Music

Musical Therapy

Music has been shown to have positive effects on mental health, stress, and anxiety. Upbeat music has a similar impact on the mind: it makes you feel upbeat and energised. Slower music is oftem calming to the mind, while also help you lessen tension held throughout the rest of the body. As such, one coping method for difficult times can be to turn on music that is the opposite of the negative emotion you are feeling. For example, when feeling anxious, listen to music that is 'relaxed' - with a slower beat, or a carefree tempo. There are many options when it comes to musical therapy: you could make your own playlists to calm you or energise you, or you could use a pre-made playlist off music apps such as Spotify or YouTube.

Releasing stress through the power of music

"Music can have a profound effect on both the emotions and the body. Faster music can make you feel more alert and concentrate better. Upbeat music can make you feel more optimistic and positive about life. A slower tempo can quiet your mind and relax your muscles, making you feel soothed while releasing the stress of the day. Music is effective for relaxation and stress management."

Music Relaxation Research

"The researchers found that the people who listened to music recovered faster from the stress of the experience than those who didn't. And many studies have shown that listening to music can lower your blood pressure and your heart rate (both spike when you're stressed), and even lower stress hormones in your body." - How Music Can Improve Your Mental Health

Personal Insights to Music Meditation

Meditation can be difficult, and it can be confusing to figure out exactly what music meditation entails. Meditation is unique to each individual, and every experience can vary wildly. However, here are some tips that might be helpful to get you started on your musical meditation journey:

Close your eyes: removing visual stimiuli can help you to centre your mind and focus on the music.
Focus on your breathing: to get you into a meditative mindset where music can actually impact your emotions and thoughts, you may want to begin by listening to, and observing your breathing patterns. This should slowly calm down the rush of thoughts in your head and allow you to clearly listen to the music with no internal interference.
Sit comfortably: this goes without saying, but by sitting or lying in a comfortable position, your muscles are more likely to relax. When your body is not tensed, you are in a better state to complete mental excercises.
Accept your thoughts as they come: to completely wipe your mind clean, and have no thoughts - only music, is a very difficult goal to pursue. Instead, you might want to consider simply acknowledging your thoughts - accept that they are there, that they are valid, and shift your focus back to the music. This also goes for emotions. Thoughts and emotions are inevietable, it's how you deal with them that matters.
Listen to all sounds: if you would like to just listen to the music as a whole, go for it. However, if you devote your attention to every aspect of the music - the way the beat shifts and flows, the different sounds that come together to make a melody, and the patterns of the music, you may find yourself immersed in a deeper meditation.

Below are some musical resources that may assist you with you musical meditation journey towards a happy, healthy mental mindset. Please note that there is no specific guideline for how long you should meditate - even as short as five minutes may make a difference.

Results: Does it work?

Freya:

My experience with musical meditation was quite conflicting. I found that not only closing my eyes, but turning out the lights in the room I was meditating in greatly improved my experience. There were periods of time throughout the experience where I felt greatly relieved - I had no thoughts, no emotions, just the simple bliss of existing. However, the tune I was meditating to was a very natural tune (including music, birds, water, waves, and what I thought might be a pan flute...). This meant that the tune would change it's pattern, pace, and content (e.g. introduce bird chirping for a minute) frequently. I found this to be disturbing to my zen - the changing noises changed my emotions, moving from an unthinking bliss, to a somber state: feeling alone, or insignificant. These emotions were felt when listening to a specific set of noises - suggesting that the feelings were triggered by one noise in particular. However, the music in itself was not confronting or depressing, and as the tune continued, the feelings of isolation no longer were a cause for sadness, rather, the meditation allowed me to accept those feelings without negativity. As a whole, I believe that the musical meditation was very effective in lowering my anxiety and stress. However, I would warn any potential meditatees that they may feel confronted by emotions or memories when listening to tunes of a earthly nature.

Danielle:

I found that when I closed my eyes and let myself drift while listening to the music my mind felt weighless. I also physically felt my body get lighter and have a sensation of relief when I just focused on the music. The music itself was very peaceful - it was a combination on soft hymming, piano and nature sounds (such as; lots of water, a bit of wind and rustling bushes). My thoughts drifted and I ended up reflecting on the past few days in the intial 20 minutes. I found myself reliving moments that I found to be stressful and having thoughts about those situations but no anxiety or stress was present in my mind whilst I thought about this. It was a really good way to reflect on what has been recently going on. The music was calming but not saddening, which I think was very important. Later on in my music meditation I started daydreaming, in a way. My mind was free, loose, roaming. I was just ketting whatever thought came into my mind flow, and because I was in such a peaceful enviournment, no bad thought entered my mind. I felt significantly more spiritually connected, almost as if I could feel the presence of God, or something like that. Overall I found that I felt physically lighter, calmer and relaxed. The weight on my mind and body actually lifted off me. It wasa good reflection and I was able to spirutually connect.

Anonymus Data Results:

Anxiety before Anxiety during Anxiety after

Person 1: 17 9 11

Person 2: 15 0 5

Person 3: 40 10 10

Person 4: 10 0 0

Person 5: 20 0 10

ANXIETY SCALE IS TO THE RIGHT

Averaged results show the average anxiety results show a level of 20 before music meditation, which decreases to 4 during the meditation, and has a slight rise to 7 after meditation.

These results suggests that after completing musical meditation, an individual should experience up to a 35% decrease in their anxiety levels.

Please note that the anonymous data results only contain a section of research conducted. The results have been based off that section of research.

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