WELLBEING STORIES: MUSIC MAKES ME HAPPY
Sometimes I think music is my church. It’s the place I go to, to feel that everything is connected and intertwined, a place to find and feel something outside of myself, a higher state of consciousness. It’s also a place to get reflective and have some space to think about what is happening in my life and to let the weekly/daily happenings settle. Finally, it’s something to turn to when things don’t make sense and I feel a little lost.
Time and time again I have listened to music and found the answers to questions that weren’t even fully formed in my mind. Music has the ability to express things that words alone cannot.
Listening to music daily dramatically improves my wellbeing. It’s something that is so easy to do… we can all pop the radio on. We’ve also all had those moments when the radio is just sort of on in the background and then a specific song comes on that makes us suddenly stop everything and turn the radio up. We simply pause… and listen, maybe sing along, and lose ourselves in the lull, just for a couple of minutes.
A daily headphone moment is essential for me, where everything else is tuned out and forgotten by the sounds of the music flowing in through my ears. I turn the volume up and let the waves of sound wash over me, bringing with them a sense of peace.
I listen to the stories that are deeply woven by the words of the songs. The melody dances about my mind and transports me to another place.
There’s a really interesting quote from ‘Mysticism of Sound’ by Hazrat Inayat Khan about how we listen to music with every inch of our being, which of course makes sense, after all on a base-level music is pure vibration.
“A person does not hear sound only through the ears; he hears sound through every pore of his body.
It permeates the entire being, and according to its particular influence either slows
or quickens the rhythm of the blood circulation;
it either wakens or soothes the nervous system.
It arouses a person to greater passions
or it calms him by bringing him peace.
According to the sound and its influence
a certain effect is produced.
Sound becomes visible in the form of radiance.
This shows that the same energy which goes into the form of sound
before being visible is absorbed by the physical body.
In that way the physical body recuperates
and becomes charged with new magnetism.”
Whenever I use music on instagram stories I always get lots of messages enquiring who the artist is, so I thought I would share with you six of the tracks that I listen to time and time again that help me breathe a little deeper.
Six music tracks that slow me down:
So hard to choose only six tracks but here they are…
Joni Mitchell – The Song About the Midway (all Joni Mitchell really but this is my current obsession)
Would love to hear what you are currently listening to.