Music is useful in so many ways, from calming or strengthening the nerves, to producing desired effects such as sleep and meditation, to actual dis-ease prevention. The ear, mind, body and intention combine forces in the healing process.
by Daniel Kobialka, D.M.A.
In 1993 Goleman & Gurin's book "Mind Body Medicine" (1) revealed the result of their studies in psycho-immunology. What they found was that nerve fibers connect and are contained in all of our human immune system organs. This establishes a direct communication link between all the senses and what a person thinks, feels, and perceives, and the condition of the immune system.
Knowledge, perception and passion do not just reside in the mind and heart, but in every cell in the body. Music doesn't just entertain and affect our senses, which is in itself huge, but provides a way to tap into the knowledge contained deep within our bodies on the cellular level.
Don Campbell, in his book "The Mozart Effect" (2), wrote that the intention we bring to each sound we make and hear is also of importance to our health. Whether we be the composer, musician, conductor or listener, we add the power of our intentions as influence upon the results.
According to the Koran, intention is a result of what's in our hearts and is half of accomplishment. It's the visualization of an image and the exploring of the possibility of it's coming true. Purity of intention and willingness to maintain it are considered the ultimate healing forces.
When a composer creates a piece with a healing intention, and the musician playing the music, the therapist, and the listener maintain it, how powerful the possibilities become!
We think of hearing as being vibrational energy received by the ear and interpreted by the brain, but it is much more than that. The elements of the ear translate the vibrational energy into electrical impulses that then travel to the brain, for sure, but then they travel to the brain stem, and limbic system, where emotion and physical reactions are created. It's the auditory cortex of the brain that translates the impulses into consciousness and recognition.
Reality is indeed stranger than fiction. This auditory comprehension and recognition is then translated into electrical energy, which then creates the variety of brain waves that determines your state of mind. The sounds surrounding you have a large part in creating your reality, in terms of how you think, feel, react, and perceive, and this is measurable and verifiable physically. For example, beta brain waves are most apparent during focused and active thinking, such as when someone is reading, studying and writing. Sounds and music which result in the creation of beta waves would therefore make this type of activity easier, and perhaps most successful. On the other hand, music which caused the creation of delta brain waves would make it easier to sleep, as these waves are more prevalent at that time.
The impulses created by music then move down the spinal cord and affect the autonomic nervous system. This includes the heart, breathing, pulse, blood pressure, muscle tension, and other unconscious actions and reactions. This transmitting of the power of music through the skeletal system is partly why fetuses are affected by the sounds of the mother's voice and environment during gestation, and have a "body memory" of these sounds after birth.
Music is therefore useful in so many ways, from calming or strengthening the nerves, to producing desired effects such as sleep and meditation, to actual dis-ease prevention.
"Music cannot be expressed in words, not because it is vague but because it is more precise than words." - Felix Mendelssohn
1. Goleman, D., & Gurin, J., Mind Body Medicine, (Yonkers, New York: Consumer Reports Books, 1993)
2. Campbell, Don, The Mozart Effect: Tapping the Power of Music to Heal the Body, Strengthen the Mind, and Unlock the Creative Spirit, (New York, NY: Avon Books, 1997)
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