Music Therapy
Musical vibrations may help restore regulatory function to a body out of tune during times of stress and illness.
-- Jane F. Brewer, R.N., senior lecturer ar the University of Plymouth in England
Ø What is Music Therapy?
Ø How Does Music Therapy Work?
Ø Safety and Warnings
What is Music Therapy?
It's no secret that music can strike a powerful chord with our emotions, evoking everything from tears to goose bumps
as it plays our heartstrings.
Music therapy is the use of music to gain physical and emotional healing and wellness. A trained and certified music
therapist can provide music therapy. Therapy sessions can involve listening to music, music-making, or both.
Research is beginning to reveal how music works to heal the body and mind.
The rhythm and tone of music can excite you or relax you. Music therapy can help reduce your heart rate and blood
pressure and increase your ability to think, learn, reason, and remember. And music-making is a healthy way of expressing yourself.
Researchers found that:
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Premature babies gain weight faster when sung lullabies by Brahms.
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People with rheumatoid arthritis feel less pain after listening to music by Mozart.
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People with Parkinson's disease walk more steadily and feel better after singing, humming, or just beating on a drum.
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Animals have been found to respond positively to music (cows that have Mozart played for them produce more milk).
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Flowers and vegetables in one study flourished when played classical music, showed no response to country and western, and withered
to rock and roll.
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Boost IQ (1993 University of California at Irvine)
Why such profound effects? Because music makes a powerful impact on our bodies and brains -- an impact so
powerful that music currently is being used to treat conditions as diverse as strokes, asthma, high blood pressure, learning disabilities,
headaches, menopause, depression, Alzheimer's disease, cancer, and even AIDS.
Additionally music has been found to help people express themselves, find new memories, and calm the body and mind
through its rhythm, order, and predictability. Music therapy is sometimes combined with movement therapies, such as dance.
How Does Music Therapy Work?
At it's most basic level, music consists of sound waves (vibrational energy) that have an impact on our bodies just as the sound waves of any
non-musical noise would. Just as music can cause windows to rattle during a thunderstorm, fine glassware shatter, music takes this
basic vibrational energy and refines it by adding both rhythm and harmony, while organizing pace and pitch; thus, creating a synchronization of
sound waves that has more power to produce bodily changes. The result is highly organized sound waves with power to impart its
sense of order. Studies have shown, for example, that music can be made to create highly intricate geometric patterns in mediums such as
liquids and gases. So why should the fluids and other highly sensitive components of our bodies be any different?
We absorb music's vibrational energies, and they subtly alter our breath, pulse, blood pressure, muscle tension, and other delicate functions
within our bodies. Thus, musical vibrations may help restore regulatory function to a body our of tune during times of stress and illness,
as well as help maintain and enhance regulatory function when we're feeling well and are in tune.
These same energies that have positive effects on the cellular activity of our bodies also appear to bring greater harmony to the workings of
our brains. This is why music is thought to be so helpful for children with learning disabilities, people who have had a stroke, and senior
citizens suffering from memory loss. It is also why music has been found to have such a positive impact on creativity, concentration,
feelings of well-being, and just the simple ability to relax.
Listening to music has been shown to help coordinate the activity of the two hemispheres of the brain such that the left, more analytical
portion, begins to coordinate better with the right, more intuitive side, resulting in more balance and competent thought processing
overall. MRIs show that the brains pf people who play music for a living are in fact larger in an area known as the corpus callosum -- the
portion of the brain that links the right hemisphere with the left, thus coordinating analytical with intuitive thought. These theories
have ushered in new research in brainwave entrainment.
Safety and Warnings?
You may be thinking, finally a therapy that's 100 percent dangerous free! No quite, but the positive note is that music therapy's
hazards are 100 percent preventable.
- Don't get carried away. The greatest danger comes simple from listening to or playing music too loud.
Habitual exposure to sound levels in the range of 80 decibels (the approximate volume of most vacuum cleaners) can produce irreversible
hearing loss. Most rock concerts are performed at levels between 100 and 130 decibels.
- Watch those headphones. There's also the very real danger that come from listening to music through headphones
while exercising outdoors. The music is a distraction that increases the chances of being assaulted and/or having an accident.
- Be aware of responses. It is important to match music with mood. Music can aggravate as well as
ameliorate. So be sensitive to how much music is being perceived, whether you're playing it for someone else or for yourself.
Take special note, we all have very individual tastes in music and it's the effect the music produces that's more important than any
explanation of why. Other than the above pitfalls, there may not be a safer therapy going.
Always tell your doctor if you are using an alternative therapy or if you are thinking
about combining an alternative therapy with your conventional medical treatment. It may not be safe to forgo your conventional medical treatment
and rely only on an alternative therapy.
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