If listening to the repetitive beats of techno and electronic dance music can have a similar effect on the brain to meditation, is it time to mix the two and seek inner quiet via rhythm?

Meditation has been practised for millennia and its benefits have long been known. It’s been proven to lower cortisol, increase focus and, when finely tuned, offer a route to higher levels of self-awareness and calm. But it’s not always an easy skill to master. This is where electronic dance music (EDM) can play a role. While the benefits of listening to it are a more recent phenomenon and scientific opinions of them vary, it’s considered by some to be a useful tool for a healthy mind.

Full immersion

When feeling disconnected or burned out, music can help. It’s grounding on a physical, mental and emotional level, and being fully immersed in sound encourages a focus on the present and can help quieten incessant mental chatter. Techno is a genre of electronic dance music that has a tempo of around 120 to 150 beats per minute (bpm). While it uses synths, samples and heavy percussion, it’s really all about the bass, the deep rhythmic element that underpins all techno tracks. And it’s these hard, repetitive beats that help calm the mind into a pure meditative state. It’s also the reason clubbers can slip into a trance and lose all sense of time, space and self on the dance floor. All kinds of music genres have the power to elevate mood, but some believe that techno affects the body and mind on many different levels.