Journey to the Center

A guided meditation for relaxation, track 6 from Sambodhi Prem’s new album, The Rise of Summer

Music by Sambodhi Prem (sambodhiprem.com)
Voice by Anando
You can download or stream the album from SambodhiPrem.lnk.to

The story

I have listened to many guided relaxations and meditations in my day, and have sometimes felt that the field could be expanded with a more whimsical approach… always retaining the similar arc of meditation and love; but adding a new depth to these kind of experiences.

I set out to write a meditative journey with music that involves the narrator as much as the listener. Most of the offerings in this field are spoken by female voices, that help the listener to relax and be in the moment, but without ever revealing where they themselves might be at or including themselves. They are more instructional. This is almost like an unspoken rule. I wanted to break that rule and have the narrator speak largely from the first person, so that ‘We are all in this together’.

I hold that the listener contributes as much to the music in the moment as do the musicians, making it circular, so this approach fits well for me in witnessing the moment.

When we were visiting Anando, I discussed this meditative journey I had in mind, and she generously agreed to be the vocal artist.

We went to Kamal Engels’ studio near Mullumbimby, NSW, to record Journey to the Center with the music I had written.

I had brought my guitar and some equipment and we decided to record the journey simultaneously, with the vocal and the music being recorded in one sitting.

I had done a lot of preparation to come to this point, and it is probably good to say a little about that. At home in my studio I had made many test recordings in order to have the script and the music fit together perfectly (as Swiss-Germanic as poss!).

I’m grateful to Sandipa who spoke the words during these test recordings while I was composing the music. A lot of movement and change happened to both the vocal and music aspects as the piece slowly revealed itself, to where we felt we had arrived at an inspirational creation which sat well enough for recording with beloved Anando.

Anando looked over the script and was happy with what I had written, suggested some minor changes and then it was off to the studio. Anando was wonderful to work with and very professional. We recorded this journey whilst in a beautiful flow with everyone together.

I had given myself the license to break into poetry:

“Time would compress and time would expand, like lights travelling across the sky…”

As I was mentioning before, this journey draws the listener from the personal to the shared experience of witnessing:

“Every day I take a step, I take a breath…
Every day you take a step, you take a breath…

Every day a new day…
a new harmony, a new dissonance, a new understanding,

… and a new silence…”

This offering is better experienced than described, and I hope it will create a meditative space with music and spoken words, like it did for us when we were recording it.

I am always interested in exploring the silence that contains the sounds, the music. To have a silent pool of restfulness in the middle of my album, The Rise of Summer, I feel could be of benefit for the listener to travel into a place of witnessing – and perhaps to be able to enjoy the following music from this place of depth.

Featured image: Awakening: New Dawn, by Sandipa, 88 x 152 cm, mixed media on canvas – sandipa.com.au