Revealing the subtleties of the Zen Flute, E.J. Gold explains that relaxation is the key. Naturalizing your breathing and bringing it into harmony will balance oxygen and carbon dioxide levels in addition to serotonin and melatonin levels. Not only do you need to be physically relaxed as if you had just come out of a sauna, but you need to adopt the "twilight" state - as if just before falling asleep, relaxed in a high state of attention and awareness - the state familiar to those who work with the Beacon^TM. John Lily called this a state of High Indifference. In this state, hitting a "bad" note is simply a matter of fact without blame, worry, high anxiety or stress - no one thing more than another.

In playing the Zen Flute, you're looking for clarity of tone, which is dependent on how relaxed your breathing, your facial mask, neck, shoulders, your fingers and your hands can be. A relaxed hand holds the flute delicately which also affects how precisely your fingers come down to cover the holes.

"There's a kind of mindlessness, empty of mental chatter and, at the same time a mindfulness," E.J. said about playing the Zen Flute. "Get out of the way of the instrument. How to do this is to listen to the flute playing and be eternally amazed."