Music is defined as any vocal or instrumental sound combined in a way so as to produce beauty of harmony, emotion and expression. Music is something that transcends the boundaries of body or mind and connects one’s soul to another. Music has no language. It sometimes becomes the mode of transport for feelings to be conveyed from one person to another while other times it acts simply as a medicine. Yes! You heard it right. Music is a kind of medicine as well as the correct kind of music causes a sense of calmness, a feeling of happiness and thus reduces stress and restlessness in one’s mind.
As American physicist Debashish Mridha once said, “Music can heal wounds that medicine cannot touch.”, music has a way of connecting our hearts to ourselves and to the world around us. Hence it has been used as a therapeutic intervention since the late 18th century. Today, music therapy is a method which is scientifically proven/validated.
Music therapy is often employed quite effectively to treat various illnesses (primarily owing to mental disturbances). Autism, depression, Alzheimer’s, etc. several such diseases if not cured fully, can at least be stabilized to a large extent through music. The music therapy sessions mostly include creating, singing, and listening to music, and hence it opens up avenues for communication that transcend the limitations of verbal expression. Music therapy can induce the following improvements or changes to a person suffering from certain mental turbulences:
Induce positive changes in emotional states.
Since music connects the worlds to us, it helps one to enhance more control over life by increasing awareness of one self and the outside world.
Development of a sense of relaxation from worldly troubles.
Improves concentrating power for a longer duration of time.
Since, all of the above improvements can be brought to one’s life through music, it can also help to resolve conflicts and lead to stronger bonds of relationships.
MUSICAL BEATS AND OUR BRAINS:
When we walk into a disco, we find people dancing, banging their heads and moving their body almost in synchrony to the thumping music. In this simple example we find that our unconscious mind is somehow controlled by rhythmic sounds, causing us to move simultaneously in a regular manner. This simple example has a much deeper meaning to it. According to psychologist Annett Schirmer “Rhythmic sound, not only coordinates the behavior of people in a group, but also it coordinates their thinking-the mental processes of individuals in the group become synchronized”. This simple finding shows the extent of power of music, which easily taps into the brain circuits of people controlling their emotions and even their physical movements. This type of examples can also be found amongst people in a tribe who dance synchronously on drum beats, people dancing on a religious function, or people dancing due to excessive happiness during several religious or secular occasions.
CONCLUSION:
As we have seen, music necessary controls our brain functions and thus enable us to think better and as a result it can help us to boost our energy, calm our mind, improve sleep and most importantly improve our mental conditions. Specially in this pandemic affected world where we might find ourselves lonely most of the times, music can be the best companion one can have. So, throw all the negativity away and let all your emotions flow with music as music is the best healer. Happy listening!
Credit Author Ranit Laha
All photos credited and designed by Unsplash
