes, but during the recording he was suffering with an affliction that meant he had to stay at home, and the result was this entirely relaxed and slow-paced album.

Reflective and hugely melancholic, this album is still full of positivity and warmth which is an amazing feat. Theres great peace and serentity in Jarretts playing and one never feels rushed. Its an album to slow down with, its music to have a bath with you get it check it out .

This album is mesmeric and incredibly powerful, left to last not because it is better but because it is particular. Preisner is a stunning composer who writes direct, simple, tonal neo-romantic music and produces it in very interesting ways. But in my opinion its certainly an album to be with 100% as opposed to doing other things, as there is a wealth of material and the whole album is a real journey. Based on texts from the Book of Job, this project explores large themes within tracks like To Sleep, To Dream, To Know.

Check these out and let me know what you think!

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10 Best Relaxing Music Albums, for Meditation and Movement.