Do you believe in the healing power of music? Studies show that music can not only reduce emotional and physical pain, but it can also increase the quality of life? For this reason, caregivers in hospitals, rehabilitation programs, assisted living centres as well as other facilities where people go through difficult times often use music as a form of therapy.
As you listen to music, you begin to realize that your stress levels start dropping and most of your worries float away. For those minutes or hours that you have your headphones on, the negative feelings that have been nagging at you seem to fade away, and you can’t help but feel that you are at peace. Why is this? Why does listening to music at full blast seem to rid you of your worries? Here are some of the impressive effects of music on the mind, body, and soul.
Self-Expression
Do you find it hard to let people know how you are feeling? For some people, self-expression does not come easy especially when it comes to talking about their feelings. For this reason, others resort to eating their feelings or locking the world out which does not do much to help them cope with what they are going through.
An efficient and healthy way to deal with life’s struggles would be to sing what you feel. You could tap on the table as you hum some notes, or you could create a mix from songs that best express how you feel. Some people find that writing their lyrics and using existing tunes works for them. And the best thing about all of these scenarios is that you do not require any training to get it right. Whatever works for you, do it and feel the weight on your shoulders lessen with every day that comes.
Emotional Bonding
You may be going through a hard time that may have you feeling numb to the things happening around you. At such times, the things that you previously enjoyed may not bring you joy, and you may find yourself sinking deeper into the numbness. Be it stress or illness or depression; music can help you find a way out.
Listening to songs can help you connect with the singer emotionally. They could be singing about the same thing that you are going through, and this could make you happy or sad, or it could make you feel something that you have not in a while. Whatever emotion that the music evokes, it will do you good to take a break from the numbness, and it can be quite cathartic for you to feel anything, including anger.
Recollections
Some songs help us think back to a time in our past when things were different. It could be that the song reminds you of your graduation day or the day you first fell in love. There is a lot in your past that music can unearth such that whenever you are going through dark times, you can refer to a tune and you will get the pick-me-up that you need.
Distractions
Are you afraid of something? For some people, it is exam rooms, for others, it is flying, everyone has that one thing that they fear doing. With music in your ears, you can separate yourself from the worries in your mind by concentrating on the message in the song. You could choose a tune that speaks of courage and determination to move ahead, beyond the hurdles, and far past whatever is standing in your way. As you nod to the tunes, you will find that you have calmed down and are ready to face that thing you thought you couldn’t before.
The above are but a few examples of how music can help you deal with challenges in life. Are you in need of a boost? You can always count on the healing power of music.