The healing powers of music have been known for millenia. The Ancient Egyptians believed their gods gave them music so they could cleanse themselves and purify their souls. The ancient Greeks established a connection in their mythology between music and the bodies healing powers represented by Apollo (God of Music) and his son Asclepius (Patron of Healing Arts.) Music was performed in Asclepian Temples to assist in the healing of the body. Yet it would be thousands of years until man had the tools to truly explore and uncover the healing powers of music, and today we have at our disposal decades of scientific proof that music does indeed affect the mind and body.
There are reasons music is one of the oldest and most pervasive artforms on the planet. From the rhythmic sound of first footsteps to a nightclub packed with people dancing to modern dance/electronica, music has been an intrinsic part of human history. Chanting along to peaceful, relaxing music induces tranquil states of mind, lowers heart rate, blood pressure, reduces anxiety and sympathetic nervous system activity, calms the mind by slowing brain wave activity and allows for physiological de-stressing and overall relaxation of the entire musculoskeletal system. It has been proven to alter the brainwave state and induce deeper states of activity closer to the states achieved during sleep, and listening to relaxing music can be a powerful tool for helping people to relax and attain sleep faster than without the aid of the music.
Some of the benefits of music:
- Helps ease chronic pain. According to an article in the Journal of Advanced Nursing, music can have the effect of reducing chronic pain by up to 20%. The article states that 60 patients suffering from various chronic conditions took part in a controlled clinical trial and were divided into 2 groups -- people who listened to relaxing music and those who didnt listen to any music at all. They found that the group who listened to music an hour per day for one week had improved physical and mental symptoms compared to the group that didnt.
- Music Boosts Immunity. Scientists have found that certain types of music can create a profound emotional experience, leading to the secretion of immune-boosting hormones. This then helps ward off many of the contributing factors to illness. Singing and or listening to music can also decrease levels of cortisol, a stress-related hormone. Elevated levels of cortisol suppress the immune system, thus enabling illness related symptoms. Listening to relaxing music gives patients the physiological environment much more likely to contribute to a healthy recovery and also helps to keep your immune system functioning to keep illness at bay.
- Music Helps Memory. We've all heard stories about students who study for tests listening to classical music and then get great marks. This is because learning actively stimulates the left hemisphere while listening to music stimulates the right, and with both hemispheres activated, information is more accurately retained. Music is an excellent stimulus for recalling more than just answers for a test; memories of events, people, situations, or emotional times can easily be triggered by hearing a song that is associated with those times and is almost hypnotic in its ability to bring back emotions attached to those events. This is an almost magical physiological response achieved simply by hearing an old, familiar song.
Air With Air Rising believes in the healing and relaxing power of music and has composed music specifically designed to help the listeners achieve peaceful, relaxed states of being. Tuned to the notes of the C Major Scale to specifically resonate with the 7 major chakras, these Om Chanting Meditations are sure to sooth your soul and energize your being.