Music to quiet the mind

I think many of us are agreed that our lives are too full these days.  We have lives full of possessions, choices, appointments, noise, distraction, thoughts ... the list goes on.  How do we stop?  How do we actively replace the busyness of what's around us with something that's going to actually unravel the stress and promote good thinking?

Whenever we escape to the beach for a day or weekend, I'm happy just sitting and listening to the rhythm of the waves beating against the shore.  There may be the quiet sound of birds, or even children playing.  The body can just rest and feel at peace as the natural rhythms around you bring the mind back into synch. whilst you stop and listen.

Many a time I've wished for a quieter world, or one where I can at least have some control about the choice of sounds around us.  We can close our eyes to things we don't want to see, but how do we close our ears to things we don't want to hear?  How do we stop our bodies feeling the vibrations that can rattle our nerves, even when the sound is too low to be audible?

We've been having some interesting discussions about some information that comes through at times about how sounds affect life.  We know whales are confused by the noise pollution in the ocean, as they hear the ship engines over the sound of a mate's call.  There have also been reports of illness developing from families who have been exposed to the regular low vibrations produced near wind farms.  Sound does effect life!

Isn't that an interesting thought, though?  Sound .. effecting life?  I'm sure I should take up a more indepth study on the physics of sound as it is something that intrigues me.  However, with the information I do have, I know that there are things to help promote some balance and help us unwind.  It's about active listening ... to music.

Music, in a scientific explanation, is about perfect vibrations.  Any given note on an instrument, or sung with the voice, produces a tone that vibrates at a certain speed.  For example, the international concert A vibrates perfectly at 440 Hz.  The note 'A' stays in mathematical proportion when played up an octave, at 880 Hz, or played down an octave, at 220 Hz.  And if you've done some trigonometry, you may have possibly discussed that the frequency waves can be mapped out as sine or cosine waves.

Many musicians would also recognise that the mathematical patterns in music don't just stop at the vibration frequency, either.  Music is very complex when you consider notation values and harmonies, just to name a couple.  It's an active job to listen to this!  Your mind doesn't actually sleep through those sounds.  So, why is it that we can find that some music is relaxing?  Is it more that it may be healing?

In 2001, Andrew Pudewa gave a talk on "The Profound Effects of Music on Life". Andrew shared information about research done on mice when exposed to different types of music.  I won't go into all the information Andrew elaborated on, but do want to draw on the fascinating point made about how classical music is mathematically organised in such a way that promotes neuron connection.  There is something about the listening to the well organised patterns of classical music, in particular, that our brain uses to encourage connections, which promotes better thought patterns ... which brings about ... a quieter mind.

My children are now in their early teen years.  Their minds are actively going through physical changes again, (although not as much as a child's brain develops in the first six years of life.) These thoughts I've shared here, today, is a reminder to me that we still should actively involve them in good listening and playing of music.  Maestro had given his violin a rest for a few months, but I was delighted that's he's been getting it out again.  And Mariposa's doing very well at her piano playing.  They are listening, reading, and kinetically playing music. These are the tools to help develop good thinking, and to know how to find a time to heal when stresses crowd into their lives in the future.

This is a HUGE topic, and I've only shared some of my thoughts here now.  Some pages which may interest you further can be found here:
- notes from Andrew Pudewa's cds, about music not just being 'nice' but necessary for children HERE.
- 'Why Children Need Music' by Wendy-Irene Grimm HERE.
- a discussion on where concert A should really be pitched HERE. (Um .. yes, this is a very indepth argument, but I found it interesting and may want to refer back to it later .. smiles!)

Until next time!

Catherine