The Rhythm of Life
The Rhythm of Life
:How music makes us healthy
We have looked into issues of health in our life. (See urls below) Food (in Food or Rubbish series 1, 2, 3, 4, 5), Environment (in Rubbish in our Environment series ), Healthy Life Style (in ...) and many commentaries on our culture (such as sugar salt fat...). Let us now take a moment off those issues and listen to what we can call 'the sound of music'.
Music is some composition of sounds and silence (yes what we can hear and can't hear). Some music can help some people to relax, to recall memory of sensation experienced in the past, to synchronize with certain events around us, and so on. Music (especially Western classical music) is being experimented in learning, rehabilitation and traumatic therapy with some surprisingly good results. (See Notes below.)
Definitions of music often include 'rhythms' or 'beats' that are certain arrangments of regularly repeating sequences of sounds and silence. We know most songs have repeating bars (to resettle the mood of listeners). Thai classical music and most of 'Thai classical poetry regimes' are based on rhythms (that are based on certain regular chains of 'similar sounding words'). The chanting by Buddhist monks is too based on certain rhythms (called 'meters' which sets arrangement of short and long words with gaps among them.) We can see 'rhythms' being used to express moods (or emotional flows) in plays, movies and ceremonies and as tools to help with memorization (for recital) and synchronization.
Many times we hear some fragments of music and can remember the rhythms and the tunes but not the words. Many times our memory carries us back to a place and a time of pleasure experience. Many times certain beats synchronize us with the mass. (Military marching is one use of rhythm for synchronization and induction to perform orchestrated actions. I am pausing now to join the Dawn Service of ANZAC Day 2016. Music is creating a mixed of feelings that 'lest we forget'.) Many times music is magical in bringing back happiness and recovery.
We can use rhythm in our life for our health and our work. At the very minimum we can listen to some music to calm down our thinking and relax our body activities - that's to 'rest'. This is a basis for reducing hypertensive/hyperactive/attention deficit symptoms with music. Experiments in care of aged and memory-degraded people show marked improvement in quality of life with music. Music encourages many physically-infirmed to move and to recover their bodily functions. But not all 'music' is useful for our health, there are exceptions. Just like medicine it does not always work for all people in all cases.
But music (and rhythm) is not yet a generally accepted part of healthcare in the same way as 'chemical drugs' presscribed mostly to reduce severity of symptoms. Like environment or nature (open spaces, forests and wildlife --also not yet accepted as a healthcare factor--), music is not prescribed for health. Though, Nature and music can help our health in different ways, we don't have not enough research and training to use them --formally--.
NB. Medical service providers are trained to treat or advice patients based on expert opinions (mostly) or on past experiences or historical records (when experts fail) or 'forensic investigation' (as the last option when all else fail). Promotion by drugs companies make chemical drugs the first choice for providers and patients.
NB. We may generalize 'music' from its usual 'sounds and silence' bases to 'patterns' of 'periodic' events or phenomena (day-night - a pattern of light and dark, seasons - a pattern of periodic changes, rituals and traditions - patterns for behaviour or doing things, and so on. When we tune into the rhythm of life, we can experience smooth and harmonious flow in our life. When we don't, mishaps and inconveniences!
Perhaps, this is an idea for 21st century R&D (or R2R or other KM catchwords) to explore new frontiers of healthcare. (Together with 'mindfullness practice' or meditation which we shall look at next.) With aims to empower these 'alternative and natural' means for our health.
Perhaps, we can ponder on questions of money and life (and death) and muse on statistics like 'over 80% of medicines and treatments have been developed by and for Westrern societies' where 'over 80% of diseases and ailments occur in underdeveloped tropical zones'. We may come to realize that the value of 'food, environment, activity, music, and mindfulness' in healthcare (for both Western and tropical societies) can be more than that of 'money'.
Good health!
Some related posts
Food or Rubbish series
https://www.gotoknow.org/posts/592068
https://www.gotoknow.org/posts/592230
https://www.gotoknow.org/posts/592300
https://www.gotoknow.org/posts/592585
https://www.gotoknow.org/posts/603180
คนไทยเป็นเบาหวานไม่รู้ตัว https://www.gotoknow.org/posts/597026
https://www.gotoknow.org/posts/591702
Rubbish in Our Environment series
https://www.gotoknow.org/posts/565475
https://www.gotoknow.org/posts/570443
แบ่งกัน เก็บ https://www.gotoknow.org/posts/588024
Winning Environment Games https://www.gotoknow.org/posts/565358
*(Nature as medicine)
ยาหมอ(ยังไม่)สั่ง https://www.gotoknow.org/posts/603181
Some notes on music
music [noun] an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner; any agreeable (pleasing and harmonious) sounds; musical activity;
[Note. (slang) punishment for one's actions - you have to face the music.]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music
Music is an art form and cultural activity whose medium is sound and silence. The common elements of music are pitch (which governs melody and harmony), rhythm (and its associated concepts tempo, meter, and articulation), dynamics (loudness and softness), and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture (which are sometimes termed the "color" of a musical sound). Different styles or types of music may emphasize, de-emphasize or omit some of these elements. Music is performed with a vast range of instruments and with vocal techniques ranging from singing to rapping, and there are solely instrumental pieces, solely vocal pieces (such as songs without instrumental accompaniment) and pieces that combine singing and instruments. The word derives from Greek μουσική (mousike; "art of the Muses").[1] In its most general form, the activities describing music as an art form include the production of works of music (songs, tunes, symphonies, and so on), the criticism of music, the study of the history of music, and the aesthetic examination of music. Ancient Greek and Indian philosophers defined music as tones ordered horizontally as melodies and vertically as harmonies. Common sayings such as "the harmony of the spheres" and "it is music to my ears" point to the notion that music is often ordered and pleasant to listen to. However, 20th-century composer John Cage thought that any sound can be music, saying, for example, "There is no noise, only sound."
