During World War I musicians toured Veteran hospitals performing for wounded soldiers. The medical staff soon realized that the music wasn't just entertaining, it was healing. That was the birth of music therapy. Today it's used as part of a treatment plan for cancer and surgical patients, children with ADD, those suffering from mental illness and victims of Alzheimer's. But you dont need a therapist to reap the health benefits of music. You just need a good playlist.
We often talk about the visceral effect music has on us, but as those perceptive nurses and doctors recognized some 90 years ago, it also has a physical effect. Research has shown that music can change your heart rate, respiration, brain waves and levels of an array of chemicals. It can dramatically reduce stress hormones, relieve anxiety, lower blood pressure and ease pain. Pleasurable music activates the reward centers of the brain, sending a flood of dopamine, the feel-good hormone throughout the body.
Listening to music stimulates virtually every area of the brain, from the primitive regions-the brain stem-to the executive function-the frontal lobe. It can improve your mood, alleviate stress, aid in concentration and promote energy. It can lull you to sleep or make you want to dance (in fact, even when you are perfectly still, listening to music activates that part of the brain responsible for movement).
Music can elicit a kaleidoscope of emotions (listen to enough movie soundtracks and you get the idea). It has the power to tap deep into our reserve of memories, evoking vivid images of a time and place long forgotten. Daniel Levitin, author or This is Your Brain on Music explains, "Throughout our lives, as we hear music, we create memory links between a particular set of notes and a particular place, time, or set of events." We all have a soundtrack to our lives.
What type of music should you play? That depends on your taste and whether you want to be calmed or stimulated. Are you in the mood for instrumental music to accompany your work and get you into a state of flow or are you hoping to get into a full-out groove and escape from the stresses of the day? Generally, writes Levitin, music with major chords strikes us as happy and songs that rely on minor chords sound, "sad, or reflective, or even exotic. The most basic rock and country music songs use only major chords: "Johnny B. Goode," "Blowin' in the Wind," "Honky Tonk Women," and "Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys," for example."
For heightened focus, try slower tempo, instrumental music. In one study 58 percent of people said playing the blues aided in concentration, 39 percent said country or folk music (golden oldies and world music each garnered about 9 percent).
When you need energy to get out of a slump, or to help you through some mindless task or chore, go up-tempo. How can you not be energized listening to Aretha belt out "RESPECT" or James Brown singing "I feel good?"
When you want to wind-down after sitting in traffic for two hours or arguing with the boss, a song with a driving pulse is probably not going to ease your stress, but something slow tempo, with a beat lower than your heart rate (say under 60 or 70 beats per minute) should help soothe the soul.
In Musicophilia, the great neurologist, Oliver Sacks, M.D. writes, "We humans are a musical species...our auditory systems, our nervous systems are indeed exquisitely tuned for music." So do what comes naturally, listen to music. As you listen, pay attention to how different songs make you feel and create your own playlists for different moods and circumstances. Music can be one of the greatest energizers. So rock on, listen to the music, and feel your energy soar.
Jonny Bowden, PhD, C.N.S., a sought-after speaker on health and nutrition issues, is the author of The 150 Most Effective Natural Cures on Earth, The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth, and The 150 Healthiest Meals on Earth. This article was adapted from The 150 Most Effective Ways to Boost Your Energy. For more information, visit www.jonnybowden.com
