Bryan, a 5-year-old boy, listens to the Music-Assisted Relaxation Imagery compact disc recording nightly at bedtime, to overcome his insomnia. It seems that the CD, Harmony of Mind Body: A MARI Experience, can be comforting as a lullaby.
by Susan E. Mandel, Ph.D., MT-BC
Bryan now listens to the MARI CD almost every night to help him to relax and sleep through the night. If I don’t play the MARI CD for Bryan, it will take him two or more hours to relax and get to sleep.
--Bryan’s mother, Alice
Bryan is a spunky five-year-old boy, who suffered from insomnia from the age of about 3½ years. Alice, Bryan’s mother, reported that Bryan “was having difficulty relaxing at night and going to sleep, and staying asleep through the night”.
Just before Bryan turned three, he underwent brain shunt surgery to relieve large amounts of fluid in his brain. Although the procedure went well with no complications, Bryan began to experience sleeping problems several months later. Alice explained:
Before I received this CD, I tried everything – lying down with Bryan, rubbing his back, giving him a warm bath before bedtime. Nothing worked!
Alice is employed as a medical receptionist. One day she heard the compact disc recording, Harmony of Mind & Body: A MARI Experience, playing in the physician’s office. She inquired about the MARI CD and obtained a copy about one year ago.
The first night Alice played the MARI CD for four-year-old Bryan, she explained to him that it would help him to relax and sleep. Within 45 minutes of beginning to listen to the CD, Bryan was sound asleep. (This was in sharp contrast to the two or more hours usually required for Bryan to fall asleep.) Equally remarkable to Alice was the fact that Bryan slept through the entire night.
Bryan now listens to his MARI CD regularly at bedtime, and continues to fall asleep within 45 minutes, and to remain asleep throughout the night. If Alice does not play the CD, Bryan reverts to the pattern of requiring over two hours to fall asleep, re-awakening in the middle of the night. Bryan refers to the CD as his “Suzi CD”. If he does not want to go to bed, he will ask “Do I have to listen to Suzi?”
Alice remarked that the MARI CD has helped her as well.
My child gets a better night’s sleep and so do I.
MARI and Lullabies
MARI refers to Music-Assisted Relaxation and Imagery. The MARI compact disc, Harmony of Mind & Body: A MARI Experience,* recorded by Daniel Kobialka and Dr. Susan E. Mandel, combines Mandel’s spoken voice with Kobialka’s musical improvisations on classical themes, through a period of about 30 minutes. The MARI CD, which research study found to be effective in improving health, is designed to teach adults to relax.
A lullaby is a “soothing song, usually sung to children before they go to sleep”. The concept of a lullaby is that “the song sung by a familiar and beautiful voice will lull the child to sleep”. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
Although MARI was not designed as a lullaby for children, it has been found, through research study, to help some adults to overcome insomnia. Ellen was a 72-year-old patient who attended her first music therapy for stress management session after undergoing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. During her third music therapy session, Ellen recalled that she had the "antsies" the night that Daylight Savings Time ended, and chose to listen to her MARI recording, noting "And then it worked". Ellen stated that she "took the whole feeling into a beautiful sleep”, sleeping soundly that night and continuing to sleep well nightly ever since.
It seems, based on Bryan and Ellen’s experiences, that the MARI CD, like a lullaby, can be comforting to the listener. At his young age, it is unlikely that Bryan comprehends the meaning of the spoken words included in the CD, but rather that the combination of the soothing voice and music lull him to sleep. Based on Bryan’s experience with the MARI CD, Kobialka and Mandel are discussing plans to record a MARI Lullaby CD, designed specifically for a young (or young-at-heart) audience.
*Harmony of Mind & Body: A MARI Experience, a compact disc recording of Music-Assisted Relaxation and Imagery, is designed to guide and teach relaxation. The 2-CD set is now available to the general public for purchase at: www.danielkobialka.com
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