...
Influence of music on steroid hormones and the relationship ...
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov › NCBI › Literature › PubMed Central (PMC)
by H Fukui - 2013 - Cited by 1 - Related articles
Dec 3, 2013 - In a preliminary pilot study, we examined the effect of music listening on steroid hormones and the relationship between steroid hormone ...
The neurochemistry of music - Daniel Levitin
daniellevitin.com/levitinlab/articles/2013-TICS_1180.pdf
by ML Chanda - 2013 - Cited by 128 - Related articles
Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH): a hormone synthesized by the anterior pituitary ..... The effects of relaxing music on stress hormones levels along the ...
Music and mood: a hormone connection? | Research Matters
https://researchmatters.asu.edu/.../music-and-mood-hormone-connection-...
Sep 29, 2008 - Oxytocin is a hormone that, according to recent research, is one of the central players ... So why is a music professor at ASU studying oxytocin?
...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_therapy:
Music therapy is the use of interventions to accomplish individual goals within a therapeutic relationship by a professional who has completed an approved music therapy program.[1] Music therapy is an allied health profession and one of the expressive therapies, consisting of a process in which a music therapist uses music and all of its facets—physical, emotional, mental, social, aesthetic, and spiritual—to help clients improve their physical and mental health. Music therapists primarily help clients improve their health in several domains, such as cognitive functioning, motor skills, emotional development, social skills, and quality of life, by using music experiences such as free improvisation, singing, and listening to, discussing, and moving to music to achieve treatment goals. It has a wide qualitative and quantitative research literature base and incorporates clinical therapy, psychotherapy, biomusicology, musical acoustics, music theory, psychoacoustics, embodied music cognition, aesthetics of music, sensory integration, and comparative musicology. Referrals to music therapy services may be made by other health care professionals such as physicians, psychologists, physical therapists, and occupational therapists. Clients can also choose to pursue music therapy services without a referral (i.e., self-referral).
Music therapists are found in nearly every area of the helping professions. Some commonly found practices include developmental work (communication, motor skills, etc.) with individuals with special needs, songwriting and listening in reminiscence/orientation work with the elderly, processing and relaxation work, and rhythmic entrainment for physical rehabilitation in stroke victims. Music therapy is also used in some medical hospitals, cancer centers, schools, alcohol and drug recovery programs, psychiatric hospitals, and correctional facilities.[2]
Music therapy comes in two different forms: active and receptive. In active therapy, the therapist and patient actively participate in creating music with instruments, their voice, or other objects. This allows for the patient to be creative and expressive through the art of music. Receptive therapy takes place in a more relaxed setting where the therapist plays or makes music to the patient who is free to draw, listen or meditate. Usually the therapist determines the method unless specifically requested by the patient.[3]
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ความเห็น (3)
สวัสดีค่ะ..คุณ Sr..."ต้นไม้ก็ชอบฟังเพลง..เจ้าค่ะ"..ในสวนองุ่นแห่งหนึ่งในอิตาลี่..เขาเปิดเพลงคลาสสิค..ให้ไร่องุ่นเขาฟัง..ปรากฎว่าได้ผลดีกว่า..ส่วนที่ไม่เปิดเพลง..แถมด้วยว่า..แมลงบางชนิดก็ไม่มากวน..น่าจะไม่ชอบ..ฟังเพลงคลาสสิค.คงอันตราย.ประสาทสัมผัส..ของแมลง..(อิอิ)
ชอบบันทึกนี้ มากๆ ค่ะ .... The Rhythm of Life .... เพราะ .. สิ่งที่จำเป็นต่อการมีชีวิต .... ก็ต้องการ คล้ายๆ กันนะคะ ... ทั้งอาหารรวมทั้งน้ำ ... วิถีชีวิต ... สิ่งแวดล้อม ฯลฯ
ขอบคุณค่่ะ
There are low-lying things below our radar (perception) that influence our health (and happiness). We are talking about 'environment of another kind'. I find it very subtle but powerful enough to effect our life. I hope you would come to see 'the rhythm of life' in the same light as I do. And more 'use' it to improve life.