Above & Beyond release beautiful ‘Flow State: Healing with Nature’ meditative album: Listen

As Above & Beyond fans will know, meditation and yoga is a massive part of their music and live shows, with them often opening up shows with group yoga sessions and having also previously released the meditative body of work ‘Flow State’ comprised of nothing but the trio’s sounds. Now, they have delighted fans and have dropped the next in their ‘Flow State’ series, ‘Flow State: Healing with Nature’.

‘Flow State: Healing with Nature’ is – as the title suggests – all about letting the beauty and serenity of nature calm you down, and it also was born from a scary personal experience that one third of the duo Paavo had to endure last year. In 2020, he fell ill with Covid-19, and took five weeks of isolation to recover. In what was a lonely and scary experience for him, he managed to seek solace in his forest hideaway in Finland, and he explains in a Facebook post:

‘As many of you know, last year I was very ill with covid-19. It was a traumatic experience. Over five, long weeks of isolation, I was anxious and afraid. Sometimes I wondered if I would make it through. Fortunately, I had the opportunity to travel to my forest hideout in Finland, where I could truly disconnect from the world’s happenings. I could heal in nature, away from it all. I stopped reading world news and instead of feeling disconnected, I found myself truly connected with nature, living a very simple life that felt more fulfilling each day. Each day started with a morning meditation, and each day something amazing happened in nature. A spectacular ray of light, animals visiting, witnessing how nature came back to life after a cold and dark winter in the spring. The sound of rain on the lake, wind through the trees, birds singing beautiful, calming songs. And moments playing piano in a trance-like flow state.’

Featured on the album are two discs. Disc one opens with ‘On Meditation’ featuring a live improvisation to a talk that Elena Brower did where she shares thoughts on regular meditation practise. What is unique and special about this is that Paavo recorded one take of this track, responding on his piano to the words that Brower was saying, perfectly matching the mood and creating a two-way conversation through music. It then goes on to different moods which are reflected in the ‘Rain’, ‘Wind’, ‘Night’ and ‘Winter Meditation’ tracks, all of which are just under 20 minutes long to allow for a short but fulfilling relaxation journey.

On disc two, you’ll find shorter versions of the previous tracks on disc one, condensed into usual song lengths to allow for quick bursts of serene energy.

‘I hope you find Elena’s talk inspiring, and enjoy these meditative ambiences. See which meditation feels good for you, and transport yourself to mother nature for a short time each day. After you find your personal favourite ambience, I suggest using the same meditation each day. This helps you reach a meditative state faster as your brain recognises familiar sounds and ambience.’ – Paavo

Above & Beyond ‘Flow State: Healing with Nature’ is now available to listen to below. Alternatively, stream it here.

Image Credit: Yoga set at Anjunabeach