Healing Music

Listening to healing music is one of the easiest ways to bring calm, joy, and healing to your life. Music is an extraordinary tool to help people heal in many different situations.

There is even a modality of medicine called music therapy.  It calls for trained musicians and therapists with deep knowledge of music.  The music therapists help people get through tough rehabilitation sessions, radiation treatment, and medical procedures.

“One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.” 
― Bob Marley

This is way more than just a nice addition to your visit.  There is growing evidence for music therapy. Healing music has been shown to improve medical outcomes.  There are several studies that have shown that listening to music before an operation report less discomfort and lowered the use of opioid painkillers.

Music therapy can help people who are recovering from a stroke or traumatic brain injury that has damaged the left-brain region responsible for speech. Because singing ability originates in the right side of the brain, people can work around the injury to the left side of their brain by first singing their thoughts and then gradually dropping the melody.

Even the military uses music to heal, helping service members recover mentally and emotionally.

Healing music has also shown to reduce side effects of cancer therapy. Listening to music reduces anxiety associated with chemotherapy and radiotherapy. It can also quell nausea and vomiting for patients receiving chemotherapy.

Music therapy aids pain relief. It has been tested in patients ranging from those with intense acute pain to those with chronic pain. Overall, music therapy decreases pain perception. Reducing the amount of pain medication needed and helping relieve depression. Additionally, this gives people a sense of better control over their pain.

Want to do yoga, but don’t know where to start? Check out this article for easy ways to begin yoga today.

Also, music improves quality of life for dementia patients. The body’s ability to relate to music remains intact late into the disease process.  Helping patients to recall memories, reduce stress, assist communication, and improve physical coordination.

Music increases the internal happiness drugs inside you. 

Additionally, find out how to manifest your dream life, with these easy steps, here.

So, when you work in the healing arts for a living, like I do, music is a huge part of each treatment.  Adding healing music assists relaxation and helps maintain a meditative state. As the therapist, I crave new and different music.  As relaxing and healing as it is, if you hear the same song 1,000 times it can have the opposite effect. This can and will slowly drive you crazy.  In addition, there are a lot of really poorly done “relaxation” songs. With that being said, I love to share music I use and discover new music.  I’d love to hear about your favorites too!

I’m excited to share some of my standard favorites. I use these all the time for massage therapy, private yoga sessions, as well as meditation.

This Artist plays the Native American flute like no other I’ve ever listened to. I’ve used his deeply relaxing music for a long time and it is one of those that I never get tired of listening to. R. Carlos Nakai, has been around quite a while and has several choices of music, it puts people into a deep tranced out state.

Drumming can be used in so many ways, whether it is to soothe and relax or get into a fast primal groove. Here are some great choices with amazing hand drums.

For something deeply relaxing I usually go for one of these.

For over a decade, Gina has been a practicing Licensed Massage Therapist in Florida. Over the years she has added personal trainer, yoga teacher, and certified continuing education to her resume. She specializes in senior care, mobility, post injury care. Above all, sharing knowledge is her passion.

[https://www.musictherapy.org/research/]

[https://academic.oup.com/jmt]

[ “Technical Bulletin 187: Music in Reconditioning in American Service Forces Convalescent and General Hospitals”. War Department Technical Bulletin (TB Med) 187 (1945): 1–11.]