Being Healthy With Music
Do you know this? You’re sitting in the subway on your way home from work. Across from you, a man and a woman in business attire are talking animatedly about professional matters. As emotions run high, so does the volume, and as if that weren’t enough, a child starts crying in your back. Sighing doesn’t help you now, so you reach into your pocket and pull out your headphones. Shortly scrolled and pleasant sounds flood your auditory canals. The world around you falls silent and a deep sense of well-being sets in. But music can do much more than lift your mood!
The Healthy Balance of Body, Mind and Soul
In Ayurveda, the ancient holistic “science of life,” people trust in the healing effects of music and sounds. Singing in particular plays a decisive role. After all, the human voice is produced by a living organism with the help of the energy meridians. Ayurveda knows healing music for various occasions, which one can also enjoy in daily life and thus achieve inner balance and mental peace. The combination of melody and text has a mood-lifting and inspiring effect in sung prayers, the so-called bhajans. In Yoga Nidra, music provides deep mental and physical relaxation. It can be used for sleep disorders, stress symptoms, diabetes or heart disease.
... After Serious Hours and Labor Toil
While music is still one of the most important remedies for many indigenous peoples, its effectiveness is increasingly being used in modern psychotherapy. “For what purpose was music given to us? Is it not to refresh the human soul, after serious hours and labor?” Even Shakespeare recognized what many therapists now agree: by using music, many hospital stays can be avoided. In music therapy, music is used specifically to maintain, promote and restore mental, physical and spiritual health.
Whether Listening or Making – The Main Thing is Music!
Whereas in active music therapy the patient is motivated to make music and is thus treated, receptive music therapy achieves its effect by listening to music. The tempo of relaxation music should be adapted to a calm pulse beat. Pieces that are also recommended in autogenic training often come from baroque music. Slow movements from the works of Bach or Vivaldi are just as suitable for therapeutic purposes as, for example, adagios from the Romantic period.
Cultures in Harmony
The healing effect of music is not limited to individuals. In the care of people with a migration background, it also has a positive effect on society. Incorporating the music of the abandoned home country causes people to open up and broaden their horizons. The inhibition threshold towards the foreigner decreases on both sides. Whether in its effect on individuals or entire societies – music is healing through and through …