Sunday, March 14, 2010
Music, the Mind-Body Connection, and The Relaxation Response!
Music can be used as a valuable stress management and relaxation tool. Relaxation music creates an ambient oasis of peace and tranquility enhancing vital relaxation.
Music is a great accompaniment for holistic therapies and very powerful tool for relieving stress. It also enhances the production of guided meditation or hypnotherapy. Soothing music helps a person calm down, lower the heart rate and by design create additional alpha brainwaves with its special rhythms.
Music with a magical tempo of 60 beats per minute enhance a restful sleep, speed up learning, improve immune response, decrease the need for anesthesia during surgery and has even been known to reduce blood pressure.
The experience of most people and science points out the significance of baroque music in offering relaxation. Studies indicate that baroque music played at 60 beats per minute enables the brain to generate increased alpha brainwaves offering a relaxation effect.
To choose the relaxation music, which works best for you, start by testing the various types of soothing music available. It is likely that what one considers relaxing may be irritating to another. Choosing appropriate calming music is a matter of personal preferences, but though one’s personal preferences go into the equation, some kind of music is more relaxing than other music.
The brain primarily produces brainwaves at 14 to 30 cycles per second (hertz) known as beta waves when in normal consciousness. Brainwaves with frequencies of 8 to 14 cycles per second are alpha waves that are present when one is more relaxed. Around 4 to 8 cycles per second is the theta waves that present a deeper drowsy and meditative state. Finally, when one is asleep, delta waves of fewer than 5 hertz are produced.
Normally, alpha brainwaves stimulate a relaxing state, but meditation encourages a more relaxing consciousness state especially if practiced regularly. For those who have no time or inclinations to meditate, music embedded with particular beats works in a similar way. This is the source for brainwave entertainment technology, which alter one’s brainwaves giving a rapid relaxation response. Relaxation music affects the soul. People don’t just merely hear it, they also feel it.
When trying to use relaxation music to calm the body and spirit it is most important to choose music that is relaxing to you. There are various styles and genres of music and the style that is comfortable for one person may be completely different from the style that relaxes another. Trial and error will help to gauge which style is best for your mind.
found on http://www.blueorbitmusic.com/?p=430
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4 comments:
I have read lesson one in your series and may have a different answer for when I first recall being aware of music. My parents were part-time musicians who entertained on weekends at dances. They left the microphone on during a break and I sang "Hey Good Lookin'" which was broadcast upstairs where they were taking their break. I was about 10 years old and my brother who was 4 years younger was getting all the attention because he could play the drums and would get to sit in on the real drummers set and play a couple of songs with them. Thus began my singing career with them. The next song was "Ma, he's Making Eyes at Me."
What a great story! Thanks so much for sharing this! Would love to hear more from you.
Alice
Ok im still trying to figure out how this blog thing works and help would be appriecitated. LOL. But i have finished Lesson 1 and would like to comment on some of the questions. I have a VERY wide range of music that i listen to everyday and i do understand that there is something about music that affects us in how we feel and act. I also strongly believe that music is important in the healing aspects as well. Up-beat "happy" music makes me happy and fills me with energy. Something like "Out of the Tiles" by Led Zeppelin can be enjoyed when you are happy or can cheer you up when you are in a bad mood. I like celtic/Irish music to sooth and relax to. I have been exposed to music my entire life and am a musician myself. I really feel like music has shaped who i am today and i really look forward to getting to study more into this course. Very interesting. Thanks for making it available!
Nice blog, thanks for sharing the information. I will come to look for update. Keep up the good work.
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