Here are my top music recommendations to soothe and heal you. Empathic people love music. It is a balm for their sensitive soul. Listening to it, playing it, admiring it. Music can wash over and nurture you. It can elevate your spirit. I am excited to share my favorites with you, and hope you enjoy my picks and that they enhance your peace of mind.  

Music therapy has been used to treat depression, anxiety, and chronic pain. Neuroscientists have found that tranquil music increases positive emotions and stimulates dopamine, the brain’s pleasure hormone–and that highly sensitive

people may respond to music similarly to how they experience empathy.

I am excited to share my favorites with you, and hope you enjoy my picks and that they enhance your peace in your body and soul. Let yourself dance to the music, meditate to it and let it lift you up beyond the details of everyday life to the realm of inspiration and the muse. More information about music as a form of self-care in my book “Thriving as an Empath”.

Here is my list of 12 musicians whose music uplifts, inspires, and soothes me. 


1. Kitaro

Kitaro is a Japanese recording artist noted for his electronic-instrumental music, and is often associated with and regarded as one of the most prominent musical acts of new-age music. Listen to The Best of Kitaro (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oJGz_ULokg)


2. Deva Premal

Deva Premal is a singer known for introducing Sanskrit mantras into the mainstream. Her meditative, spiritual music—composed and produced with Prabhu Music—puts ancient Tibetan and Sanskrit mantras into contemporary settings. Listen to Deva Premal Mantra (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlnHON3tAXo)


3. Enya

Enya Patricia Brennan is an Irish singer and songwriter. Born into a musical family and raised in the Irish-speaking area of Gweedore in County Donegal, Enya began her music career with her family’s Celtic folk band Clannad in 1980. Listen to Boadicea from The Best of Enya Album (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKQwgpaLR6o)


4. Simrit

Simrit Kaur, also known mononymously as Simrit, is a singer/songwriter born in Athens, Greece. She moved to the southeast in the United States as a toddler and currently resides in California. Listen to her The Song of Bliss (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucnFUGnY_5M)


5. Composer Léo Delibes

Clément Philibert Léo Delibes was a French Romantic composer, best known for his ballets and operas. His works include the ballets Coppélia and Sylvia and the opera Lakmé. Listen to his The Flower Duet(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMVFXfoaS3w)


6. Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and musician of the Baroque period. He is known for instrumental compositions such as the Brandenburg Concertos and for vocal music such as the St Matthew Passion. Listen to his Complete Goldberg Variations (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15ezpwCHtJs)


7. Tina Malia

Tina Malia is a singer and songwriter who has distinguished herself in styles ranging from pop to world devotional to electronic. Her artistic perspective embraces many of the world’s musical cultures, languages and spiritual traditions. Listen to her Listen to her Sita Ram – Bridge to Vallabha (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxvsNVFmmhw)


8. Ludovico Einaudi

Ludovico Maria Enrico Einaudi OMRI is an Italian pianist and composer. Trained at the Conservatorio Verdi in Milan, Einaudi began his career as a classical composer, later incorporating other styles and genres such as pop, rock, folk, and world music. Listen to his song Le Onde (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmStlUk8dKE)


9. Norah Jones

Norah Jones is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist—and the daughter of the great Sitar player Ravi Shankahr. She has won nine Grammy Awards and has sold more than 50 million records worldwide. Billboard named her the top jazz artist of the 2000s decade. Listen to the Best of Nora Jones Album (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QCihKMormo)


10. Snatam Kaur

Snatam Kaur Khalsa, is an American singer, songwriter and author. Kaur performs Indian devotional music, kirtan, and tours the world as a peace activist. The surname “Kaur,” meaning “princess,” is shared by all female Sikhs. Listen to her Sacred Chants (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoBpkz_yay8)


11. Krishna Das

Krishna Das is an American vocalist known for his performances of Hindu devotional music known as kirtan. He performed at the 2013 Grammy Awards, where his album Live Ananda was nominated for a Best New Age Grammy Award. Listen to his Om Namah Shivaya. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTc8X37oJBE)


12. Singh KaurSingh Kaur was a new-age music composer, vocalist and instrumentalist. With her angelic voice and haunting melodies, Singh Kaur was a pioneer in the growing genre of Western interpretations of Indian chanting music. Listen to her This Universe (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuQyBNRGO4M)

Author(s)

  • Judith Orloff MD

    Judith Orloff MD

    Judith Orloff, MD is the New York Times best-selling author of The Empath’s Survival Guide: Life Strategies for Sensitive People. Dr. Orloff is a psychiatrist, an empath, and is on the UCLA Psychiatric Clinical Faculty. She synthesizes the pearls of traditional medicine with cutting edge knowledge of intuition, energy, and spirituality. Dr. Orloff also specializes in treating empaths and highly sensitive people in her private practice. Dr. Orloff’s work has been featured on The Today Show, CNN, the Oprah Magazine and USA Today. Dr. Orloff has spoken at Google-LA and has a TEDX talk with over half a million views. Her other books are Thriving as an Empath: 365 Days of Self-Care for Sensitive People, The Empowered Empath’s Journal,  Emotional Freedom, The Power of Surrender, Second Sight, Positive Energy, and Guide to Intuitive Healing. Dr Orloff now offers a 7-module online course, Awakening Your Intuitive Healing Power.  Harness your intuition to become a vessel for healing-as you transmute life’s challenges through surrender, self-care, centering techniques, and more. For a complete list of Dr Orloff’s workshops and lecture schedule go to: Schedule Explore more information about empaths and intuition on www.drjudithorloff.com. Connect with Judith on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/DrJudithOrloff/) and Twitter.