This week, I am honored to have my dear friend, Stephanie Sprenger, as our featured guest instructor. Stephanie is a board certified music therapist and has been in practice for fifteen years. 
She primarily works with young children and families, but she has also practiced music therapy in a mental health facility and she regularly incorporates music into her own life and wellness practice.
Speaking and, by extension, singing, is the breath made audible, and it can be a powerful component of your mindfulness practice. When we sing, we take a short inhalation and a long exhale… which means singing is a form of deep belly breathing!
The neuroscience research behind music and stress reduction is fascinating. Studies show that the neural circuits in the brain that evaluate risk also react to certain frequency bands of music. Low frequencies (think deep drumbeats) signify danger; high frequencies (think screams or cries) activate concern and empathy.
And, not surprisingly, the frequency band that elicits neither a sense of doom or urgency is… the frequency band of the human voice. Most music duplicates this soothing frequency band (especially classical music). In addition to touch, the voice is one of the primary ways that we calm and nurture infants. Think of the universality of lullabies and the lyrical speech patterns of “motherese”; music seems to be in our genes!
Research shows that music can alter our physiology. Depending on the music we listen to, our heart rate can slow down (or perhaps speed up, if you’re a heavy metal type), and then we relax, we smile, and we even look better!
In this lesson, Stephanie Sprenger shares her knowledge of music therapy with us and how it has helped her in her own life. She also has a fantastic lesson for us on reducing our stress through music!
Music Therapy
I love music therapy because it combines research and science (music therapy, particularly neuro-music therapy, is actually a heavily research-based field!) with some of the touchy-feely aspects of music, such as “music is a universal language” (which it definitely is!) Music is unique in that in is one of the few activities that engages both sides of the brain at the same time; it is actually a “whole brain” activity. I won’t get into the science too much, but in addition to being a fantastic, enjoyable leisure activity, our brain actually benefits greatly when we are listening to and performing music.
One of the foundational principles of music therapy is that music is a structured reality, and it is also both relaxing and energizing, depending on how it is used. Music therapy is used in hospital settings to help regulate the respiratory and heart rates, blood pressure, etc., of patients as well as to help them cope with stress. Music therapy can be used in physical rehabilitation to achieve physical therapy and occupational therapy goals.
Unlike regular verbal interaction, music opens up memories that have been blocked or long-forgotten. I’m sure we’ve all experienced that flood of emotion that happens when we happen to hear a song we haven’t heard in years, one that may trigger either extremely pleasant or difficult memories. Music can truly be a portal or a time machine in that sense.
In my own wellness practice, I sometimes listen to music during my meditation practice, and I also sing and play instruments to alleviate stress and cope with difficult emotions. There are days when simply sitting down to the piano, choosing which song would be the perfect outlet for my anger/frustration/sadness, and singing it with my whole heart is enough to experience catharsis and return my breathing and heart rate to normal.
Music, the Body, and Stress
Music brings us into our body. We can regulate our body rhythms to music by breathing to relaxing music or moving to energizing music. Syncing up our body to music is a practice that forces us to become instantly present and in tune with our physical selves.
Both listening to music that we carefully choose (based on our own preferences and needs in the moment) as well as singing or playing music of any kind are excellent methods of stress relief. If you don’t happen to play an instrument, try drumming along to music you really enjoy. My brother has a special room in his basement for dancing and listening to music and it is full of percussion instruments that his guests—both musical and non-musical—love to pick up and jam along with to music.
I have learned that I need music in my life. Singing, listening to music, and breathing/meditating to music give me something that I literally cannot get anywhere else. I feel connected to my mind and body when I practice. I feel it brings me closer to who I truly am, and finding a practice that delivers real joy into our lives is a gift.
I have a tendency to get flustered, anxious, and distracted, and I become very emotionally reactive during these times. Music instantly defuses me; it slows my breathing, floods me with endorphins, and forces me (gently and lovingly!) back into my body and out of my busy mind. It is structured reality; while your mind may drift in some ways while listening to music that makes you feel nostalgic, there’s no way to listen to music and not have a present-moment experience. It is very grounding for me in that way, and actually making music vs. just listening to it is extremely cathartic to me.
Music, Life, and Practice
Like any practice, I go through phases where I lapse or get lazy! Sometimes I notice a stress build up or a bad mood that I can’t shake, and I’m reminded that relief is as easy as returning to my practice. I am the master of creating play lists that meet my emotional needs, and sometimes simply allowing myself the joy or catharsis of listening to these carefully selected songs and either breathing, meditating, sitting outside in nature with my earbuds in, or singing along, is all I need to restore myself to balance. Other times I need to get out my guitar or sit down to the piano and pick up long-forgotten songs to play and sing to truly re-balance my body.
