Human attraction to music stems from the aesthetic experience and strong emotional reactions music evokes. Basic emotion theories posit a finite number of innate and universal emotions that have evolved because they promote survival by motivating adaptive behaviors and help maintaining physiological homeostasis (Ekman 1992), and numerous neuroimaging studies have tested whether music is capable of activating the survival circuits underlying these emotions (Mitterschiffthaler et al. 2007; Brattico et al. 2011; Koelsch et al. 2013). Indeed, emotional responses to music show many hallmarks of basic emotions including distinct subjective experience, emotional expression, action tendencies, changes in the autonomic nervous system activation (Juslin and Vastfjall 2008) and distinct effects of thought and judgment (Vuoskoski and Eerola 2012). Yet, it seems counterintuitive that that instrumental music could elicit “genuine” basic emotions because emotional reactions to music do not have unambiguous causes (real-life threat, success, or loss, etc.) and they do not involve events that have obvious goal or survival-relevant consequences (Konečni 2008; Scherer and Zentner 2008). Thus, even though listeners often interpret their subjective reactions to music as basic emotions, these responses may differ from genuine basic emotions in the underlying neural processes.
Resources – Music & Sound
Study : Heart Rates Rise and Fall Together During Storytelling
In June 2019, at the University of Birmingham in England, psychologist Damian Cruse invited 27 young adults to come to the lab, on separate occasions, and listen to the same clips from an audiobook of Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Sitting alone, each donned headphones and electrocardiogram (EKG) equipment while a voice with a British accent recounted tales of a mysterious monster taking down ships. When researchers later compared volunteers’ heart rates, a curious phenomenon emerged: The heart rates of nearly two-thirds of the participants rose and fell together as the story progressed.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9295793/
Study : Humming (brahmari pranayama) Reduces Stress
Humming (simple Bhramari) can be an effective stress-buster based on the assessment of several HRV parameters during its practice and in comparison with other activities. A regular daily humming routine can help enhance the parasympathetic nervous system and slow down sympathetic activation.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10182780/
Study : Birdsongs Alleviate Anxiety
The present study provides evidence for the beneficial effects of birdsongs on mood (depression, anxiety) and paranoid symptoms, with the latter being shown for the first time.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-20841-0
Kumare, the True Story of a False Prophet
An amazing documentary about people who are so desperate to believe anything that they fall for a false guru. The producer, Vikram Gandhi, does an amazing job at highlighting fallacies common in yoga world. A must watch for anyone in the spirituality industry, most especially yoga practitioners.
https://tubitv.com/movies/57197/kumare
Evelyn Glennie
Channel for an amazing percussionist, Evelyn Glennie.
Nature’s Health Benefits
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29982151/
Conclusions: Greenspace exposure is associated with numerous health benefits in intervention and observational studies. These results are indicative of a beneficial influence of greenspace on a wide range of health outcomes. However several meta-analyses results are limited by poor study quality and high levels of heterogeneity. Green prescriptions involving greenspace use may have substantial benefits. Our findings should encourage practitioners and policymakers to give due regard to how they can create, maintain, and improve existing accessible greenspaces in deprived areas. Furthermore the development of strategies and interventions for the utilisation of such greenspaces by those who stand to benefit the most.
The Health Benefits of Natural Sounds
Scientific study exploring the benefits of natural sounds. It demonstrates an overall positive result for most people, both when hearing the sounds inside or outside. Some sounds worked better for soothing nerves, such as water.
The overall mean effect size for health and positive affect outcomes was 1.63 (95% CI = 0.09, 3.16), corresponding to a 184% overall improvement in groups exposed to natural sounds relative to comparison groups (Fig. 1). The large variance in effect sizes was due to one study with particularly large effect sizes (28). The overall mean effect size for stress and annoyance outcomes was −0.60 (95% CI = −0.97, −0.23), corresponding to a 28% overall decrease in groups exposed to natural sounds relative to comparisons (Fig. 1).
