Healing Our Body through Relaxation Music

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One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.
Bob Marley

Ancient Greeks were of the belief that music had the power to heal the body as well as the soul. The
power of meditation was also discovered millennia ago when the early man stared into the flames of
fire and entered into a peaceful state of mind. Meditative or relaxation music is a combination of two
such powers as mighty enough to deliver individuals from their mental as well as physical problems.
Although discoveries were made ages ago, it was only in the 1940s that medical experts and
scientists started to research the influence of music on the human body and its assistance to
overcome various ailments.
Music has been used as a therapy tool by doctors for several years. Relaxation music allegedly
distracts patients from their pain and helps them calm down in troubled times. However, scientific
evidence from the Research Center at the Utah University has confirmed that music can help divert
patients minds to lessen their pain. A musician and university professor, David H. Bradshaw, noted
an affirmative connection between relieving pain from headaches and practicing music through
personal experiences.
Study Proving the Influence of Music on Pain
Intrigued by his curiosity, he joined forces with four other university doctors from the University of
Utahs anesthesiology department and used more than 150 healthy volunteers to confirm his theory.
The subjects were divided into two groups and each group received shocks or painful stimulations of
varying intensities from electrodes on the tip of their fingers. One group went through the mild pain
in an environment where music was being played in the background while the second group was
delegated with several musical assignments of differing difficulties. The tasks involved recognizing
the changing directions of a melody or the identification of deviant tones. The harmonies used for
the research were the compositions of Miguel Chuaqui the head of the universitys School of Musics

composition program.
When the subjects received shocks, researchers found that there were quantifiable electrical
potentials within the subjects skin conductance, pupil dilation, and nervous systems. Using this data,
the researchers measured their subjects peripheral and central arousal, or the level of pain they
experienced. Based on the study, Bradshaws team uncovered that the alterations in stimulus arousal
or net engagement related to the performance of musical tasks decreased when the difficulty of
tasks increased. The research team proved, through the test, that the subjects overall pain
decreased when they focused on the music and the task at hand.
The Magic of Relaxation Music
The sensory channels in our bodies are activated by music. They provoke emotional responses and
captivate mental attention to fight against the pain channels. The synergy of music and pain
therefore reduces our bodies response and increases tolerance. However, the magnitude of pain
reduction differs among individuals owing to personality traits such as their ability to focus on a
particular activity and their anxiety levels.
Relaxation Music Therapy to Help People with AIDS and Cancer Patients
Musics influence on pain has extended its use into several fields in terms of health and well-being.
Music therapy is becoming increasingly popular and emerging as a whole new field in itself. The
AMTA (American Music Therapy Association) reports that music is useful in addressing social,
physical, emotional, and cognitive needs. Treatment does not only involve listening to music, but
also singing, creating, and moving to music. Alleviation of pain, management of stress, improvement
of communication, and enhancement of memory can be successfully completed by using music
therapy.
Many recent studies have been conducted in different parts of the world to test the influence of
music on people with personal issues and illnesses. The Drexel Universitys researchers, for instance,
discovered that music can improve the BP levels in cancer patients and also elevate the moods of
people suffering from AIDS or Alzheimers disease. Researchers at Swedens University of
Gothenburg revealed that relaxation music not only helped subjects relax when listening to it, but
also proved that they experienced a flurry of positive emotions at a higher frequency and with higher
intensity. In addition, the same subjects showed signs of lower stress and their cortisol levels (stress
hormone in humans) also reduced significantly.
The Findings and Revelations of the American Cancer Society
The ACS (American Cancer Society) denoted that relaxation music can help in reducing heart rate,
breathing rates, and blood pressure. It can also lower the symptoms of insomnia, anxiety, and
depression to a great extent. Patients who receive chemotherapy and anti-nausea drugs in high
doses can ease vomiting and nausea by using music therapy. Relaxation music also helps relieve the
short-term pain experienced by cancer patients.
The ACS indicated that hospice patients such as those suffering from cancer or AIDS improved their
quality of life through the power of relaxation music. Music therapy has helped in improving their
relaxation and comfort levels while also aiding in pain control. In some patients, relaxation music
has dilated veins and relaxed muscles, which has significantly helped decrease the discomfort
experienced during invasive procedures.

Impact of Meditative Music on People Suffering with Alzheimers disease

People suffering from Alzheimers disease can make the most of relaxation music to achieve
assistance in daily life. Even during the latter stages of Alzheimers disease, a patients ability to
engross in musical activities and interact with rhythmic cues remains intact. The cognitive
functioning necessary for the processing of these cues is impaired during the late stages, so
unfamiliar relaxation music can help in relaxing patients by inducing sleep and managing stress.
Sedative or meditative music with no syncopation or percussion and slower tempos has the potential
to help people suffering from Alzheimers disease change the routines which cause agitation and go
to bed with relative ease.
Relaxation music has the ability to put listeners into a calm state of mind. Whether it involves
stimulating a patient affected by dementia, retrieving memories, relieving pain, or soothing an
individual who has had a long day, week, a month, or a year, relaxation music possesses the kind of
healing power that arguably goes beyond scientific reasoning.
Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the minds, flight to the imagination and life to
everything. Plato
Author's Bio:
http://www.relaxmeonline.com
Jason Stephenson is the founder of Relax Me Online and has been involved in the
meditation/relaxation healing field for the past 15 years. Having come from a musical background
(his parents both professional musicians, Jason understands the importance of music and its healing
capabilities. He says Music has always been a profound part of my life. When I would arrive home
from school, the first thing I would hear as I walked in the door was my Mum playing classics on the
piano. It would soothe me, even back then as a child. I loved to sing when Mum played the piano too.
The importance of meditation came to Jason in his early 20s, when he was entering some troubled
times in his personal development. He recalls one experience he had whilst meditating in a local
National Park , totally at one with nature, and said he "felt like in those few moments, I had
everything I had ever wanted, could want right here right now. It was an intense experience that left
me wanting more, and seeking out more.
Having an interest in Buddhism, Jason attended a 10 day Monastic retreat at Nan Tien Temple in
NSW, Australia, where those days really changed his outlook. It was from this point that Jason knew
he had to continue on this path of seeking a deeper peace within himself and his world he lives in.

Recently, Jason completed a Diploma with H & H Colleges in QLD Australia for Neuro-Psychological
Immunity a course where Jason says, I really began to understand the power and connection
between health of the mind and body.
http://www.relaxmeonline.com