Ever listened to a song that filled your eyes with tears? Or found yourself moving your feet to a beat, without even thinking about it? Ever belted a song into an imaginary microphone while an invisible audience cheered you on? Ever danced in the shower with your favorite song playing? Our lives are full of music, and every note and lyric touches us—some for the good, and some for the bad.
Music is powerful and soothing. It can be anything.
Ever since childhood I’ve found varieties of music such as EDMs, Hindustani, hip=hop, raps and many more. Music is subjective and is found everywhere
Did you all know that there are many benefits to listening to music?
REDUCES PAIN AND ANXIETY:
Bob Marley once sang: “One good thing about music, when it hits, you feel no pain.” Music tremendously plays an important role in reducing the pain.
During my 11th grade when I was elbowed on my incisors while playing basketball. It bled for a bit, pained for a bit but with the spine-chilling thought of a doctor visit – I thought I’ll let it self-heal. I was proved wrong. With the passage of time, my incisor started deteriorating and the pain got worse for which I had to get a root canal done. First of all, I have been and always will be scared of dentists and in my entire 19 years of existence, this was going to be my first visit to the dentist and I was hoping for it to be my last too.
There was no other way out. I could not endure the pain anymore and had to get myself treated.
There was something notable and unique about the clinic. They provided every patient with a pair of headphones. When I was handed over one, I was baffled, and thought to myself about what good that was going to do to an agonizing situation that I was under?
But after I was called upon by the doctor and his not so soothing comfort talk made me put on the headphone – it really gave a miraculous result. The entire duration of the surgery was a cake walk for me. It did indeed comfort me and took me to a place with no pain.
During the time when I was called upon by the doctor, I had got my answer. I put them on and the operation got over before it even started. My eyes were open and I could see all the machines and syringes inside my mouth, hell my whole incisor got replaced with another ceramic tooth but I felt no pain.
It is believed that listening to music triggers the release of opioids in the brain, the body’s natural pain relievers.
“One good thing about music, when it hits, you feel no pain.”
AN EFFECTIVE STRESS RELIEVER:
The famous American musician Billy Joel once said
“I think music in itself is healing.”
How many of you all have cued “We are never getting back together” by Taylor Swift after a bad break up. Or jammed to Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” when powering through a long run.
Music has the ability to alleviate stress by lowering the body’s cortisol levels, the hormone released in response to stress. But this stress relieving effect is dependent on what type of music one listens to.
Haven’t you all wondered why there is relaxing background music in elevators?
Well the most popular theory about the origins of music on elevators is that elevators were terrifying and people needed the music to calm their frazzled nerves.
Studies have shown that the repetitive pattern of the music the infants listened to reduced distress, possibly by promoting “entrainment” – the ability of the body’s internal rhythms to synchronize with external rhythms, pulses or beats.
Music’s effect on heart rate and its potential as a stress reliever has led a number of researchers to believe music may also be effective for treating heart conditions.
MUSIC AND MEMORY:
Certain songs have the ability to remind us of certain periods or events in our lives, some that make us smile, and some we would rather forget.
In 2013, a study published in the journal Memory & Cognition enrolled 60 adults who were learning Hungarian. The adults were randomized to one of three learning tasks: speaking unfamiliar Hungarian phrases, speaking the same phrases in a rhythmic fashion or singing the phrases.
When asked to recall the phrases, the researchers found participants who sang the phrases had much higher recall accuracy than the other two groups. and these results have suggested that a “Listen and sing” learning method can facilitate verbatim memory for spoken foreign language phrases.
Evidence from such studies has suggested that music may help memory recall for people with cognitive disorders, such as Alzheimer’s and dementia.
Isn’t it mind boggling that such a simple art form that we listen to in our day to day life has such a huge impact on our health. It’s amazing.The power of Music is indeed so profound and enigmatic. It is a universal language because it knows no boundaries. It’s the essence of life because it’s an intricate part of our daily routine. You never know, in the times to come Music may become a recognized medicine for the soul and mind.
Music plays such a vital role in our everyday lives and the next time we choose to indulge ourselves in back to back playlists while feeling guilty about not doing anything productive that it is definitely a wise and healthy choice. It’s a HEDONIC investment only to make your path to success smoother, if not guaranteed.
“Music is a moral law. It gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and charm and gaiety to life and to everything.”
