Heavy metal may not be first thing you associate mindfulness with, but for many Australians, it’s a perfect match, as demonstrated on Friday when more than 250 people came together to take part in our heavy metal mindfulness live Q&A session. The video was subsequently viewed more than 4,400 times.
When people think of mindfulness, they often think that it’s about sitting quietly in a dark room or listening to ocean sounds, but really it’s about engaging your senses and being present in the moment.
Liam Frost-Camilleri, vocalist with heavy metal band Fall and Resist and an advocate for heavy metal mindfulness says heavy metal is really misunderstood by people who aren’t into it. “They can’t understand how it’s relaxing, and it doesn’t make sense to them. But it’s less about being relaxing, and more about being mindful and present in the moment.”
“There’s nothing quite like metal when you’re trying to work through difficult emotions. When you have those really extreme emotions, heavy metal can express that in a way that other music doesn’t.”
As mindfulness expert Emily Toner says, “Being mindful is all about connecting to the senses, and one of our most important senses is listening. Music has this capacity to transfix you in time and space. You can listen to a track, and time will pass and you don’t even know.”
People can experience mindfulness in a range of different ways, and we wanted to showcase and celebrate the unexpected activities people can do to practice mindfulness – such as listening to heavy metal – as part of our Live Better program.
