When was the last time that you sat down in an armchair, closing your eyes, to listen to music? Perhaps when you discover the benefits of music and its healing effects, you will get wrapped by the rhythm and harmony...
“Music therapy is the use of the music and/or its elements (sound, rhythm, melody and harmony) by a Qualified, Music therapist with a patient or group in a process intended to facilitate and promote communication, training, mobilization, expression, organization or other therapeutic relevant goals to attend the physical, psychological, social and cognitive needs." definition of the World Federation of music therapy
The healing effects of music are known since immemorial times. Music Therapy is the use of music for improving the physical, psychological, intellectual or social functioning of people with health or educational problems.
Music Therapy is used with children, with adults and with elderly with different problems. It is also used with people that do not have any illness and/or trouble in order to improve the personal welfare, to develop their creativity, to improve the learning, to manage stress and for interpersonal relations.
Music therapy allows persons:
· To explore their feelings.
· To make positive mind and emotional changes
· To develop a sense of control on their lives through experiences of success.
· To learn or implementing skills to solve problems and conflicts.
· To improve socialization.
The main idea is to recognize that much of diseases originate in the brain and then it transmits to a part of the body a certain stimulus that reproduces a disease.
The Music Therapy tries to send to the brain some stimulus that allows it to be relaxed so that the stimulus that reproduce the illness are descended or canceled throughout different melodies with which it is possible to achieve amazing results.
Although Music Therapy is already known since ancient times, in the 1940s of our century is used as a branch of the recuperative medicine, to obtain a psychophysical balance.
Why the music is able to heal?
Perhaps in any chance of our lives we have been able to feel how a piece of music can bring us a precious memory or can make us feel better, or perhaps we have sang our children some melody to soothe them or sleep them, or even on our loneliness, moments of euphoria or depression, a song has been our accomplice and partner.
But away from this assessment somewhat subjective, there is broad scientific documentation and well-prepared studies giving support to this new weapon inside of the treatment of diseases.
Music and breathing
Breathing is primarily a rhythmic process. The human general pattern is 25 to 35 breaths per minute. A low average, deep and sustained contributes to soothe, controlling emotions, stimulate thinking and build a better body metabolism.
On the contrary, a rapid breathing can lead us to scattered thoughts, impulsive behaviors, to make mistakes and to suffer accidents.
Thus, high music levels, more than 60 "blows" per minute, produces bad effects to our health.
Music and blood pressure
The human heart is particularly tuned with music, thus keystrokes respond to all musical variables as: frequency, time and volume.
So that a rapid rhythm makes our heart bump fast and a slow rhythm makes our heart bump slow. For that reason slow rhythms create less tension and stress, keeping calm to the body and therefore relaxing us.
Music, stress and muscle coordination
The tone and flexibility of the muscle system are strongly influenced by the tone, sound and music vibration as was shown by Professor Olav Skilie in Norway. Music with frequencies between 40-66 hertz, reduces muscular tension and relaxes children.
Today this effect is known as Acoustic Vibration Therapy, of great healing power in muscle aches processes.
Music and body temperature
High or noisy music can elevate in several degrees body temperature while the soft rhythm may decrease it.
Music and endorphins
Endorphins, brain natural sedatives, are today one of the most studied by the modern biochemical science.
The Research Centre of Stanford – California, found that the experienced euphoria while listening to music experienced by the peopled studied and "chemical healing" created by the joy and emotions produced by the musical richness of certain pieces of films, religious songs and quartets, produced states of anesthesia to pain and improved immune system.
Currently there are a large number of scientific researches that supports that the benefits of music therapy are:
Helping kids with learning difficulties
Helping kids with conduct problems, difficulties in the socialization and low self-esteem
Reduce stress by listening to music
As support in the process of childbirth in women
Increases creativity and the ability to solve problems
To reduce anxiety
To improve self-esteem