https://www.pnas.org/content/118/14/e2013097118/tab-article-info
Music Therapy for People with Autism
“The findings of this updated review provide evidence that music therapy may help children with ASD to improve their skills in primary outcome areas that constitute the core of the condition including social interaction, verbal communication, initiating behaviour, and social‐emotional reciprocity. Music therapy may also help to enhance non‐verbal communication skills within the therapy context. Furthermore, in secondary outcome areas, music therapy may contribute to increasing social adaptation skills in children with ASD and to promoting the quality of parent‐child relationships. ”
Research & Articles about Health and Nature
A recent article in the Wallstreet Journal about health and nature prompted me to collect the cited studies for easy reading.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/for-better-health-during-the-pandemic-is-two-hours-outdoors-the-new-10-000-steps-11613304002
“Effect of park prescriptions with and without group visits to parks on stress reduction in low-income parents: SHINE randomized trial.”
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0192921
“Clinic and park partnerships for childhood resilience: A prospective study of park prescriptions.”
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1353829218306609?via=ihub
“Therapeutic effect of forest bathing on human hypertension in the elderly.”
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22948092/
“Spending at least 120 minutes a week in nature is associated with good health and wellbeing.”
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31197192/
“A day trip to a forest park increases human natural killer activity and the expression of anti-cancer proteins in male subjects”
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20487629/
The Sound the Universe Makes.
We think of space as a silent place. But physicist Janna Levin says the universe has a soundtrack — a sonic composition that records some of the most dramatic events in outer space. (Black holes, for instance, bang on spacetime like a drum.) An accessible and mind-expanding soundwalk through the universe.
Accepting Negative Emotions and Thoughts
Negative emotions are what they are, and if they can arise, they can also pass. Acceptance and healing from trauma takes genuine time.
It takes longer when acting with a ‘positivity’ only mindset that ignores the larger picture and refuses to look at what else is happening within. This kind of mindset ignores the larger picture, and while seemingly good, is really a self-defeating control and manipulation mechanism. Positivity only thinking are like blinders, bigger questions need bigger solutions that face reality, its challenges and questions.
A deeper understanding is more compassionate, rather than imposing an emotional and mental dictate upon people who are already traumatized.
Understanding oneself and being true goes the distance to quieting the mind and soul. Acceptance is one aspect to genuine healing. Its the culmination of an introspection and discovery process which takes time until a person is able to truly ‘accept.’
Science agrees.
“These results suggest that individuals who accept rather than judge their mental experiences may attain better psychological health, in part because acceptance helps them experience less negative emotion in response to stressors. ”
How the Stomach is Connected to the Brain and Thought
“The sympathetic nervous system generates the “fight or flight” response — an involuntary response that sends more blood flow rushing to the muscles and the release of hormones to boost awareness and heart rate. It also reduces blood flow for digestion during stressful or life-threatening situations.
On the other hand, the parasympathetic nervous system also produces involuntary signals that maintain regular bodily functions such as digestion, normal breathing and the routine heartbeat.
As the study now reveals, these two limbs of autonomic control over the stomach are influenced by distinct cortical networks.
When it comes to trusting your gut, it already is well-established that the stomach and gut send “ascending” signals to the brain in a way that influences brain function. It helps to explain how the microbiome impacts brain function.
But the study has found that the “central nervous system both influences and is influenced by the gastrointestinal system.”
What people haven’t understood to date, Dr. Strick said, is that the brain also has “descending influences on the stomach” with various parts of the brain involved in that signaling, including those areas that control movement and emotions. ”
Hypogeum of Ħal-Saflieni – Ancient Building that Resonates at 111 hz.
An ancient, underground temple in Malta resonates at 111 hz, known as a ‘holy frequency.’ This frequency is vibrates thru the entire structure, not just in one room. The Saflieni era builders practiced earth and nature oriented rituals in alignment with celestial cycles.
https://interestingengineering.com/temples-resonates-frequency-111-hz
Schumann Frequencies, Solfeggio Frequencies, Earth Frequencies, Binaural Beats, the Sounds of the Planets, and Their Musical Notes.
When musical notes become more than musical notes, a confusing topic can become even more bewildering. This is a summary of unusual phrases found in mystical music theories and explored by science.
