In 2019, we’re taking self care seriously at The Collective. That’s why we’ve started our event series Self Care Sundays, bringing the best of meditation, mindfulness, hand craft and soothing skincare to our Sunday workshops. One of our favourites is Mindful Meditation with Levitate, a drop-in meditation studio in London, a monthly Self Care Sundays sesh at The Collective to help us get centred. Following last Sunday’s workshop, Levitate founder Ryan Nell curated for us a mindfulness playlist of songs to to zen out this week. Grab your meditation mat and let the calming vibes wash over you.

While I tend to meditate in silence, there is a huge place in my heart for music which has the power to transport me to a beautiful mind space. This playlist I’ve assembled is a selection of music that I listen to when I want to chill out, take my foot of the pedal, and enjoy some restorative down time.

Ryan, Levitate

Ryan’s picks:

Silvio Piesco’s “Contemplation” – I fell in love with Silvio’s soundtrack of Michael O’Neill’s gorgeously shot film, On Yoga: The Architecture of Peace. The film itself features some of the world’s finest spiritual teachers talking about what meditation and yoga mean to them. It’s on Netflix, so if you haven’t watched it, I reckon you might want to add it to your list.

Field Works & Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith’s “Kinematic Wave” – At 9 minutes long, just let this wash over you as you zone out completely. Smith’s vocals and glitchy production merge beautifully with Stuart Hyatt’s (Field Works) field recordings of natural sounds.

Fourtet’s “Two Thousand and Seventeen” – The virtuoso producer’s back catalogue contains many gems, but I’ve picked this from his most recent album, for its ethereal looped instrumentation and the sonic world he creates with it.

Max Cooper’s “Fragments of Self” – A gloriously glitchy piano loop fully capable of transporting the listener somewhere dreamy, with its accompanying bed of natural sound and pared-back production.

Susumu Yokata’s “Tobiume” – It puts me into a zen-like state every time I hear it. Taken from his 2000 album “Sakura” (cherry blossom), I’ve been listening to and admiring the otherworldly beauty of this track for almost two decades. This is the ultimate winding down tune to be played late at night, just before you climb under your duvet.

MC Yogi’s “Shanti (Peace Out)” – The perfect way to end this playlist. Northern Californian native Nicholas Giacomini fuses his love of hip-hop and yoga for a global sound that defies categories and transports me to a totally zen, blissed-out place.

♣