Hearing Sounds During Meditation
11 Unusual Sounds You May Experience and Their Meaning
1. Hearing Bells During Meditation
A bell holds spiritual symbolism and significance throughout society and culture across the world. It is said to symbolize beginnings and endings within our lives. Some like to believe that sensations, thoughts, sounds, and feelings that they experience during their meditative practice hold spiritual significance and come with a deeper meaning or message from their higher selves. In this case, hearing bells during your meditation may be an indicator of the end or beginning of a chapter in your life. They may simply be a reminder that change is always for the better.
2. Hearing Your Heartbeat During Meditation
Meditation can cause our body to be heightened in such a way that even the tiniest of sensations can suddenly appear to be extremely intense and obvious. One of these sensations that exist daily but normally go unnoticed is our heartbeat. It is a very common occurrence for meditators to report being distracted by the intensity of their heartbeat during meditation. It is important to educate yourself on the way our senses change during meditation so that you can simply acknowledge the presence of your heartbeat and move past it rather than placing your attention on it. If you feel that you cannot remove yourself from the distraction of your heartbeat during meditation, you can begin to utilize it as a form of mantra counting. With each heartbeat, repeat a small mantra. In this way, you can continue to practice focus during your meditation.
3. Hearing Birds Chirping During Meditation
Hearing sounds during your meditation is often simply caused by the heightened state of your senses. During our practice, we notice sensations and sounds that we would normally look past. One of these sounds may be birds outside your window that often become categorized as background noise in our minds. During meditation, we may focus more on the sensations surrounding us and notice the bird sounds. In a spiritual context, birds represent elevation, enlightenment, hope, and wisdom. Hearing bird chirping noises during your meditation may be your higher self communicating messages to you. Understand that hearing noises during meditation is a completely normal experience and is a sign that you are on the correct path in your meditation journey.
4. Hearing Om Sound During Meditation
Hearing Om sound during your meditation is a special experience that differs from hearing other sounds. For most other sounds that may be heard during practice, it is recommended that you do not place your focus on it and simply acknowledge its presence. In contrast, when hearing Om sound during your meditation it is recommended to concentrate deeply on the sound as it is the sound of god. Indian monk, Paramhansa Yogananda says, “Aum fills the brain; its vibration moves down the spine, bursting open the door of the heart’s feeling, then flowing out into the body. The whole body vibrates with the sound of Aum”. It is said to allow yourself to flow in this sound and feel it deeply. To deepen the experience in meditation, listen intensely and try to immerse your consciousness more and more in that sound.
5. Hearing High Pitched Sounds When Meditating
Hearing high-pitched sounds during or after your meditation practice are known to be a sign of deep, spiritual awakening. During meditation, our vibrations are increased, and we become far more attuned to higher cosmic frequencies. It has been reported that often these high-frequency sounds can be experienced alongside feelings of lightheadedness or seeing yourself from a bird’s eye view perspective. Often small sounds that normally go unnoticed become amplified when meditating due to the silence and the heightened state of our senses. Remember that feeling, seeing, and hearing different sensations during your meditation practice is entirely normal and extremely common. The best way to approach these sensations is to acknowledge their existence and validity without focusing too much of your attention on them. Overall, hearing or not hearing high-pitched sounds during your meditation is not indicative of good or bad practice.
6. Hearing Buzzing Sounds While Meditating
Hearing sounds during meditation practice is common and often has an underlying meaning. There are two different possible explanations for hearing buzzing during your meditation. The first is a sign of the spiritual awakening of the third eye. Often, however, people mistake this spiritual awakening for a much more common explanation: tinnitus. Tinnitus is the perception of sound without the presence of a corresponding external sound. This misinterpretation of sound often occurs following long periods of intense concentration and tension around the forehead, head, and ears. Sometimes these sounds can be heard even at times where meditation has not occurred. It is also possible for buzzing to be a sound that is constantly present but only noticeable when your senses are heightened during meditation.
7. Hearing Cricket Sounds During Meditation
Often when you practice consistent spiritual practice using mantras or Om, you may begin to notice signs of your progress. Sometimes these signs come in the form of a new sensation during your practice – in this case, hearing a new sound. These signs should not be viewed as achievements necessarily but instead, indicators that you are progressing on the correct path. There is said to be a sequence of sounds that are common to hear during the progression of your spiritual journey. First on this sequence is “Chinni” which is described to be a single sound, heard occasionally, like a single chirrup of a cricket. Next in the sequence is “Chinni Chinni” which is a sound like crickets but tinkling-like and pleasant. Essentially these sounds are normal and simply indicative of positive movement along the right path towards your end spiritual goal. Ensure that you do not spend too much time and energy focusing on these sounds, simply acknowledge that they are a positive sign.
8. Hearing Celestial Sounds During Meditation
During meditation, we are in a quiet space and our senses are heightened which makes sensations including noises far more intense than they normally are. One of these sounds is celestial style white noise. Hearing celestial sounds during meditation is not an experience reported by many as the sound itself is hard to define and easily confused with simple white noise. Within spiritual context, the sky, moon, and sun are categorized as celestial and have associations with freedom and imagination. The sky is an endless entity that encourages growth and exploration. Despite celestial sounds being less common than other sounds during meditation, they are still completely normal and natural.
9. Hearing Messages During Meditation
A major part of mastering meditation is gaining the ability to silence the fluctuations of your mind and associated internal monologue. Our internal monologue often expresses unconscious thoughts that we may not recognize in day-to-day life – these thoughts are magnified during our meditation practice due to the heightened state of our senses. When hearing specific messages during your meditation, it is possible that it is your higher self-communicating with you and allowing for spiritual connection. It is important however to simply acknowledge the presence of this message and allow it to flow over you during practice rather than fixating your attention on it and attempting to unravel its details. Being able to meditate without your internal monologue being present is a difficult skill that requires a large amount of patience and practice.
10. Hearing Music During Meditation
Hearing music during meditation practice is a common occurrence. It has been especially reported by those who have music as a significant aspect of their days (e.g. musicians, those who work in stores that have music playing in the background). Hearing music whilst meditating can be frustrating as it may appear to be a distracting factor. Meditation is not an easy exercise and it requires extreme amounts of patience and trust to reach the point of meditating without your internal monologue being present – music is similar to this internal monologue. Our minds are accustomed to multitasking and running a constant commentary in the background. One method of attempting to stop this internal music is to replace it with white noise during your practice – playing white noise can give your mind something to subconsciously focus on in replacement of the music.
11. Hearing Words During Meditation
Hearing specific words during meditation is a common occurrence. It is often a sign that your mind is focused on this specific word and you have not yet mastered the ability to enter a state of pure relaxation and connection with your higher self. One method of moving past hearing repetitive words during your meditation can be having a notebook and pen beside you and writing the word down beside you – this way you consciously are aware that you do not need to continue repeating this word to remember and recognize it.