1. To wash away stress, try taking a 20-minute “sound bath.” Put some relaxing music on your stereo, then lie in a comfortable position on a couch or on the floor near the speakers. For a deeper experience, you can wear headphones to focus your attention and to avoid distraction.
2. Choose music with a slow rhythm - slower than the natural heart beat which is about 72 beats per minute. Music that has repeating or cyclical pattern is found to be effective in most people.
3. As the music plays, allow it to wash over you, rinsing off the stress from the day. Focus on your breathing, letting it deepen, slow and become regular. Concentrate on the silence between the notes in the music; this keeps you from analyzing the music and makes relaxation more complete.
4. If you need a stimulation after a day of work, go for a faster music rather than slow calming music.
5. When going gets tough, go for a music you are familiar with - such as a childhood favorite or favorite oldies. Familiarity often breeds calmness.
6. Take walks with your favorite music playing on the walkman. Inhale and exhale in tune with the music. Let the music takes you. This is a great stress reliever by combining exercise (brisk walk), imagery and music.
7. Listening to the sounds of nature, such as ocean waves or the calm of a deep forest, can reduce stress. Try taking a 15- to 20-minute walk if you’re near the seashore or a quiet patch of woods. If not, you can buy tapes of these sounds in many music stores.

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Another study in the volume looks at whether music training can make individuals smarter. Scientists found more grey matter in the auditory cortex of the right hemisphere in musicians compared to nonmusicians. They feel these differences are probably not genetic, but instead due to use and practice.

Listening to classical music, particularly Mozart, has recently been thought to enhance performance on cognitive tests. Contributors to this volume take a closer look at this assertion and their findings indicate that listening to any music that is personally enjoyable has positive effects on cognition. In addition, the use of music to enhance memory is explored and research suggests that musical recitation enhances the coding of information by activating neural networks in a more united and thus more optimal fashion.

Other studies in this volume look at music’s positive effects on health and immunity, how music is processed in the brain, the interplay between language and music, and the relationship between our emotions and music.

The results of this study are probably heavily influenced by the age of the participant and the popularity of certain genres over others in the participants peer group. Further research could prove useful if any causation is to be explored. Much of the previous research on such a relationship has only focused on only one or a few pre-determined genres of music at a time. Studies such as the one conducted by Kevin and Weiss were not only limited to certain musical preferences, but also explored a wide range of aspects of personal life that might have been affected by the music (Kevin & Weiss, 1994). Their study looked for a relationship that Heavy Metal and Rap music might have with a wide range of problems experienced by adolescents and not just sexual experience. Other research has focused on sexuality and in these studies the media has continually turned up as a major influence on sexual activeness (Pediatrics,2001).

Again, however, a wide range of sexual activities and habits were explored as well as other types of media other than just music. Television is cited most often as being the single most powerful media-influence on the cognitive processes and behavior of people in today’s society (Thompson & Pingree, 1991). Music videos have been scrutinized by researchers and have been identified as being very powerful in their portrayal of sexual issues such as teenage pregnancy. While these and other studies have yielded some useful and interesting information, none have established a clear relationship between musical taste and the age of initial sexual activity.

It is not enough to know that the media is having some influence on sexual activity or even how that activity is being influenced. There is a need to identify specifically what in the media, if anything, is having the most direct influence. Initial sexual experiences can be life-changing events that could possibly be the source of turmoil for many years to come. The age at which a person becomes sexually active is of great concern to parents and society in general from a medical as well as emotional perspective. By focusing only on sexual activity including, but not limited to, intercourse and the type of music that was most prevalent at the time of that experience, I hope to expose any clear relationships that sex might have with a certain genre or genres.

Music therapy gives cancer patients a better chance of survival

Doctors in the United States are using music to help children with cancer cope with chemotherapy. Researchers have found that young patients stand a better chance of recovery if their treatment is accompanied by music.

Children at Rainbow Babies Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio, are receiving music therapy. They sing and play along to tunes played on a portable electric piano.

The programme was started by Deforia Lane, herself a cancer survivor.

If nothing else, music brings a smile to children’s faces

She says it can reduce pain perception, help with blood pressure problems and improve the children’s emotional state.

But the effect of music on cancer patients may be even more profound. There is evidence that it can actually boost the immune system.

A group of children at the Rainbow Hospital took part in a half-hour music therapy session, singing and playing instruments to simple tunes. Each child’s saliva was analysed before and after the sing-along.