Schumann Frequencies are the measurement of Earths electromagnetic field. This is 7.8 Hz, the note would be B
The rotation of Earth on its Axis is a different frequency, the note G. – “5.114 half-steps below the C that is 24 octaves below middle C.”
The Frequency of Planets as they Orbit the Sun.
The orbit of Earth around the Sun, Aldi Mundi, is a “C sharp” placed 33 octaves below middle C.
Mercury – “C sharp” Venus – “A”, Earth (C sharp ), Mars (D), Jupiter (F sharp), Saturn (D), Uranus (G sharp), Neptune (G sharp) and Pluto (C sharp)
Here is a frequency to note calculator : Musical Frequency-Note Calculator
Solfeggio Frequences refers to changing the pitch of scales to frequencies believed to be resonant with nature. Harmonizing with natural law is supposed to allow a person to heal and be supported by the natural order and cycles of life, akin to the support a gear gets from being part of a larger machine. Except in this case, its organic, intuitive, and brings a person deep peace. In theory, solfeggio frequencies originated in the ancient world and have been newly rediscovered.
396 Hz – Liberating Guilt and Fear
417 Hz – Undoing Situations and Facilitating Change
528 Hz – Transformation and Miracles (DNA Repair)
639 Hz – Connecting/Relationships
741 Hz – Expression/Solutions
852 Hz – Returning to Spiritual Order
BinAural Beats
Different frequencies (tones) are sent to the left and right audio channels. When the brain hears both frequencies, it hears one consistent, rhythmic frequency, known as a binaural beat(s). This is best experienced with headphones, yet can still be experienced with high fidelity audio.
Great Description of the Science behind Binaural Beats
How Sound Becomes Light
Simply multiple the frequency and sound vibration becomes light.
http://www.endolith.com/wordpress/2010/09/15/a-mapping-between-musical-notes-and-colors/
3-Hz Binaural Beats Effect on Delta Sleep
“These findings suggested that the 3-Hz binaural beat on a 250-Hz carrier tone can be used to modulate sleep stage by decreasing the latency to the N3 stage, extending the N3 duration, and reducing the N2 duration without sleep disturbance and sleep fragmentation, while increasing the quality of sleep in this study is also associated slow wave sleep in which is related to memory consolidation and other regulation of the body; and the 3-Hz binaural beat can enhance power of delta activity during sleep. ”
Vital Lung Capacity in Relation to Heart & Lung Health
“Vital capacity as a predictor of cardiovascular disease according to the Framingham study.” Source : https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/000287038390532X
Another way of saying this is lung capacity, elasticity, and the ability to breath well has a direct influence on heart health.
What is vital capacity ?
Vital capacity (VC) is the maximum amount of air a person can expel from the lungs after a maximum inhalation. It is equal to the sum of inspiratory reserve volume, tidal volume, and expiratory reserve volume. It is approximately equal to Forced Vital Capacity (FVC).
Custom Tailored Music Demonstrated to Ease Tinnitus
Abstract : Maladaptive auditory cortex reorganization may contribute to the generation and maintenance of tinnitus. Because cortical organization can be modified by behavioral training, we attempted to reduce tinnitus loudness by exposing chronic tinnitus patients to self-chosen, enjoyable music, which was modified (“notched”) to contain no energy in the frequency range surrounding the individual tinnitus frequency. After 12 months of regular listening, the target patient group (n = 8) showed significantly reduced subjective tinnitus loudness and concomitantly exhibited reduced evoked activity in auditory cortex areas corresponding to the tinnitus frequency compared to patients who had received an analogous placebo notched music treatment (n = 8). These findings indicate that tinnitus loudness can be significantly diminished by an enjoyable, low-cost, custom-tailored notched music treatment, potentially via reversing maladaptive auditory cortex reorganization.
https://www.pnas.org/content/suppl/2009/12/18/0911268107.DCSupplemental
https://www.pnas.org/content/107/3/1207.abstract
Violinist Plays Violin During Her Own Brain Surgery
London (AFP) – A violinist helped surgeons avoid damage to her brain during surgery to remove a tumour by playing her instrument, the UK hospital where she underwent the innovative procedure said.
