Music Care For Well Being

Music enhances everything. It has a capacity to reach into every domain and improve our quality of life through stimulation, social integration, communication, expression and daily routine.

Music can be used to evoke wide ranges of either calming or stimulating physical responses. Research has shown that music can affect blood pressure, heart rate, respiration, pupil dilation, discomfort and tolerance to pain. Music can affect our mood, our stress levels, match our emotional responses.

Music may identify and help manage our feelings. Music can unlock and help bring feelings to the surface. Music may be able to wash up to shore deeply buried, hidden, repressed or painful feelings and with support, these feelings may be processed.

Music is commonly used as a mood enhancer. In their research, Levitin and Menon found that listening to music caused a cascade of brain regions to become activated. The limbic system involved in arousal, pleasure and the transmission of opioids (natural pain killing substance, i.e. endorphins) and the production of dopamine, a neurotransmitter needed for healthy function of the central nervous system, was one of the areas activated ^[1] .
Researchers believe that positive mood and affect are increased with dopamine.

Music can appease stress and anxiety. When the brain attends music and the auditory input is "safe", dopamine and other sedating chemicals that calm and minimize systemic excitability are discharged. Sound vibrations that permeate in the music environment blanket a person and provide a soothing message that the whole brain accepts as calming. The brain attends the music and momentarily forgets its fear and anxiety.

Music has a tremendous capacity to connect people, through shared events, feelings or ideas. It may be a key in motivating participation and developing camaraderie. Music enhances appropriate social interactions and catalyzes recreation and enjoyment where there may otherwise be isolation and loneliness. Music may facilitate intimacy. Music can be a lifelong form of recreation and leisure and enhance fitness training.

 Furthermore, music can bring balance into charged situations. It may serve to neutralize differences and celebrate commonalities. Music may catalyze and develop tolerance between diverse cultures. Listening with open ears and open hearts may expand the borders of respect and working together.

Here are some ways you can stay musically active and enhance your well-being:

1. Join a choir
2. Take a dance class
3. Make a playlist of 10 songs that stimulate you. Play these when you need to be active. 
4. Make a playlist of 10 songs that calm you. Play these in stressful situations i.e. driving in rush hour traffic.
5. Go to a live concert.
6. Find gentle soothing music and take a music bath before bedtime. 
7. Listen to a new piece of music. 
8. Learn to appreciate a new style of music. 
9. Pick up an instrument. This may include taking lessons or rejuvenating old skills.
10. Join a drumming circle.
11. Choose a life song, a song that expresses who you are, the values you believe in, that would in fact be a musical epitaph. 
12. Join a songwriting circle. 

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^[1] Levitin, D., (2006). This is Your Brain on Music. New York: Dutton p.187

By: Bev Foster, Music Care Expert at AgeComfort.org Health Care Resource Centre

Photo Credit: Alejandro Matos

Front Lines - Yoga for the Skin

Deepa wanted to clear up her skin. She was tired of the flare ups, the expensive lotions and potions that never quite covered the spots or stopped them from showing up in the first place. She wanted to explore natural remedies.

Your skin is the largest organ in your body. It is your perimeter, regulating temperature, allowing interaction with the environment through the sensation of touch. Your skin is porous, whatever you put on your skin eventually makes its way into your body. 

Your skin is a mirror of what is happening inside your body. Toxins in the organs, unresolved emotions, genetics, drugs, alcohol and eating habits all play a role in the health of your skin. Think of your skin life a filtering system, as important to your digestion as your colon and liver. Most of us will blame our skin issues on the choice of food we make. There is usually much more at play. 

When Deepa reflected on what else was happening in her life, she admitted that she was undergoing a stressful transition at work. These changes at work left her feeling angry, her sleep was disrupted and her eating habits were taking a turn for the worse. 

Here are some new ideas for Deepa. When dealing with an emerging emotion, it is best to eat the opposite of what you are craving. Fresh, raw food allows the body to cleanse and brings emotions into our awareness. 

A regular yoga practice offers support when introducing new habits and shifts in behaviour. Long term, these options provide relief where heavy make-up and medicated creams cover up issues or hide our true selves from the world. 

Natural Remedies: 

1) Drink 2-4 cups of chamomile tea daily as an inner cleanser for the skin.

2) Green grapes can be eaten for a clear complexion. They are high in vitamin C, magnesium and potassium. 

3) Dry skin brushing - a soft bristle brush used over your body before showering helps remove dead skin cells and promotes good circulation. 

4) Make a paste out of tumeric and water spread over the face and then rinse with warm water. 

5) Make a face exfoliant using seat salt and sesame oil. With light pressure massage scrub onto face and then rinse with warm water. 

Try this medication: 

Sitali Pranayam is known for its anti-inflammatory properties. It's an ultimate quick fix when skin flares up! It's great to curb symptoms of rosecea. It's also a gentle liver cleanser. Inhale through a curled and extended tongue. Exhale through the nose. Do 26 of these breaths per practice session. Ideally do 26 in the morning and 26 in the afternoon. 

By: Salimah Kassim-Lakha, Health & Yoga Expert at AgeComfort.org Health Care Resource Centre

Photo Credit: Kukhahn Yoga