Music Therapy for Mindfulness

The word “mindfulness” is sure starting to become popular these days, with stress, anxiety, and restlessness destroying people's peace in every way. Oh! What wouldn't I give to experience just one day without anxiety, overthinking, negativity, and stress headaches?

There are a lot of options and ways to achieve mindfulness, working wonders for the same cause. Yet, I wanted to bring your attention to one particular way, a tried and tested imperfectly perfect way to walk on the path of mindfulness. So, gear up to know the amazing secret behind achieving “well-being”, behind “Music Therapy”

Well, to start with, “What is Mindfulness”?

First of all, one shouldn't confuse mindfulness with meditation. Mindfulness is more than meditation. While in meditation, we try to empty our thoughts, in mindfulness, we try to recognize our thoughts and feelings. It is about “being present at the moment”. It creates your awareness of yourselves, thus making you feel more in control of your thoughts and feelings. It is proven to work wonders in reducing stress and anxiety. Once you start being aware of yourself and your surroundings, you sense a change in yourself. Now, that's where the therapy begins!

Music and mindfulness go hand-in-hand. They are indeed a pretty perfect pair. You can instantly dive into a mindful and calm state with the help of music. It is a fact and I can confirm this fact through my personal experience regarding the same. Oh! It's a beautiful feeling to just get immersed and lost in a song, at the same time, your awareness getting heightened. It calms me down and motivates me to push myself to do the extra mile. That is, music calms me down when I'm anxious and stressed and cheers me up when I'm feeling dull or sad.

Let it be an hour before my exam, during the fear period before the announcement of my exam results, or for that matter, any part of the day, music has never failed to calm me down. Music has performed wonders in my life. It has made me more aware and more cheerful than ever before and it definitely made me a better singer :)

Music therapy improves self-expression, decreases stress and anxiety, develops healthy coping methods, increases self-esteem, helps in processing difficult emotions, improves communication skills, manages symptoms of pain, regulates body systems( like blood pressure and heart rate) and so much more.

The first way to practice mindfulness through music is by listening to specific parts of the song, such as interludes, preludes, different layers of background music, lyrics, etc. This method brings your awareness to the present.

The second way to practice mindfulness through music is by creating your own music. This method makes you attentive to the sounds you are generating, the instruments you are playing and the thoughts that are coming to you.

Last but not least is to add movement to your music. Try to vibe to the song by exercising or dancing your heart through the beats. Being aware of how your body is reacting to the music is a way of connecting with the present moment.

I was fortunate enough to get exposed to music right from my childhood. But I don't want others, who are yet to realize the power of music, to be deprived of this opportunity, or better, to be deprived of this privilege, I would say. I'll be glad to be the initial push that people require to discover the healing powers of music.

“One of the most common misconceptions about music therapy is that the person receiving it needs to know all about music. I frequently tell people that 'my job is to know the music; your job is to bring an open mind and a willingness to try something new!'”-anonymous

So peeps! Just go get immersed in some music and notice the change in your outlook towards life.

Good Luck!