I may be biased, but I think music may be the closest thing we have to magic.
Music is one of those aspects of life that seem almost elemental. From our earliest ancestors playing drums or flutes to modern-day electronic musicians experimenting with synthesizers, music and musicianship have always been with us.
I know the healing powers of music firsthand. Along with being a writer and yoga teacher, I’m also a musician. Making and listening to music has been a constant in my life, and it’s been a consistent source of healing and joy.
I know telling people music is great is — if you can excuse the pun — preaching to the choir. In this case, the choir is basically every human being alive because everybody likes music, right?
What concerns me, however, is that music’s ubiquity has changed it from something magical to something mundane. After all, music is not just an artform. Under capitalism, music is also a product.
I recently finished a book called I Heard There Was a Secret Chord: Music as Medicine by musician, neuroscientist, and author Daniel J. Levitin. It’s an amazing book, and I highly recommend it, but it also just solidified what I think many of us know to be true intuitively.
Music is medicine. It’s healing, unifying, and speaks to a piece of our soul that’s both ancient and wise.
This is the reason why I think dancing is as effective at treating depression as SSRIs, and why people find sound bathing so healing for stress and anxiety.
You almost undoubtedly listen to music. You might even be a musician yourself. However, if music seems to have taken a backseat in your day-to-day life, I encourage you to explore its healing properties more thoroughly.
As jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong famously said, “Music is life itself.”
Practice:
Here are some ways to mindfully bring more music and musical healing into your life.
Create tailored playlists: Research shows that listening to music is healing when it’s music that we like, and when we listen to it of our own accord. To take advantage of it, try to make playlists for specific moods you want to achieve. Maybe a “joyful” playlist or a “focused” playlist filled with songs you enjoy and that make you feel something.
Try out a dance class: As mentioned earlier, dancing is an incredibly effective way to beat out depression, stress, and anxiety. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have rhythm — just dance like no one is watching (or like David Byrne on stage).
Make music: Playing an instrument or singing has profound positive effects on the brain and our overall well-being. I’ll channel Picasso here a bit and say that everyone is a musician, they just don’t know it yet. If you can’t play a pitched instrument, try making a beat by clapping or humming your favorite song a few times a day.
Listen mindfully: I like to use listening to music as an exercise in mindfulness. Instead of just putting on music in the background, I like to make myself a cup of coffee or tea and pop a record on. Then, I sit down and really try to listen to the characteristics, instruments, timbres, and tones of the music.
Journal:
Here are some journal prompts for this week.
Have I been treating music as background noise?
How do I feel about my current relationship to music?
What are some ways to bring more music into my life?
What I’m reading:
Here are a few articles I liked this week:
How Music Helps People Heal: The Therapeutic Power of Music — Harmony and Healing
Emotionally Overwhelmed? — Yoga Journal
Your Breathing Pattern is Unique Like Your Fingerprint—And May Help Predict Health Issues — National Geographic
Comedian, Musician and Writer Morgan Bassichis On Embracing Your Playful Side— The Creative Independent
My favorite things this week
My current book: Real Change: Mindfulness to Heal Ourselves and the World by Sharon Salzberg
What I’m jamming to: Heart Sutra Beatbox Remix - Yogetsu Akasaka
Quote of the week: “Music is the mediator between the spiritual and the sensual life.” - Ludwig van Beethoven
This week’s intention: I am musical.
Note: The links in this post are affiliate links for BookShop.org, so I may receive a small commission if you purchase something.