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How and Why Is Music A Good Tool For Health?
Research
has shown that music has a profound effect on your body and psyche. In
fact, there’s a growing field of health care known as Music
Therapy,
which uses music to heal. Those who practice music therapy are findinga benefit in using music to help cancer patients, children with ADD,
and others, and even hospitals are beginning to use music and music
therapy to help with pain management, to help ward off depression, to
promote movement, to calm patients, to ease muscle tension, and for
many other benefits that music and music therapy can bring. This is not
surprising, as music affects the body and mind in many powerful ways.
The following are some of effects of music, which help to explain the
effectiveness of music therapy:
- Brain Waves: Research has shown
that music with a strong beat can stimulate brainwaves to resonate in
sync with the beat, with faster beats bringing sharper concentration
and more alert thinking, and a slower tempo promoting a calm,
meditative state. Also, research has found
that the change in brainwave activity levels that music can bring can
also enable the brain to shift speeds more easily on its own as needed,
which means that music can bring lasting benefits to your state of
mind, even after you’ve stopped listening.
- Breathing and Heart Rate:
With alterations in brainwaves comes changes in other bodily functions.
Those governed by the autonomic nervous system, such as breathing and
heart rate can also be altered by the changes music can bring. This can
mean slower breathing, slower heart rate, and an activation of the
relaxation response, among other things. This is why music and music
therapy can help counteract or prevent the damaging effects of chronic
stress, greatly promoting not only relaxation, but health.
- State of Mind: Music can also be used to
bring a more positive state of mind, helping to keep depression and
anxiety at bay. This can help prevent the stress response from wreaking
havoc on the body, and can help keep creativity and optimism levels
higher, bringing many other benefits.
- Other Benefits: Music has also been
found to bring many other benefits,
such as lowering blood pressure (which can also reduce the risk of
stroke and other health problems over time), boost immunity, ease
muscle tension, and more. With so many benefits and such profound
physical effects, it’s no surprise that so many are seeing
music as an
important tool to help the body in staying (or becoming) healthy.
Tags:
Health, Music
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