Music therapy for emotional connection

I know I’ve said this a few times throughout my story - like EVERY element I've described was crucial to my recovery. Buuuuut, I’m about to say it again... music was a really important part of the SOOTHING and EMOTIONAL DISCOVERY side of my chronic pain healing journey.

I’ve always been a huge music fan, with a really varied taste throughout my life. I love house music, 70s rock, soul and funk, hip hop, anything with a bit of grit and OOMPH. Anything that tragically tugs at your heartstrings - there’s nothing like it. So when I was faced with the dilemma of how to settle my nervous system out of fight-or-flight with the various methodologies I was trying (check out my Recovery Journey Roadmap for that) - my instinct was to turn to meditative sounds.

At first, I found it really tricky to unearth some emotions that I was resisting feeling, so I felt like I perhaps needed a nudge to get me to feel some deep stuff properly - so I turned to MUSIC, and quickly found that what I already knew deep-down - music ALWAYS has the answer.

Music is part of our DNA

Music has been part of our existence and varied cultures since the beginning of time and has been used specifically as a therapeutic intervention for hundreds of years. Our bodies literally run on a rhythm, our own hearts beating like a relentless bass drum. When we dance it’s our soul’s way of letting go, celebrating and being completely free. When we listen to music our emotional world literally bursts opens wide. Music has a way of opening our hearts and helping us feel more connected to others, to ourselves and to the world around us, resulting in a direct line to our emotions and state of being.

Influence your mood & emotional state

Music is an incredibly powerful, primal and instinctive way to tap into and influence our mood, and not just that. Music has the power to retrain our brain, to access memories and subconscious emotions deep within. Have you ever heard a song come on the radio that instantly transports you back to your youth? Or reminds you of someone you held dear and you feel flooded with emotion and your heart instantly aches? Yeah, those ones...

There are many benefits to music therapy including reducing anxiety and stress, improving healing time, reducing depression and even reducing symptoms of psychological disorders. Altzheimers, Dementia and Parkinson’s patients have been known to use music as therapy to improve their cognitive responses and even reduce tremors and seizures. 

My playlists

Let's get to the good stuff! Since early on in my TMS recovery I have had various saved playlists on Spotify that I still use on a regular basis to lift my mood, take me to an emotional place or just kick back and meditate to. I used to crank them in the car if I was scared of sitting upright for too long and worried about a flare-up, music is the BEST feel-good distraction of all time! Check it out:

The main themes of my playlist are:

FEEL IT ALL - my emotional heartstrings music, to help me feel it all!

FEEL GOOD - upbeat tunes, carefree feeling to bring the mood UP

MEDITATION - a large selection of tunes I like to meditate to or have anywhere you need calming soothing sounds (great in the bath!)

You can share mine of course, but you’ll no doubt have the best results from music that speaks to YOU. I highly recommend getting a Spotify account or Apple Music whatever you like and cranking it regularly!

Let me know what you think? 

I also have an online course, which also includes various TMS themed meditations, music playlist, affirmations, journal prompts, restorative yoga, breathwork and much more, created to help you through your own recovery just like I did. Find out more about my course here.