Can You Hear What I Hear?

“Play anything, but play it loud!” Robin Williams bellows while playing a radio host in the movie “Good Morning America,” a classic capturing the power of humor and music in elevating Vietnam troops’ moods in the midst of violence, terror, and grief.  Music is a powerful force that moves us to laughter, tears, joy, anger, fear, and a host of other emotions and transforms us at our core.  Music is used in media, to buy products, improve learning and memory, promote motivation, and to initiate the flow state during performance.  Athletes harness the power of sound for optimal performance and for relaxation after an intense event.  Not just music, but sound in general, infiltrates our everyday life impacting mood, movement, and productivity.  We can use sound to heal, minimize or alleviate pain, increase sensory-motor skills, improve sleep and connect us with ourselves, to others and to nature. 

The science of music and healing runs deep and is ever expanding.  Singing, drumming, dancing, chanting, humming, repeating affirmations or mantras, and listening to music have been found to affect how we feel.   When in harmony, there is coherence in rhythm and flow.  Whenever sound is created, say through a pluck of a string, subtle tones or harmonics are simultaneously created, resonating at multiples of the original frequency.  These harmonics activate every part of our brain, some areas being up-trained while others down-trained.  Sound activates deep brain structures that regulate heart rate, temperature, pulse, blood pressure, skin conductance, muscle tension, and digestion.  It also lights up the area of the brain associated with emotions.  Specific frequencies (i.e. cycles per second) are used to entrain the brain and body to create a state of resonance of synchronous vibrations that stimulate or relax the system.

Albert Einstein stated that everything is energy and scientists have shown energy is vibration.  Sound is not only heard, but also felt.  The ears, skin and bones all pick up sound. Alfred Tomatis identified sounds that nourished or charged the brain and nervous system.  High frequencies around 8000 hertz (i.e. cycle per second) were optimal for the nervous system and cortex activation and lower frequencies running around 2000 to 4000 hertz, were calming or sedative.  These frequencies are experienced through our bodies through harmonic resonance.  Tomatis developed a sound therapy to help treat listening and learning disabilities that has now become used for many ailments such as posttraumatic stress, attention deficit disorder, sensory and motor delays, movement disorders, dementia, anxiety, and sleep disorders.  Sound is medicine at our fingertips at little or no cost to help heal.  Science has gone even further to identify vibrational frequencies that help overcome migraines, arthritis, pain, and other maladies that plague our health and well-being.  Brain stimulation through modulation of frequencies has become a common practice within health care professions with little to no side effects.   Although sound is not present, the vibration of frequencies provides relief for many who are currently suffering.

Just as attending a live sports game rather watching on TV, being immersed in live music is much more powerful than reproduced music. Playing instruments, listening to live music, and singing have strong effects on our physiology.  Live sound played at a reasonable decibel is much more dynamic, we feel it more strongly. We feel the direct impact of sound waves in our bodies and our emotions flow.  Live music provides increased sensory input for the person performing as well as the audience, with everyone beating to the same drum.  Real-time improvisation through voice, instruments, and movement give rise to expression despite one’s level of training and experience.  Reproduced recorded music of course has powerful effects, yet does not replace the power of live experience.

Synchronization occurs between our heartbeat and brain. HeartMath, a non-profit organization specializing in heart rate variability, has demonstrated coherence between heart and brain helps balance thoughts and emotions, decreases stress, and enhances mental clarity.  Rollin McCraty, the research expert within HeartMath, stated that electrical activity from the heart is 60 times greater than that of the brain.  Coherent waves coming from the heart travel to several parts of body and brain, influencing proteins and amino acids.  Furthermore, positive thoughts, such as love and gratitude, increase heart coherence, which results in improved immune function.  Music changes the way we breathe and our mental state, therefore increasing heart-brain coherence and improving our overall function.  Certain types of music promote synchrony, while others create chaos, so choosing carefully.   If music moves you toward a positive state, you’ve found the magic of coherence.

Silence is also important.  The space between sounds, similar to the pause between breathing in and out or a pause in a speech, can be extremely powerful.  The pause in music, the space of waiting for the next note, opens up transformation.  It grabs attention, induces anticipation for what comes next, and invites a shift in state.  The pause is a mindful practice of moving from being reactive to more proactive and intentional.    I like to compare this to the pause during the out breathe that an athlete takes when shooting a free throw or making a putt in golf.  It’s a point in time when the muscles are not too tense nor too limp, when the body enters optimal motor control.  Music provides this same awareness and inhibition through silent pauses.  Savor the silence as much as the sound.

When the holiday rolls around, Christmas music filters into every nook and cranny.  It is inevitable that you will be exposed to the power of holiday music at great lengths during the month.  Because music activates deep structures in our brain, they can stir up old feelings and memories.  My favorite compilation is “Charlie Brown Christmas” by Vince Guaraldi Trio.  It takes me back the simpler days of drinking hot chocolate, watching a good cartoon, ice skating, and building snow forts with neighborhood kids. We all have been entrained to experience strong responses to rhythms, melodies, and tones.  Some tunes bring joy, while others activate feelings of sadness or grief.  Emotions add color to our lives, getting us to move, and music enhances brightness to that color.  I hope you take time this holiday to embrace the healing power of sound and music to destress and connect with the ones you love.