Archaeological finds tell us our ancestors were making music tens of thousands of years ago, and a bone flute our forebears improvised on 43,000 years ago is only part of the evidence.

Did you know that music is a phenomenal therapy for every layer of our being? It plays a role in the development of the brain, influences our mood, and even our health.

For a lot of what ails us in this hurried age, it could be prescribed as medicine. Because music:

1. It influences the chemical processes in the brain

By scanning brain activity, scientists discovered that listening to music activates the entire brain! There is no part of the brain that isn't engaged while listening.

When we listen to pleasant music, our brain begins to release dopamine, a neurotransmitter responsible, for example, for the feeling of falling in love. It gives us goosebumps and a shiver down the spine when we witness something beautiful or hear a harmony that touches our heart. Thanks to it, music helps people with Parkinson's disease, in which it is precisely the dopamine pathways that are damaged.

Dopamine is also connected to the reward center, so under stress, listening to a favorite song can work to calm us just as well as a box of chocolates (or food, drugs, and sex! WOW!).

Conversely, when we listen to music that doesn't sit well with us, our body starts to release the stress hormone cortisol. We register it as irritation and we can't concentrate in a room like that. When we can, we get out of earshot. (Yes, music can be used for torture too.)

Well-chosen music can balance blood pressure and change heart activity. That's why we perform better in sport when we motivate ourselves with a well-mixed playlist. In 2012, a study was published showing that cyclists who listened to songs during training used 7% less oxygen than those who rode in silence.

2. It moves our emotions

Imagine I show you a photograph of a person with a neutral expression. Research has found that if you'd previously heard a sad song, you'll tend to read their expression as sad. Conversely, if you'd been listening to something cheerful, you'll see them optimistically.

So the music we choose shapes how we perceive the world! Wild!

Music is tied to our memories and can bring them back even after many years. It's surely happened to you. You catch a song you link with some powerful moment in your life, maybe your first kiss or the birth of a child, and those original feelings come back all over again.

That's why, for people with dementia and Alzheimer's disease, listening to music and singing are part of a therapy that evokes an emotional response.

You could say that music makes us more compassionate people. It awakens the prefrontal cortex, which is connected to the capacity for altruism, that is, the ability to set aside our own needs for the benefit of others.

And not only that! Listening to music also reaches our limbic system, which is responsible for our ability to learn, maintains our memory, and is home to our emotions.

Music is a universal human skill that can change our physiology, our mood, and even how the outer world appears to us. It can harmonize us and holds an important place in our everyday lives.

3. It influences our consciousness

This is the level that fascinates me the most.

When we listen to songs that resonate with us, our brain begins to produce alpha waves. These have a frequency of 8 to 10 Hz and are associated with inner calm and meditation.

In the alpha state we can experience the present, the Here & Now, and the brain is effectively resting.

It is the brain's most effective frequency for learning new skills.

Small children live in this state naturally. In the alpha state their mind and body are relaxed, yet the ability to concentrate is preserved. We reach this frequency during meditation.

It has been shown that increased production of alpha waves can help fight depression and stimulates creative thinking.

So to sum up, while listening to music we enter a state of flow in which we learn very quickly. It is a form of meditation through which we also reach the subconscious.

In this light, it matters what lyrics we listen to. Do we want these words to flow into our systems and imprint themselves there? Especially with small children, choosing music whose message will support them feels like a real responsibility to me.

This realization was the main driving force behind releasing an album of songs together with Karel Chodora. It contains lyrics that are positive affirmations and comfort the mind and soul.

You can hear how it turned out in the recording of the program Barvy hudby on Czech Radio. I was invited onto the show by Tereza Ghose , who has a lovely voice. Four songs from the album are in it, and you can let them harmonize you.

The program starts by clicking HERE>>>.

If you've read this far, here's a bonus for you. The brains of musicians show much greater connection between the hemispheres than the brains of non-musicians. If it's at all possible, let's encourage our children to build a relationship with music and learn an instrument they actually like.

It's not for nothing that shamans, when healing the sick, ask when they stopped singing.

Sources used:

Wikipedia
video: How Does Music Affect Your Brain
video: Your brain on music