Types of Music to Help Heal the Body and Mind

At East-West Therapy in Hawaii we care about more than just a person’s mental state, we care about the health of their mind, body, and soul. Dr. William Conti goes beyond traditional psychotherapy practices, adding creative treatments such as Dreamwork, Meditation Practice, and Sandplay Therapy. Just as these contribute to healing, music is another important tool for healing the body and mind.

Simply hearing music has shown many temporary cognitive benefits. Learning to play music changes the actual structure of the brain. Just adding a musical context to spoken words leads to better retention and recall. Hearing pleasing music may minimize the negative effects of stress on the brain and body. Music can even effect how we move as our bodies naturally align with the beats we hear.

Music for the Mind

It’s long been known, all else being equal, people who listen to classical music over time show greater IQ scores than those who don’t. There’s also a known correlation between calming music, with slower beats and an emphasis on harmony, and reduced stress. More recently studies have been conducted showing a direct correlation between musical training, of any type, and increased mental acuity. More specifically, people who learn to play music have better attention spans, memory, and a greater control over their own emotions and actions. 

Music to Help Heal the Body and Mind

Music for the Body

While music with a slow tempo is great for increasing mental acuity, physical performance is enhanced by music with a fast tempo. Many people will even refer to some music with a very fast tempo as “high-energy.” This type of music increases not only a person’s performance, but the effectiveness of their workouts. From the tempo to the volume music can influence a person’s heart rate, helping them to reach a target and assisting them in coming back down afterword.

Music for the Soul

When it comes to your emotional well-being, how specific songs make you feel is the stick to measure against. The tempo, rhythm, and harmonies take a back seat to the way you feel when you lose yourself in the song. It may be the harmonies that bring you to a certain place, but it could also be the lyrics.

At the end of the day the right music for healing your body, mind, and soul needs to be music you like. It would be great if the answer was an easy “country music heals depression and funk speeds recovery of broken bones,” but that is not how we work. Some styles of music have shown broad enough effects for some general statements, such as classical music helping with IQ and upbeat, high-energy music helping with energy. The trick is that if a person doesn’t like classical music, they won’t see those clinically proven benefits.

If you’re in the Honolulu area contact us today at (231) 880-8262 for help in finding the right music to assist you in your journey of healing.