Music for Health - Good music is the key for ones
mental and physical health. Whenever person is depressed or feeling low it is advisable to
listen the music. Music has recharging powers. There are many types of music and many
people have different chooses and tests.
Almost every one of us find ourselves listening to
particular strains that are in tune with our emotions at the moment. Music holds different
meanings to different people. If it energies some, it calms others, while it can sharpen
mental powers, it can also put a person in a meditative mode. Some people have explored
this relationship in depth and come upon the therapeutic value of music to the mind.
In scientific lingo, the brain responds to the relaxing
powers of music by moving from the beta state to alpha, then the theta state and finally
to the delta state. These are the electrical activities of the brain that explain patterns
like thinking, sleeping or relaxing. When the mind is tense, it's in beta activity. With
music, the brain relaxes, sometimes to the delta state that is the highest level of
relaxation. If the brain can stay in the relaxed state for longer periods, healing is much
faster.
We use our left brain for educational, analytical thinking
and the right brain is where we hear the music that helps us to relax. As music stimulates
this side, the body feels relaxed and rejuvenated and if it manages to stimulate the left
brain too, then it has worked completely. The use of music to restore and maintain
emotional, physical, psychological and spiritual health is known as Music Therapy.
You can sing, play instruments or just move to music. It
doesn't matter what, it will help you anyhow. So strong is it healing powers that it has
been advocated for those with mental health needs, developmental and learning
disabilities, Alzheimer's disease and other age-related conditions, brain injuries,
physical disabilities and acute and chronic pain, as well as for mothers in labour.
There are several theories as to how music therapy works.
One such is the release of happiness molecules or endorphins when a person is exposed to
music, leading to a decrease in stress and depression levels. Others suggest that it help
the individual to focus on tasks at hand. I feel it can have an adjunctive role to play in
psychiatric and psychological problems when used with other forms of treatment.
The seven notes (saat sur) are a complete therapy in
itself. It's how we use these to heal is what's important. Ragas are based on these seven
notes are composed in various forms. Sama Veda - 4000-year-old Vedic science of music
explains the effect of ragas on inner atmosphere of human consciousness. Ragas are said to
work on various ailments. But more research is being done to prove its effectiveness. Some
of the problems that can be helped by ragas are as fallow:
Ragas |
Problems/ Disorders |
| Ahir Bhairav |
Indigestion, rheumatic
arthritis, hypertension. |
| Bhairavi |
Rheumatic arthritis. |
| Chandra Kauns |
Anorexia. |
| Darbari Kanada |
Headache. |
| Deepak |
Indigestion, anorexia,
hyperacidity, gall stones (Cholecystitis). |
| Gujari Todi |
Cough. |
| Gunakali |
Rheumatic arthritis,
constipation, headache, piles. |
| Jaunpuri |
Intestinal gas,
diarrhea, constipation. |
| Jay-Jaywanti |
Rheumatic arthritis,
diarrhea, headache. |
| Malkauns |
Insomnia, Intestinal gas. |
| Puriya |
Colitis, anemia,
hypertension. |
| Puriya Dhanashri |
Anemia. |
| Sohani |
Headache. |
| Basant Bahar |
Gall stones
(Cholecystits). |
| Yaman |
Rheumatic arthritis. |
A very powerful influence on the human
mind comes from the Vedic word ‘Om’, supposedly the sound of the divine. The
chanting of this lone syllable is said to help control pulse and blood pressure, relieve
stress, alter neurological states, controls the pituitary gland, hypothalamus, endocrine
and the nervous system. If ‘Om’ chanted in the Sahasrara Chakra (crown chakra),
the problem of fits can be improved.
While music therapy might not completely
cure a condition, it does help physically and mentally handicapped people and patients of
depression, mainly because it provides a mode of self-expression. There are claims that it
cures many ordinary ailments too, but this has not been proved definitely. But it helps a
person to develop better coping skills, enhance his self-esteem and give him a sense of
achievement and a mode of communication.