Your future is in your hands! Make the change today!
Your future is in your hands! Make a change today!
The power of music - Part 2
April 3, 2021
Music and mood
How does music make you feel? This is quite a complex question as we seem to use music in a lot of different ways. Imagine you are driving, it's summer, the windows are rolled down, the road is clear, the sun is shining, your shades are on, your favourite tune comes on the radio......How do you feel? probably pretty good right?
What about this, you've just broken up with the love of your life, you feel tired and want to listen to sad love songs on your own....How do you feel now? Probably terrible right?
Music is a constant backdrop to our lives, remember the holiday song? That song that played everywhere on your first ever holiday abroad? Just hearing that song now, all these years later instantly transports you back there and you feel all those feelings again.
There is a wealth of research that talks about how music can affect the brain chemistry in different ways. One of the things that is agreed upon is that it has a significant affect on Dopamine production. Dopamine is associated with pleasure and reward in the brain and research suggests that when we listen to music we enjoy, our Dopamine production is increased. In a study reported on the BBC
Dr Vicky Williams from Goldsmiths College, University of London, showed it increased by around 9%. So if you are feeling low and need a mood boost then put on some feelgood tunes and your brain will do the rest.
Music can even make you cleverer! There is a theory called the 'Mozart effect' which shows that listening to Mozart can improve cognitive function. Researchers theorised that listening to Mozart ahead of completing a test helped the subjects order their thoughts and acted almost as a mental 'warm up' exercise.
Exercise is something you either love or hate but music can also play a part in this activity too. Think about the song that gets you going to exercise when you don't feel like it, what gets you off the sofa? For me it is 'Eye of the tiger' - predictable I know but it works for me. Music and motivation are linked in countless ways and it is well documented that motivational music can super charge workouts. If you want to run faster, play music with a faster count of beats per minute, if you want to give it everything, find the songs that mean the most to you and your goal.
However it is important to mix it up, randomness is apparently the key as too much routine leads to fatigue, so mix up the playlists, hit shuffle and get going!
According to Christopher Bergland, a retired ultra endurance athlete turned scientist, 'Music is one of the most powerful neurobiological tools we have to change our mood, mindset and behaviour' (Psychology today, 2012). I hope you found this article a useful way to put some of this into action.
As a hypnotherapist I use music to create an atmosphere with clients but also to help them find that subconscious trance state and relax. I can help you to incorporate music into your therapy sessions and find what helps you make the changes you want to make. Get in touch if you want to unleash the power of music in your life through hypnotherapy.
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