Music Therapy; even Better when YOU Play it!

Friedrich Nietsche speaks for all of us when he says,’ without music, life is a mistake.’ Even the great Einstein confessed,’ If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician, I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music.’ We can only imagine what the greats must have felt while quoting music as the shorthand of emotion, the tool effective even when speech is not an option, the ultimate refuge from everyday worries, the only truth and so on…

Acc. to harvard health, a study on a group of 40 cataract patients where half of them were given the chance to listen to music of choice before, during and after operation and the other half operated upon in silence, revealed that music helped keep the blood pressure of the first lot in check, whereas the ones sans music saw the usual spike. Similarly in a study of 80 urology surgeries, music actually helped reduce the need of anaesthesia. We all are aware of the soothing effects of music on the human mind, but studies suggest that due to this particular relaxing effect, music helps control heart beat, lower breathing rate and pulse in times of distress.

Not only limited to medical uses, known as the ‘music therapy’, music is a blessing when it comes to handling the school and/or office work, getting inspiration, etc. Music basically controls our mood and has a deep influence on emotions. This is further glorified by millions of downloads on apps such as Atmosphere: relaxing sound, nature sound(3d) and night sounds. People use them for the same reason as gym authorities use hip-hop and rock( just imagine working out to a sufi track to get the feel!). music chases away the monotonity, in otherwise boring tasks, thus enabling efficient and increased output.

Just imagine, if only listening to your favs can bring about all these changes, what happens when one learns to play them! And have my word on this, it is just a matter of practice and time… with good guidance and regular exercise, instruments like guitar, harmonium, tabla can be learnt. The benefits of taking time out for this new ‘passion’ is actually quite worth your while.

So go ahead, make time, to include this multifaceted( the benefits, certainly) skill in your sheath and forever at your disposal. You will never regret it!