Researchers prove music improves immunity

Researchers found that levels of immuno-globulin, a key indicator of the strength of the immune system, was higher after the session than in other patients.

The music seemed to act as a stimulant helping the children cope with the treatment.

“It’s becoming very clear that interventions such as music can have a significant impact on the ability of the patient to withstand the things that we do to them,” says Dr Susan Shurin, an oncologist.

Music appears to reduce the stress hormones that impair the immune system. Doctors say it also encourages children to become more involved in their own care and willing to accept painful but necessary treatment.

Source: BBC News

Laughter is good for vascular health, so does joyful Music. Listening to your favorite music may be good for your cardiovascular system. Researchers at the University Of Maryland School Of Medicine in Baltimore have shown for the first time that the emotions aroused by joyful music have a healthy effect on blood vessel function.

Music, selected by study participants because it made them feel good and brought them a sense of joy, caused tissue in the inner lining of blood vessels to dilate (or expand) in order to increase blood flow. This healthy response matches what the same researchers found in a 2005 study of laughter. On the other hand, when study volunteers listened to music they perceived as stressful, their blood vessels narrowed, producing a potentially unhealthy response that reduces blood flow.

Quoted Dr. Michael Miller, “We knew that individual people would react differently to different types of music, so in this study, we enabled participants to select music based upon their likes and dislikes.”

By Michael Miller, M.D., director of preventive cardiology at the University of Maryland Medical Center and associate professor of medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

When people think of depression and what can help treat it, the first thing that will often come to mind will be medication or antidepressants. Though medication can be an effective treatment, they are not a cure for depression and they are not the only treatment option for people suffering depression. As depression is studied to gain more understanding about why people become depressed, it has been found that certain types of music may also be an effective treatment method for improving a depressed individual’s mood. Tests are still being conducted to find out why it works for some people.

Not all music will affect a person in a positive way and not all the same music will affect different people in the same way. It depends on the individual and what they find to be calming. It also has much to do with what lyrics are in the music, because even subconsciously an individual can pick up on what is being said, and also what kind sound the music has, such as a harsh or soft sound. The effectiveness of this type of therapy can also vary depending on what kind of depression the individual has and the cause of the depression. For music therapy to work, it is best to listen to solitudes or music that doesn’t really have lyrics in it or any harsh tones or sounds. Tests have shown that calming music of this sort can calm a person’s heart rate as well as their mind when they were in a relatively agitated state. It really is amazing how much music can affect an individual’s mood. It can make a person happy, sad or even angry. This is why it is important that if a person is attempting to improve their mood by music, they are sure the music they choose will have a positive effect on them.

Music therapy may not be for everyone, and many may not believe in it, but many believe that it has and does work. To find out more about music therapy, one can always look it up on the internet to find answers. There are also online therapists and counsellors that a person can contact in order to find out more about this. Someone who believes they might be suffering from depression should be consulting a therapist or a counsellor, so they can ask their therapist about this kind of therapy during their next session. An online therapist can also help the patient to work through their depression using other methods. While music therapy may prove useful to some, others may not find as much of a positive result from it. Either way, a therapist can help the patient to figure out what is causing their depression as well as to treat it properly. Trying to self-medicate or treat depression on one’s own is never recommended. If seeing a therapist in person is too uncomfortable, then online therapy is available. A therapist can give the patient the treatment they need so that they can be successful in getting out of their depression.

It is true that one cannot run off from life’s everyday problems. But there are definitely ways and means by which we can change our own attitudes and tackle issues in ways that do not cause us any strain.  In this post, let me talk about ways to relief stress. Besides music, there are other ways that can help you to relief stress effectively.  

We face stress and stressful situations everyday in modern life. Stress can be dangerous, as it actually ends up impacting our health in a very negative way. One sees many people falling sick and even dying of stress and stress-related problems today. Therefore, if you want to live the full life and enjoy it to the fullest, you could do very well to follow some of the stress-reduction tips. So how do we go about managing them? 

In short, stress management is the ability to maintain control when situations, people, and events make excessive demands.  The art of stress management is to keep you at a level of stimulation that is healthy and enjoyable and to bring your mind and body back into balance. Some simple tips listed below can help you in managing stress.

Meditation
Meditation is known to induce a feeling of calm and dramatically reduce stress levels. Take time out for yourself every day, at least about a half hour or so, seat yourself comfortably in a silent place where you will be totally undisturbed, turn on soft music if you so wish and then start meditating. Learn to appreciate the silence around you and internalize your thoughts towards the peace that lies within you. You might find your mind running amuck initially, but by and by, you will feel the peace and the sense of quiet overtake your mind, finally soothing it and healing it from within.

