Health, Wealth & Creativity

Hi again…hope you are well.

How does music help you? I’d like to ask you how – if at all – music has helped you in some way?

Current research shows that many people – including cancer patients and children with ADD/HD and autism , depression and anxiety etc- have experienced the healing benefits of music when used in conjunction with, or as an alternative to – traditional treatment programs.

Music/sounds can slow the heart rate thus assisting with stress and anxiety. Music has also been found to bring such as lowering blood pressure – which can also reduce the risk of stroke and other health problems over time – boost immunity, ease muscle tension, and more. In short, music and certain sounds can have a powerful influence on the health of our bodies and psyche.

In addition, research has shown that music and/or sounds – eg nature sounds – can stimulate brain waves to higher levels of concentration and altertness, or to calmer meditative states…and that these states continue for a time after the particular music stops.

When I worked as a music therapist for Red Cross, I witnessed the receptiveness of patients in various hospitals, towards music programs: people suffering from senile dementia benefited from movement, social interaction, singing – breath work – stimulation of memories from familar sounds; autistic patients became more receptive with the use of Pentatonic scales; older people in repatriation hospitals cheered up with songs from a more familar era; and brain-damaged patients visibly relaxed more.

Music first gave me a direction in my life and thus gave me a sense of meaning and purpose at a time when I was searching for an identity and feeling aimless.

So how has music helped you? Please post your experiences.

All the best

Alan

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