Music as Medicine: Honoring Black Music Month Through Mindfulness
Music as Medicine: Honoring Black Music Month Through Mindfulness
June 2026 Blog
By Travis Spencer and Kamilah Crawley
June is African American Music Appreciation Month, also known as Black Music Month. It is a time to honor the beauty, power, creativity, and global influence of Black music. From blues, jazz, gospel, country, R&B, soul, funk, hip-hop, rap, and pop to beyond, African American music has shaped the sound and spirit of American culture.
But Black music is more than entertainment. It is memory. It is testimony. It is resistance. It is a celebration. It is prayer. It is medicine.
Long before music became something we streamed, performed, or purchased, our African ancestors used rhythm, voice, drums, movement, and song as sacred tools. Music helped communities communicate, grieve, celebrate, tell stories, honor spirit, pass down wisdom, and remain connected to one another. In this way, music has always been a mindfulness practice. It brings us back to the body. It helps us notice what we feel. It reminds us who we are and where we come from.
This month, we invite you to explore music not only as something you hear, but as something you practice.
Music as Mindfulness
Mindfulness is the practice of paying attention to the present moment with openness, curiosity, and compassion. Music naturally invites us into this kind of awareness. A song can help us notice our breath, our emotions, our memories, our body sensations, and our longing for connection.
When we listen with intention, music becomes more than background noise. It becomes a place to pause. It becomes a doorway into presence.
Some music brings joy. Some music helps us cry. Some music gives us courage. Some music settles the nervous system. Some music helps us remember our ancestors. Some music helps us imagine a freer future.
This is the spirit of Sankofa—reaching back to gather the wisdom that can help us move forward. When we listen deeply to Black music, we are listening not only to sound, but to survival, creativity, and ancestral resilience.
Choosing Music as Positive Nutriment
What we take in affects how we feel. Just as food can nourish or drain the body, music can nourish or overwhelm the mind and spirit. This does not mean we must only listen to “positive” music. Sometimes grief, anger, sorrow, and truth-telling are deeply healing. The invitation is to listen with awareness.
Ask yourself:
What am I feeding my mind right now?
What does my spirit need today?
Do I need grounding, joy, release, rest, courage, or connection?
How does this song affect my breath, body, thoughts, and emotions?
Music can become a form of self-care when we choose it intentionally.
Mindfulness Practices with Music
Here are a few simple ways to practice mindfulness with music during Black Music Month:
1. Listen for One Instrument
Choose a song and focus on one instrument throughout the entire track. It might be the bassline, drums, piano, horns, guitar, or background vocals. Each time your mind wanders, gently return to that one sound.
This practice strengthens attention and helps bring the mind into the present moment.
2. Create an Emotional Support Playlist
Build a playlist based on how you want to feel. You might create separate playlists for:
Joy
Calm
Grounding
Grief and release
Motivation
Rest
Spiritual connection
Celebration
As you listen, notice what shifts in your body and mood. Let the music support what you need, rather than simply filling silence.
3. Use Instrumental Music for Grounding
Instrumental music can be especially helpful for relaxation because there are no lyrics to follow. Try sitting quietly, closing your eyes, and allowing the rhythm or melody to guide your breathing.
Notice the rise and fall of sound. Notice the spaces between notes. Notice how your body responds.
4. Practice Ancestral Listening
Choose a song by a Black artist from a previous generation. Listen with the question: What wisdom, struggle, beauty, or message is being carried here?
Allow yourself to reflect on the lives, communities, and histories that shaped the music.
5. Share a Song with Community
Music connects us. This month, invite friends, family, or community members to share a song that helps them feel grounded, joyful, or uplifted. Listen together. Talk about what the song brings up. Let the music open space for story, memory, and connection.
An Invitation for June
As we celebrate African American Music Appreciation Month, may we remember that Black music has always been a source of healing, liberation, creativity, and collective care.
This June, we invite you to listen with intention. Let the music bring you home to your breath. Let it soften what needs care. Let it energize what needs movement. Let it remind you that our people have always known how to turn pain into beauty, rhythm into resilience, and song into freedom.
What song helps you feel grounded, joyful, or connected?
Share it with us, add it to your playlist, or offer it to someone who may need a little nourishment today.
Much peace, and happy African American Music Appreciation Month.