Your Brain and Music
Neuroscientist and musician Alan Harvey takes us on an interactive journey showing live on stage what music does to our brain waves, and explains how music is more than just an entertainment. You’ve never seen music like this before…
Learn to Play Harmonium – Happy Hippo Harmonium on YouTube
Mr. Happy Hippo excels at demonstrating the basics for kirtan songs on the harmonium.
The ‘Song’ of a Distant Black Hole
“Dr. Andrew Fabian and his colleagues at the Institute of Astronomy in Cambridge, England made their discovery using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, an orbiting X-ray telescope that sees the Universe in X-ray light just as the Hubble Space Telescope sees it in visible light.
Using the piano keyboard’s middle C note as a reference point for the middle of the piano key music range, Fabian’s team determined the note is a B -flat. On a piano, the B-flat nearest middle C is located midway between 1/8th and 2/8th of an octave away. In musical terminology, this B flat is 1-1/2 steps from middle C.”
Source : https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/universe/black_hole_sound.html
The Neurochemistry of Music
“Music is used to regulate mood and arousal in everyday
life and to promote physical and psychological health
and well-being in clinical settings. However, scientific
inquiry into the neurochemical effects of music is still
in its infancy. In this review, we evaluate the evidence
that music improves health and well-being through the
engagement of neurochemical systems for (i) reward,
motivation, and pleasure; (ii) stress and arousal;
(iii) immunity; and (iv) social affiliation. We discuss
the limitations of these studies and outline novel
approaches for integration of conceptual and technological advances from the fields of music cognition and
social neuroscience into studies of the neurochemistry
of music.”
https://daniellevitin.com/levitinlab/articles/2013-TICS_1180.pdf
The Promethus Chord – Mystic Chord
Scriabin himself called it the “chord of the pleroma” (аккорд плеромы akkord pleromy),[1] which “was designed to afford instant apprehension of -that is, to reveal- what was in essence beyond the mind of man to conceptualize. Its preternatural stillness was a gnostic intimation of a hidden otherness.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystic_chord
A Russian composer noted for his adaptation of the mystics chord. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Scriabin
The Dark Crystal – Mystics Melody
Someone Else Nerds Out with some Theory : http://www.losdoggies.com/archives/1245
80 Year Long Study Discovers Secrets to Longevity and Happiness
“Over the years, researchers have studied the participants’ health trajectories and their broader lives, including their triumphs and failures in careers and marriage, and the finding have produced startling lessons, and not only for the researchers.
“The surprising finding is that our relationships and how happy we are in our relationships has a powerful influence on our health,” said Robert Waldinger, director of the study, a psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital and a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. “Taking care of your body is important, but tending to your relationships is a form of self-care too. That, I think, is the revelation.”
Brain Connectivity and Human Response to Musical Aesthetics
In Summary, Musicians have more neurons in the emotional and social processing areas of their brains … music = emotional intelligence.
“Using a combination of survey data, behavioral and psychophysiological measures and diffusion tensor imaging, we found that white matter connectivity between sensory processing areas in the superior temporal gyrus and emotional and social processing areas in the insula and medial prefrontal cortex explains individual differences in reward sensitivity to music.
Our findings provide the first evidence for a neural basis of individual differences in sensory access to the reward system, and suggest that social–emotional communication through the auditory channel may offer an evolutionary basis for music making as an aesthetically rewarding function in humans.”
Source : https://academic.oup.com/scan/article/11/6/884/2223400
Carmina Gadelica – Gaelic Prayers, Songs and Incantations
Carmina Gadelica is a compendium of prayers, hymns, charms, incantations, blessings, literary-folkloric poems and songs, proverbs, lexical items, historical anecdotes, natural history observations, and miscellaneous lore gathered in the Gaelic-speaking regions of Scotland between 1860 and 1909. The material was recorded, translated, and reworked by the exciseman and folklorist Alexander Carmichael (1832–1912).
Source : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmina_Gadelica
http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/gaidhlig/corpus/Carmina/
Vol1: https://archive.org/stream/carminagadelicah03carm#page/n9/mode/2up
Vol2:
https://archive.org/stream/carminagadelicah04carm#page/n7/mode/2up