Podcast Content
This article summarizes research on the healing properties of music, and explores how different types of music can be used to promote health and well-being.
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Music can bring coherence and joy to our lives, and nurture social well-being. The authors explain the pathways of how music can promote healing, growth and health in clear, compelling language. Through research and science, they develop a compelling argument for how music is a powerful agent of healing. They also explain how different cultures rely on music in different ways and use language to communicate its healing qualities.
Some cultures incorporate music into their healing rituals or ceremonies, while others rely on it to simply aid relaxation and to soothe pain. Examining music therapy from a medical perspective, researchers have presented insightful research on how music affects our brain chemistries and the actual physical affects of music on our bodies. Countless studies have been done to explore the interplay between medical ethnomusicology, demonstrating music's unique ability to influence wellness. These studies have focused on the symbiotic relationship between therapy and medicine, as well as medical anthropology and ethnomusicology. Furthermore, researchers have created wellness projects that look at music from a cultural standpoint, using elements such as sea-sight-field-ian-world to explore how different cultures use music for healing.
This has led to a growing field of medical ethnomusicology. Viewed by some as a form of alternative medicine, music therapy is widely accepted in western medicine and biomedicine as an important tool for health and wellness. It seems the term “medical ethnomusicology” was first coined by Michael Bakan in his book “Healing Harmonies: The Transformative Power Of Music For Health And Wellness”. With the recognition of its practice, study and application, music healing remains a sense of hope for those suffering from autism and other mental illnesses.
Music therapy is rapidly becoming a form of vibrational medicine, as its effects on the body have been acknowledged and affect healing processes. Music has been documented to help concision and pain management, serving as a healing agent to many individuals. Sonic connection has been found to strengthen vibratory coherence, furthering the understanding of musics power in changing physiological states. Its acceptability in medical practice has led for more help ethnographic work using accepted medical ethnomusicology which can aid in explaining procedures and theories that can provide a more robust body of research conducted in a more interdisciplinary fashion.
Healing Harmonies: The Transformative Power Of Music For Health And Wellness, Part 2, is an exploration of the transformative power of music for health and wellness. Music can be used to trigger certain memories or feelings and its melodies can play a role in calling up specific memories. Moreover, the disorganized vibrations of music are capable of being sympathetic vibrations that can potentially help one to attain a heightened perception state.
Singing silly songs with a friend group can help in making rhythms and melodic harmonies. When a group of friends sing together, it can provide an incredibly comforting experience as the music sung helps in providing bonding between them. Beating rhythms together with hands on different surfaces can help in creating energized music that may look and sound like sunshine on a cloudy day. The synchronized sound of friends singing along to the same song provides an energized sight that is simply beautiful, maybe even leading to some dancing! Music provides special kind of ways and sights that cannot be seen or felt elsewhere, providing a unique experience every time.
Matthew Deplessies and McCarthy have both seen the transformative power of music for mental health and wellness. Through music sessions, they both have been able to open a door of understanding and healing. Everyone can experience the sound light that vibrates our bodies in different ways, either through singing or just simply listening to others. As much as there is sound, there is also an equal amount of silence that allows us to understand the idea of seeing connections within ourselves and others, something we wouldn't be able to do in our day-to-day lives.
This is what Pamela Robins and Matthew Duplessies bring to the table with their project, "Healing Harmonies: The Transformative Power Of Music For Health And Wellness". Through their combination of modern and traditional instruments, a looping pedal, and stack recording, they are able to create sounds that allow for meditation and healing. Pamela Robins uses her expertise in healing energy to record each instrument multiple times, creating an atmosphere of trance.
The music experience helps the listener to become more in tune with their own energy and helps to create powerful associations between the sound and healing. With each selection, we are able to explore different sounds that can be heard during a concert, as well as healing sounds. Robins has been researching music and its healing effects for over 20 years, and her understanding of it deepens with each new piece. Gandharva Music is also explored through her work, which uses vibration and rhythm to help bring peace into the body, mind and soul. Through exploring different selections of this ancient form of music, one can gain insight on how it can be used for therapeutic purposes. Other forms of cultural arts such as language, sight and sound are also explored through Robins’ works, providing a richer understanding of how these elements can be used for various purposes. In addition to Gandharva Music, classical jazz is also used by Robins when creating her meditative recordings.
It uses a combination of harmonic progressions and rhythms that can create balance in the body and mind. This type of music helps to create balance in mental turbulence and deliver transformational wellness offerings. It can also be used to help individuals cope with stressful life events. Robins has found that the healing modalities provided by her meditative recordings have been pivotal personal experiences for many individuals. She has also found that harsh jarring music can actually worsen symptoms of imbalance, which is why she's focused on creating calming and soothing sounds instead. Robins' findings have been reinforced by earlier research showing participatory choral music as a beneficial form of arts engagement for those suffering from imbalance or mental turbulence. Her research has shown how choral music can be beneficial in reducing stress levels, improving moods, and reinforcing positive behaviors.