Since very ancient times, humans have created music that has
served their goals. Lullabies, marches, love songs and so on are as old as the
history of humanity itself. In modern times scientists have studied the power
of music and found that music that meets certain requirements can heal,
increase mental abilities, and energize.
What is healing
music.
Healing music comprises of sounds of the frequencies that
correspond to frequencies of certain brain signals. It is able to stimulate
production of certain chemicals in order to achieve desired goals, such as
healing and improving one’s body functions. The concept of healing music can
also be used for purposes other than healing, such as increasing intellect,
improving memory, removing pain, increasing self-contentment and so on. For
example, sounds of frequency from 90 to 111 hertz increase production of
beta-endorphins subsequently increasing pleasure.
How does healing
music work.
Nerves of your inner ear turn sounds into electrical
impulses, just like all the regular impulses in your brain. Some of them go to
the hearing centre of your brain, others end up in different parts of the brain
affecting the body functions and the production of hormones.
Which music is good
and which is bad for humans.
Sounds with a frequency from 5 to 8000 hertz are energizing
for humans, where sounds with a frequency of 8000 hertz are the most
energising. When scientists tested already existing music, they found that
music written by Mozart has the highest quantity of beneficial high frequency
sounds. A curious fact is that sounds of birds singing usually have frequency
of 5000 hertz, which makes them beneficial for us. On the other hand, low
frequency sounds cause a draining effect on the human mind and body. Examples
of low frequency sounds are noises of road traffic, airports, factories and
most rock music. Another interesting fact states that the most beneficial music
consists of patterns that repeat themselves every 20-30 seconds, this is doe to
the function of human central nervous system, which has a 30 seconds cycle.
Surprisingly, of all the music analysed, Mozart’s music fitted this requirement
of 30 seconds cycle the best.
Of course no one is going around measuring the frequency of
music they hear all the time, but you do not need to do so in order to
understand which music is good or which is bad for you. Once you get tuned into your
survival senses, your physical, emotional, mental and spiritual states can let
you know what music and sounds are good
for you. Beneficial music would have a positive effect on your pulse and blood
pressure. You may notice that it uplifts you spiritually, relieves your pain,
increases your energy, and sparks your creativity.
When you go shopping for music, the safest music
to buy is new age, world, and classical. The risk of getting bad for you music
increases slightly with the pop music. The death metal, alternative rock, and
rap music is usually very harmful.
Music that is good for you is also good for your
plants and animals. For example: if you put plant next to a speaker and play
same music to it regularly, it will ether grow toward it or away from it.
What music can heal.
Music can help with stress, depression, sleeping disorders,
confidence and self-esteem, as well as other emotional issues. There is also
music designed for general well being and music with specific goals to improve
the work of certain body organs or functions. Such as: liver, kidneys, bowl,
reproduction system, and blood pressure.
Is there a guarantee
of healing.
Even so affects of healing music on humans are well studied
and have good records, unfortunately there is no guarantee of music healing
some one. It helps a lot of people, but in some it only slows deterioration and
for a few it does not help.
Are there any side
effects.
Healing music does not facilitate addiction to it like
alcohol or drugs and it does not cause withdrawal symptoms. In fact the more
one uses it the better result one tends to get as the mind becomes more trained
to achieve desired states.
Eating with music.
Listening to dinner music while eating is beneficial for the
following reasons. Studies have shown that whilst listening to slow classical
music people tend to eat slower, chew their food more properly. As a result,
their bodies assimilate more nutrients, because they are able to digest food
better. Where as when people eat while listening to rock music, they tend to
eat very fast and their bodies do not assimilate many nutrients.
Studying with music.
Music can also considerably increase one’s mental abilities.
Many people like to study listening to music that contains binaural beats. Binaural recording transmits music of
different frequencies in each of your ears from headphones. Different variations
of those frequencies do a few interesting things, such as balance sodium and
potassium levels in your brain removing ‘mental fatigue’, reduce stress, manage
pain, improve sleep quality, reduce sleep requirements, and enhance creativity
and intuition. Some people also use music with binaural beats to assist
themselves in remote viewing, telepathy, out-of-body experience, and lucid
dreaming.
Nowadays scientists also developed a variety of machines
that can emit sounds in hundreds of frequencies not audible to the human ear
that awaken production of certain chemicals in the brain which facilitate
intellect and increase memory. These same chemicals tend to help very well with
depression and drug addiction. However you do not need a special machine to
help you increase your intellect, most people who have tried any variety of
sound or music therapy agree that their mental abilities are increased where as
stress and pain are decreased.
From theory to
practice.
One of the cheapest ways to experience the power of the
healing music is to by a CD. However
buying it can be a bit more complicated that it sounds. Most shops offer mainly
relaxation and new age music. Those CDs that claim to contain healing music,
don’t always give any instructions or explanations and could be just
compilations based simply on personal music preferences of a compiler, with no
scientific approach. From those that have descriptions on the boxes, only few
specify the frequency of music and what purpose it should be used for. Others
just justify their benefits by spiritual reasons.
Another option is machines that contain music for healing
and other purposes. They are usually called ether sound machines, sound and
light machines, or mind machines. You would not see them often in shops, but
one can find a big range of them on the Internet. The cheapest ones are the
price of the CD. They play range of music and sounds that would sooth, relax,
help to sleep and mask disturbing noises. More sophisticated machines can cost
up to few hundreds of pounds. They can help with autism, learning disabilities,
bi-polar disorder, dyslexia, depression, and so on. They can also include
programs that relieve stress and anxiety, boost creativity, boost physical
performance in athletes, provide rehab for brain injury, improve social skills,
do hypnotherapy, and provide digestive solutions. They usually come with dozens
of preloaded programs on them and free memory space to download more programs
from the Internet. Many expensive machines also tend to include a device that
is used like spectacles that shows lights for visual stimulation or colour
therapy. Those lights are not for people suffering from epilepsy. So one must be
careful there.
The more personal and guided approach is the hiring of a
professional music therapist. Although working with music therapist does not
necessary involve only listening to music as one would do at home. They use
variety of other methods: moving to music, playing music, singing, lyric
discussion, lyric writing, guided imagery and improvisation. Many of them also
incorporate traditional psychotherapy techniques into their sessions. They work
with developmental disabilities, learning disabilities, autism, speech
disorders, behavioural problems, mental retardation, psychotic behaviours,
physical rehabilitation, substance abuse problems, and acute and chronic pain.
They also enhance skill related to social interaction, concentration, academic
achievements, and motor abilities. For psychiatric patients music may be used
in conjunction with medications.
Finding music therapist can be a bit tricky as well. If you
can not find any in your yellow pages, you can contact Association of
Professional Music Therapists (020 8440 4153, APMToffice@aol.com) and they will help you
get in touch with your local music therapist.
Whatever option one chooses, healing music gives a chance to
reap the rewards of researchers’ work that have combined traditions with modern
technology. Even though it does not
work one hundred percent for every one, it is nice to try a pleasurable
alternative to drugs.