It sounds over-simplified, but having a good “shower-singing session” or belting along to the play list I know will charge me up for work in the morning is often all it takes to wake up and calm my body. We aren’t all trained musicians, but everybody can experience the physical, emotional, and mental benefits of singing along (loudly and enthusiastically!) to our favorite songs in the shower or car. I also find that when I select the perfect workout play list—with songs that fire me up and also have desirable tempos for exercise—my workouts are much more productive and I finish them feeling more satisfied. It’s almost like participating in a physical and spiritual practice at the same time. I’m a big fan of incorporating carefully selected music into our exercise practice—whether it’s dance, yoga, or working out at the gym.
I am the mother of two young girls; getting out of the house with them in the mornings is stressful and challenging to say the least. I often rely on listening to music on our drive to school to balance out the negative experience of rushing out the door (or forgetting lunchboxes, shoes, scrambling to eat breakfast). There was one morning that took this struggle to a whole new level, and I will never forget it:
The girls and I were getting ready to go on a ten-hour road trip by ourselves, and although the details have been fuzzy, our departure from the home was chaotic, stressful, and extremely unpleasant. As I drove us out of town on the freeway, I cried and cried. I felt like a failure, and like I had already ruined our trip before it began. My confidence and self-esteem were at an all-time low in that moment; I felt I had let us all down. I grabbed my iPod and found the playlist I had created especially for this trip and found a song that made me feel like me. It reminded me of who I was pre-kids, the tempo was upbeat, and it was a song I loved to sing along to (It may or may not have been “Like a Prayer” by Madonna… 😄). I even had a good cry while I was listening—sometimes that release is what we need. After that song and a few extras, the physical exertion of singing had returned my breathing and heart rate to normal, the “happy chemicals” were flowing again, and I felt myself calmed and at peace once again. I’m not sure I could have gotten there without music.
A Music Therapy Lesson for YOU
For this lesson we’re going to brainstorm ways to incorporate music into your mind-body practice. Maybe you want to use it at the end of the day to unwind and visualize the upcoming day in a positive, inspiring way. Maybe you want to create a movement/dance/exercise practice that you can set to music. Perhaps you want to try music for working with stress and anxiety.
- To start, make a list of the ways music can fit into your self-care practice. Include things like: working with difficult emotions, aiding in relaxation, getting you fired up for an activity you dread (even your job!) or enhancing your movement practice.
- Then start going through your music library or consider purchasing some songs you love—new music you’ve just discovered or maybe something from those old cassettes you used to play on repeat in the 80s—and create playlists for yourself on your iPod or burn some new CDs (the modern day mix-tapes!).
- Make playlists for different needs and moods: relaxation, exercise, songs you know will help give your mood a lift when you need it, songs for reminiscing . . . the possibilities are endless!
- Then start experimenting: Move your body, sing, dance, drum, or sit in silence and allow yourself to visualize something deeply soothing, relaxing, or inspiring. Visualizing to music can be extremely powerful. Find songs you love to sing along to (alone in your car or while vacuuming your house) and see how you feel after a good belting-out singalong session.
- Push yourself out of your comfort zone; if you haven’t picked up an instrument and played along to music in a while, give it a try! If you rarely sing along to the radio, try it when nobody’s listening. If you take walks around your neighborhood for exercise, set your walk to music, and put some thought into it. The next time you feel deeply anxious or stressed out, turn on some carefully selected music from one of your playlists and spend some time listening. Close your eyes and breathe it in—see if you can move through some of the stress you’re experiencing through the music. Sometimes what we really need is to be with the sadness or disappointment; there might be a song you know is going to unleash a tidal wave of emotion in you, and you may choose to let yourself “go there.” There are times when you may need a real catharsis and listening to that song and allowing yourself to cry may be exactly what you need. And there may be other times when you know that avoiding that same certain song is the healthier choice for the morning drive!
- Journal about how you feel after your music experience, whether your desired outcome was to rejuvenate, release stress, create an opportunity for emotional release, relax your body, or burn calories. How did your body physically feel after moving to music or singing for ten minutes? Did your stress level change after a session of breathing or visualizing to calming music? A large part of this exercise is simply noticing. Many of us use music in these ways regularly but we’re not necessarily paying attention to how it affects us. By becoming aware of how music affects our bodies, our moods, and our stress level, we can begin to actively and strategically apply these practices proactively in our lives to combat stress and to play a more active role in our own happiness.
So start your brainstorming, and get to creating, listening, playing, and journaling. I can’t wait to learn more about the role music plays in your lives!
Isn’t Stephanie amazing?!?!
In addition to her music awesomeness, Stephanie is also a freelance writer, editor, and mother of two young girls. She is a co-editor of The HerStories Project, a writing and publishing community for women, and one of the producers of Listen to Your Mother Boulder.
You can learn more about Stephanie’s writing on her website, stephaniesprenger.com, and her music therapy practice at musicwithmissstephanie.com.
Share: What music helps you relax or relieve stress? What ideas do you have from Stephanie’s lesson for how you can incorporate music into your practice?