Exercise
Exercise is one of the best ways to reduce stress and depression. Regular and moderate exercises enhance the immune system, improve blood circulation and generally bestow a feeling of energy and well-being. More advanced exercises such as dance or aerobics can literally get your whole system into gear, making you feel right at the top of the world, keeping you smiling all day long! You may also wish to consider having a holiday trip that needs a lot of leg worksJ. Visit to this website to download free E-book on exercise guide.

Music therapy

Not too surprise, music works wonders to relieve one of stress. In fact, it has been medically proven (refer to my earlier posts on this blog) that certain types of melodies can actually heal the mind, quiet it down and give the listener immense peace and calm. There are many musicians all over the world trying to do more research on this subject. The Internet is filled with many types of music, especially meant to relax the mind and free it of its immense stress.

Aromatherapy
Many people also believe that aromatherapy helps them reduce stress levels. Certain types of soothing smells trigger certain chemical reactions in the brain, which in turn, acts to ease the mind of its worries and cares. This method is not at all expensive and has the potential of helping you out immensely. Do give it a try.

The above are only some tips to reduce stress. There are many, many other ways you can think of to cut down the tensions in your life. The key to improving the quality of your life is to learn to take life with the proverbial pinch of salt and not get too upset with its day-to-day problems and issues.

Don’t worry, be happy!

Music therapy is a controlled music experience that is used to facilitate positive change in human behavior. Each session of music therapy is carefully planned, carried out, and evaluated to suit the specific needs of each patient. Music therapy can include any of the following musical activities:

• Listening to music and/or musical creation

• Playing musical instruments (any instrument can be used)

• Moving to music

• Singing

As far as autism is concerned, studies have shown that music therapy has a significant, positive influence when used to treat autistic individuals. Participating in music therapy allows autistics the opportunity to experience non-threatening outside stimulation, as they don’t engage in direct human contact.

As was previously mentioned, music therapy is made specific to each individual. This is extremely important, because what may be positively received by one autistic may be negative to another. That being said, let’s take a look at the positive influence music therapy has had on autistic individuals.

Music therapy -

Improved socio-emotional development: In the first steps of a relationship, autistics tend to physically ignore or reject the attempts of social contact made by others. Music therapy helps to stop this social withdrawal by an initial object relation with a musical instrument. Instead of seeing the instrument as threatening, autistic children are usually fascinated by the shape, feel and sound of it. Therefore, the musical instrument provides an initial point of contact between the autistic and the other individual by acting as an intermediary.

Assisted in both verbal and non-verbal communication – When music therapy is used to aid in communication, its goal is to improve the production of vocalization and speech, as well as stimulate the mental process of comprehending, conceptualizing and symbolizing. A music therapist will attempt to establish a communicative relationship between the behavior of a child with autism and a specific sound. An autistic person may have an easier time recognizing or being more open to these sounds than they would to a verbal approach. This musical awareness, and the relationship between the autistics’ actions and the music, has potential to encourage communication.

Another form of music therapy that may help with communication is to play a wind instrument (IE flute). It is thought that by playing such an instrument, you become aware of the functioning of your teeth, jaws, lips and tongue. Thus, playing a wind instrument almost mirrors the functioning required in order to produce speech vocalizations.

Encouraged emotional fulfillment – Most autistics lack the ability to affectively respond to stimuli that would otherwise allow them to enjoy an appropriate emotional charge. Thus, since most autistics respond well to music stimuli, music therapy has been able to provide autistics with an environment that is free of fear, stimuli considered threatening, etc.

During a music therapy session, an autistic individual has the freedom to behave in specific ways that allow them to discover and express themselves when they want and choose. They can make noise, bang instruments, shout and express and experience the pleasure of emotional satisfaction.

Musical therapy has also helped autistic individuals by:

• Teaching social skills

• Improving language comprehension • Encouraging the desire to communicate

• Making creative-self expression possible

• Reducing non-communicative speech

• Decreasing echolalia (uncontrolled and instant repetition of the words spoken by another)

Keep in mind that although music therapy can have positive effects on autistic individuals, it is vital that an autistic receives such treatment from a trained and experienced musical therapist.

Recommended reading Essential Guide To Autism By Rachel Evans