Listen to Music

I went to the symphony last weekend.  It was wonderful.  The music was beautiful and our local orchestra plays perfectly.  I love music.  I usually have it on in the house and I am often times singing to myself.  As I drove home still hearing the guest pianist in my head, I realized I felt very relaxed.  And that made me wonder how music affects our health. 

I quote studies to my psychology students that music is great for stress management.  It helps calm nerves and release tension from muscles.  Music even affects babies in the womb.  Play rock music and a baby will get agitated (I personally think they are trying to dance); play classical music to a baby doing a lot of kicking and they will calm down.  Music is even used now in hospitals before people go into surgery and during the surgery.  It helps calm patients before a surgery and has been found to speed up healing afterward.

Music helps with increasing your mood.  How many of you are really sad when you listen to Christmas music?  That is why you hear it in the stores.  If it puts you in a good holiday mood so maybe you will buy more gifts or decorations.  I worked with a guy who said he always played hard rock when cleaning his apartment.  It put him in the mood to be aggressive with his dust and clutter.

It helps with exercise.  You see lots of people in gyms or out running with earbuds on while exercising.  They are probably not listening to the news.  I remember watching a parade where a young friend was performing on a drill team.  We followed her along the way for a couple of miles but it didn’t feel that distance since we were walking with the beat of the bands.

If music does all these things, you can assume that it helps with creativity.  You are more creative when you are not stressed or when you are in a good mood.  Music that makes you smile is likely to help you quilt, knit, paint or write. 

But the most important thing is to find music that works for you.  I probably would not clean my house very well with classical music (truth be told, it relaxes me enough that I often fall asleep – even in the big auditorium with a live orchestra).  For me I would need some jazz or maybe a favorite performer so I could sing along and not really think that I was cleaning.   I listen to music when I am grading papers but it can’t be anything with lyrics or I can’t concentrate on what my students have written.

So do what you can to bring more music into your life.  You can find music everywhere even on your phones and computers.  Find that type of music that releases your stress and makes you smile and you might find it makes you more creative as well.  But if you are trying to be creative with music, just don’t listen to lullabies or you might just fall asleep.

©2020  Cheryl Fillion