Music has historically permeated all societies. It creates connections, breaks barriers, and opens spaces for cultural expression. It has the power to affect our mood and mental states. Music provides us with motivation and energy when we need it. It may comfort us when we’re anxious, cheer us up when we’re tired, and inspire us again when we’re feeling down. It even serves to enhance our physical well-being, as studies have shown that exercising to fast-paced music produces superior results. That’s why today we’re diving into the benefits of Music Therapy! Let’s do this!
What’s Music Therapy?
According to the American Psychiatry Association, music can be used to help in addressing serious mental health and substance use disorders. In addition to its healing potential, music can magnify the message of diversity and inclusion by introducing people to new cultures and amplifying the voices of marginalized communities, thereby enhancing our understanding and appreciation for diverse communities.
Music Therapists draw upon the innate qualities of music to support people of all ages and abilities and at all stages of life; from helping newborn babies develop healthy bonds with their parents, to offering vital, sensitive, and compassionate palliative care at the end of life.
The therapeutic relationship established and developed, through engagement in live musical interaction and play between a therapist and client is central to how Music Therapy works. A wide range of musical styles and instruments can be used, including the voice, and the music is often improvised. Using music in this way enables people to create their own unique musical language in which to explore and connect with the world and express themselves.
“Music tells us things – social things, psychological things, physical things about how we feel and perceive our bodies – in a way that other art forms can’t” – David Byrne (2012), How Music Works, p. 101.
How Music Therapy Benefits Our Wellbeing
Music therapy is a particularly successful clinical intervention for people who have trouble communicating verbally because musical involvement and responsiveness do not exclusively depend on speaking abilities.
While each method offers different advantages, they all share the same general benefits of music therapy. Music therapy methods have several benefits, including:
- Emotional benefits:
- Reduces social anxiety
- Expression of grief and other traumatic feelings
- Curbs impulsivity
- Physical benefits:
- Lowers blood pressure
- Relaxes muscles
- Improves fine motor skills
- Neurological benefits:
- Aids insomnia issues
- Reduces headaches
- Healing for patients with traumatic brain injuries
Music’s Effect on Our Thoughts and Actions
According to Save The Music Foundation, music’s effect on the self is far-reaching, tapping into our memories, subconscious thoughts, emotions, and interests. Thanks to the music artists who have put their heart and soul into creating, we feel connected with other people and their difficulties, challenges, and emotions. So much about our brains is still being discovered but through neurology, we are learning more and more about how music affects us.
We are all aware of how much the beauty, rhythm, and harmony of music affect our emotions. We also know that music has an emotional effect on us, reliving past experiences and fostering a sense of self-connection. Music therapy is frequently used to help patients with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease pay better attention and remember things. Music is present in every part of our lives and has the potential to be a very effective healing therapy in many different contexts. Spiritual events are defined by songs, toddlers pick up the alphabet through rhyme and meter, and our favorite hangouts—restaurants and shopping centers—rarely have a quiet moment.
However, to what extent can this ubiquitous object affect our feelings and actions? Research indicates that people are significantly impacted by music. It may have an impact on illness, depression, spending, output, and life satisfaction. Thanks to developments in neuroscience and research on the effects of music on the brain, our understanding of how music affects our brains is growing. Brain scans have demonstrated that when we listen to or perform music, almost every part of the brain is active at the same time. Making and listening to music has the potential to alter brain chemistry.
Ways of Incorporating Music into our Daily Lives
While you work
Music relaxes us and helps us be more creative. I recommend having various playlists ready to accompany you throughout your workday. As long as it doesn’t distract you, I assure you it will greatly help. So, gather those songs that put you in a good mood and change your work routine for a more joyful and creative one!
In the car
If you don’t have a playlist to listen to while driving, go make one right now. It’s important to incorporate into your daily life the songs that make you feel good. It’s very positive to start exploring all your senses and emotions wherever you are!
For Meditating
Meditation is a one-way journey. Personally, relaxing music helps me a lot to disconnect and connect with myself. Many playlists for meditation can assist you in your spiritual journey. The time, place, or method doesn’t matter. You must find out which tunes calm you down and help with meditation.
With your friends and family
Music connects us. Sound waves, though we might not always realize it, have great power over people. Have you ever noticed how music in an environment can change our way of seeing, feeling, and interacting? So, if you’re planning a gathering with friends or family, don’t forget the key element: the music.
