6 Reasons to Make Music the Best Ally

Music is the handiest treatment for the mind and body. It has no contraindications, and excessive consumption generates an explosion of endorphins, by cultivating positive emotions.

The idea that music can have visible health benefits is as old as the writings of Aristotle or Plato.

Music therapy, however, was born in the twentieth century, after the two world wars, when the community of musicians, both professionals, and amateurs, took the initiative to use music as a treatment in hospitals where there were war veterans with trauma. physical and emotional.

Following the positive results obtained, the method has evolved more and more, especially in the last decades, now being a technique used by more and more psychologists and therapists.

The main benefit of music is that it represents the treatment that all people have access to, and each person can be their doctor, choosing to interpret or listen to one genre or another of music, depending on their current condition.

However, most of us listen to music without being aware of the impact it has on the body. Here are some ways it affects us:

1. Music trains the basic functions of the brain.

The brain is equipped to receive and process music. Studies show that from the earliest days of life, babies can detect differences between different rhythms. At the same time, mothers, regardless of the culture they belong to, have a habit of using songs to calm their children when they cry.

From an evolutionary point of view, it can be said that music preceded the use of language, the brain being able to react to such stimuli, even if music is not essential for our survival as a species.

2. Music amplifies and generates emotion.

Every parent knows that it is natural for a child to sing and dance from the earliest years of life. It can often happen that the music immediately makes them change their mood for the better.

Even though musical tastes change throughout life, music continues to be present in everyone's life and often marks moments with a special emotional charge. You've probably heard a song and smiled, or you're sad.

You may be sad and want to listen to music to the fullest, and in this way, you may be able to consume and overcome a state, or you may want to listen to a cheerful kind of music just to get over the moment.

Sometimes you experience certain sensations at intensities that you hardly reach in the absence of music. Accelerating the heartbeat, the feeling of euphoria, the sensitivity of the skin, all these are reactions that music can generate.

The ability of music to easily access emotions is beneficial for therapists specializing in this field.

3. Music trains memory.

Music is vibration and we perceive it as a pleasant sensation even when we listen in silence. However, music is a way of bringing the past into the present.

Sometimes you listen to a song that reminds you of old memories, that reminds you of how you felt at a certain moment, or that makes you think of a certain person.

All these things make the intensity with which you perceive the music be different every time. Only smell surpasses music in its ability to stimulate memory in a very powerful way.

Specialists who use music as therapy and work with the elderly with dementia are witnessing special stories about how music stimulates patients to remember certain things about their lives.

4. Music relaxes the body and eliminates stress.

Listening to music has a relaxing effect on the whole body, especially if we are talking about classical music.

This type of music can have beneficial effects on psychological functions, regulating the number of heartbeats and blood pressure and at the same time lowering the level of cortisol, known as the stress hormone.

When people are stressed, there is a tendency to avoid music and active listening. This is probably because music is generally associated with a state of well-being, or because under stress, any ambient sound seems noisy.

However, the exercise of listening to mute ambient music has beneficial long-term effects, helping the body to relax and, implicitly, to give a better performance.

Also, even if it may seem strange, singing in the shower is a form of music therapy. Not in vain when we are happy and feel good, we find ourselves singing.

In this way, the body relaxes and the stress is eliminated. Equally, listening to music on headphones by patients before and after surgery reduces stress levels in the body.

5. Music relieves depression.

Depressed people tend to refuse contact with other people, becoming isolated as the disease progresses. Music can have a beneficial effect in such cases, especially since most people who suffer from depression suffer from insomnia.

Ambient or classical music can provide the necessary mental comfort in such cases.

Also, in the relationship with the therapist, which is often difficult, music can help express emotions, while helping to eliminate tension in the body and suppress negative emotions.

6. Music inspires creativity.

For some people, perfect silence is more disturbing than listening to music. In the case of others, the fact that they grew up in a noisy environment and are accustomed to background sounds when working, music is the perfect environment to carry out their activity.

If you need to write on your blog or think of a new website, but do not feel inspired, choose soothing music in the background. The moment we listen to music, the mind begins to explore, giving free rein to the imagination, so you are more likely to be creative that way.

You don't have to be an artist to enjoy the benefits of music for creativity. The same effect is felt in the case of people whose profession is at the opposite pole.

Whether you are inspired by the rhythm, a verse, or the message of the song, choose what you know suits you best and get to work.