Music therapy for stress using a natural sound therapy in the form of Gregorian chants is an example of an age old form of stress relief, which I have personal experience with.
Music’s Special Qualities
If you are wondering how this topic relates to antiaging, remember that aging is every bit as mental and emotional as it is physical. There is an intimate connection between body and brain, and there are few things as beneficial to brain and mind as musical sounds.
Music therapy for stress is a safe, and effective way to relax and renew both physically and emotionally. There are perfectly logical reasons why natural sound therapy works, and it has to do with energy.
Everything in the universe including us is made up of energy in various states, which exist, in different frequencies or rates of vibration. Lower vibration is associated with negative emotions and higher vibration with positive emotions. The ancients understood and used this principle in their healing arts.
Musical sounds have a beneficial effect on the brain, mind, and emotions. Various musical forms, from Tibetan “Singing Bowls,” to Gregorian Chants have been known for centuries to have healthy and beneficial effects on the human body.
Reductions in blood pressure, heart rate, muscle tension, and improvement in immune system function are some of the benefits of music therapy for stress. The ethereal and sublime chanting imparts a soothing and peaceful sense of well being to the listener.
Natural Sound Therapy and The Brain
Dr. Alfred Tomatis was a French expert on the ears and hearing. He was called in to a monastery where the monks had fallen into ill health. He found that they had stopped chanting, as the daily chants were thought to be an unproductive activity.
When Dr. Tomatis instructed the head of the monastery to restore the daily Gregorian chants, the health of the monks dramatically improved. It seemed that the daily chanting served as a music therapy for stress and allowed the monks to regain their health.
Dr. Tomatis had discovered that sounds heard through the ears produced energy, and that higher pitched sounds actually charge the brain with this energy. The chanting because of the harmonics, and high frequency overtones was providing a daily dose of energy to the brains of the monks, and this was the key to maintaining their normal health in spite of long hours of hard work and Spartan living conditions.
I have noticed that if I listen to recordings of Gregorian chants before going to bed, I feel more rested and refreshed in the morning, as if I had an additional hour or two of sleep. This would seem to bear out Dr. Tomatis theories about brain energy and higher frequency music.
Since this is a natural sound therapy, there are no drugs with their dangerous side effects or bad reactions. You cannot overdo the use of musical sounds for relaxation, and this is why your first and best stress reduction strategy should involve musical sound, in a comfortable and relaxed setting.
Relaxation Goes High Tech
Today there are many acoustical products that are geared to relaxation and stress reduction. These products use special recording techniques to create sound that will envelope you in a rich soothing spectrum of tones that both relax and regenerate.
Music therapy for stress can include classical music, which stimulates brain activity because of the mathematical relationships between the notes. Music of the Baroque period, such as Bach, Handel, or Vivaldi fit this description.
Special speakers, noise canceling headsets, listening chairs, and other devices that create immersive soundscapes providing a natural sound therapy for the listener are now available.
There are also many types of recordings using sound techniques such as holophonic, binaural beats, peripheral processing, and other specific sound modulations. These recordings can provide you with powerful and effective tools to manage your stress in a safe and natural way.
I will be providing links to various types of recordings that I feel will be helpful to you in your efforts to promote relaxation and successfully use music therapy for stress.
The video clip below contains an example of the soothing sounds of the Irish vocal group Anuna!
