Have you ever felt uplifted, moved to tears, energized, or instantly relaxed by music? Chances are you’re nodding in agreement to this. When the power of music is harnessed in a particular way, it can be gently and affectively used as a form of therapy. According to Vanya Green, a board-certified music therapist in L.A., “music therapy can reduce blood pressure and heart rate, decrease the presence of stress hormones, and reduce physical pain and the need for a pain medication.” Scientific studies also indicate just how powerfully music affects our brains and can be used in treating mental dysfunction. In his latest book, Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain, neurologist Oliver Sacks examines the relationship between music and the brain, including its healing effect on people with Tourette’s syndrome, Parkinson’s disease, autism, and Alzheimer’s disease.

Music has the ability to trigger mental, emotional, and physical release, memory, pleasurable thoughts, and insights. For guidance on how music can help you heal your mind, body, and spirit, check out these five fabulous ideas:

1) Shake Your Groove Thing
Dance your worries away! Sadness, anger, jealousy, and fear are difficult emotions that tend to get buried or tucked away. To work through these feelings, self-help author Raphael Cushnir suggests using music to accompany a feeling and letting your body follow along. His latest work is a card deck entitled, How Now: 50 Ways to Celebrate the Present Moment. In it, he explains, “Music is like a wave from outside the body that can match up and resonate with a corresponding emotional wave within the body. The outer wave facilitates release of the inner one as well.” Let music and dance help you release your problems in a positive form.

2) Get Toned
Toning is the use of sound from single-syllable words (such as “om”) or words with elongated vowels (such as “aaah”). According to Jonathan Goldman, an international authority on sound healing, your own voice can be music to your ears (and the rest of your body), bringing you back into harmony and alignment. “Just think back to when you’ve stubbed your toe and made an “ow” sound. Ever stub your toe and can’t make a sound? It hurts more,” says Goldman.

Put the theory to practice—the next time you have a bellyache, gently focus your attention on the part of your stomach that hurts while projecting an “oh” sound. “The more you practice making sounds resonate with different parts of your body, the easier it will be,” writes Goldman in his book The 7 Secrets of Sound Healing.

3) Go One-on-One
Professional music therapists are trained in music, psychology, counseling, and music therapy. If you’re looking to get out of a mental funk or you feel you’re going nowhere with your standard therapy visits, music therapy could be for you. “Music reaches across all cultures, and it has been used therapeutically since biblical times. It’s not a new idea that music can be used to help any person express joy, to express pain, for general self-expression, and to better our lives,” says music therapist Green, who has studied world music in the U.S. and the Middle East.

4) Slow Down
If you’re stressed or anxious, music is a friendly and natural way to calm down. For a powerful experience, release the turmoil within through a progressive body-relaxation exercise. Here’s one to try: While listening to soothing music, focus progressively on different parts of your body and breathe deep, relaxing belly breaths (you can try this exercise at home with David and Steve Gordon’s Sacred Earth Drums CD).

When Green works with individual clients in a progressive body relaxation, she will often play live music from her piano, guitar, various drums, Tibetan bowls, and percussion instruments (such as a rain stick or wave drums) and tailor the music to her patient’s breathing rate. “As their breathing slows, I will slow the music—or I will slow the music to try to help them to breathe more slowly.” Tune in to the sounds and learn to let go.

5) Support the Cause
Spiritual healing through music is a wonderful treatment for many in need. The Children’s Music Fund is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide musical instruments and music therapy to chronically ill patients. You can feel extra special about listening to music therapy that supports their cause, such as Open Your Window, Portable Planet, and Reflectronic—all diverse, relaxing, and inspiring CDs.

~Jill Daniel

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