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Editorial Musings:
Music for Cozy Winter Hours
I like to give credit where credit is due: oftentimes I confer with my webmistress, June Kaminski, asking her what topics she thinks our readers would be particularly interested in reading about. This month she suggested that I write about how the shorter days we're experiencing right now in North America contribute to the so-called Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD feelings and how our favorite "cozy" music can really help with that. Now I don't want to suggest that individuals with serious depression can use music alone to recover, but music certainly can help to left one's spirits. As the days get shorter and the darkness increases, it is a scientifically documented fact that many people begin to feel quite sad and depressed. Rather than eating lots of sugar this holiday, or drowning your feelings in holiday egg-nog or other grog, why not put on the celestial sounds of bells, cymbals, trumpets, and children's voices? It is also a documented fact that the higher pitches and brighter instruments such as brass instruments and plucked instruments (harps, dulcimers, zithers, guitars) and struck instruments (drums, glockenspiels, cymbals) excite our nerve endings more and tend to energize us in a positive way. As far as "cozy" music goes, this will be the music that has warm and loving memories attached to it. For me, the Celtic Christmas music played on traditional instruments has the "cozy" sounds that I like. And I have to admit that that carols sung by choral groups from the 50's (my childhood years), such as Fred Waring and Norman Luboff, bring back pleasant memories. Try to make a list of all of your favorite songs from the past that have good, grounding and securing memories attached. Today it's not hard to find CD's or most any song if you look on sites like e-bay or other such sites. Have fun!
Peacefully yours,
Alice, Ph.D., LCSW
To share comments or questions contact me by e-mail:
chantdoc@healingmusicenterprises.com Any topic related to music is welcome!
Question of the Month
Q:
I'm requesting suggestions for music recommendations that we can play at home help with my daughter's
healing. My daughter (22yr) came down with bell's palsy about 3 weeks ago this year(Oct 15 2002).
She is near graduation(Dec 13 2002). The timing is very stressful for her and the one side paralysis of the face is
quite devastating. Previous to this she was having a lot of TMJ pain with her jaw. Could you please make a suggestion to the type of music we could use. She is receiving craniosacral therapy as well. Thanking you for all the information you could suggest.
P.G.
A: Dear P G.,
So sorry to hear about your daughters condition but I know that many people do live with Bell's Palsy and have good lives
despite the condition. I would suggest listening to instrumental music with a tempo of 50-60 beats per minute; the speed of the healthy resting heart-beat. Music played on the harp, the flute, or whatever instrument or instruments she finds
soothing and comforting would be fine. The slow movements of pieces by the Baroque composers such as Bach, Handel, Pachelbel, and Vivaldi and particularly suitable for this purpose. If she likes "New Age" music or Celtic music, that is also good. Whatever music is calming and comforting to her and has a steady, slow tempo and some grounding bass notes, if
possible, would be excellent. If you would like a telephone consultation, let me know.
Send in Your Question to the ChantDoc!
New Audiotapes!
This month we have two new tape sets to offer: a) Music for Surgery and b) Music for Alzheimers and Dementia Patients. People have been waiting patiently for the surgery tapes and I am thrilled to announce that they are finally out! This is a two-tape set, one of which is an interview with me by Dr. Crystal Sahner and contains all of the questions and answer I usually get at my workshops about why music is so important to have before, during and after surgery, what the research has found, and how to use the music and talk to your doctor about it. The second tape is the music itself with me playing pieces from the Baroque era and my own arrangement of "The Gift to be Simple."
Healing Music Services
Dr. Cash is available for seminars, workshops, classes and other group and individual instruction in using music
for healing and promoting health and wellbeing. Find out how to book her amazing services by going to:
http://www.healingmusicenterprises.com/services.html
Louisvillle Area Health Professionals: Opportunity!!
Dr. Cash offers classes on a regular basis on:
- How to create music tapes for surgery
- Using music with pregnancy, childbirth and newborns
- Understanding how music affects the Mind-Body-Spirit & applying this to practice
- Toning, Chanting, and Drumming for Health
- Using Music with Alzheimer's Patients
2 -3 hour long classes are offered on demand for four people or more. Class can be booked for Fri am, Sat pm,
& Sun eves. Also private sessions.
Call 502-895-7688 to register or Email me .
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Special Topic:
How will You use Music's Vibrations during the Holidays?
Music affects us on so many levels. But many people aren't even aware of music going on around us; that's my experience. Unless it annoys them because it is too loud or offensive in some way, it is rare for someone to say "oh listen to that gorgeous piece of music on the radio, or in this movie we're watching." For the vast majority, music seems to be about like wallpaper…just background. And yet we all purport to love one kind of music or another and we spend billions of dollars a year on CD's and concert tickets. We even spend quite a bit on lessons for ourselves and our children. So why don't we plug into its power more? Probably because we don't understand how to or how easy it really is. That's what I want to help with! I have spent most of my 54 years trying to understand why music knock my socks off and makes me dance ecstatically or sob mournfully when I hear certain pieces. Music can change my mood drastically and I am certainly grateful for that. I never have to be miserable for long.
One of the most basic ways music affects us is through its vibrations. Now we know that everything on the planet is vibrating at all times, even if you can't see it. Anything composed of molecules and atoms vibrates because they care constantly moving around. The faster and higher a pitch is, the more it vibrates a cell in the body. One of the most astounding bits of research I read about in my Alzheimer's research dealt with patients who were in a very advanced stage of Alzheimer's disease; the patients were put in their wheelchairs around a circular "drum table," i.e. a table that was actually a giant drum. The music therapist began playing a slow, steady beat with his hands on the table, and one by one, within a matter of minutes, most of the patients were playing in perfect rhythm with him. As he would speed up, so would they. As he would slow down, so would they. It was a perfect example of entrainment and how rhythm and vibration connect people even when they are not able to make a conscious, intellectual connection.
Then there is the factor of intention. When one adds the factor of positive intention to music, the power for good can be tremendous. (I think we know that the power for "bad," however you want to define that, can be there in music of certain genres.) The holiday season is full of opportunity for good intentions, good vibrations and goodwill. Let's bring forth the good memories and good cheer and have a great holiday season! Happy Holidays to all!
Alice Cash and all the staff of Healing Music Enterprises,
Crystal, Kit, Jack, and Inky
IN THIS EDITION
I. Editorial: Music for Cozy Winter Hours
II. Ask the Chantdoc: Music for Bell's Palsy
III. Updated Calendar: Are you are anyone you know about to have some surgery?
IV. Special Topic: How will YOU use music to get through the holidays?
Healing Music Products
Dr. Cash offers affordable products to help you reap the benefits of music and healing.
Products available include audio tapes, special music sampler CD and book as well as her ebook & Mp3 packages.
Each product is expertly created to offer you sound tools for therapeutic music sessions.
"Notes for Tuning Your Life with Music"
(available as soft cover book or ebook,
with CD or Mp3 music supplement)
BOOK & CD-
(Book - $14.95; CD - $14.95 or Book/CD Combo - $24.95 & S/H)
EBOOK & Mp3s
(Ebook - $8.95; Mp3s - $5/set)
Sets include:
Alzheimer's & Dementia Collection
Lullaby Collection
Chant Collection
AUDIOTAPES - $10 & S/H
Tape titles include:
The Healing Power of Music
Toning & Chanting with Addictions
Why Mozart? The Research on Mozart and Learning
The Use of Music with Alzheimers and other Dementias
To order, go to Dr. Cash's products page at:
http://www.healingmusicenterprises.com/book.html
Updated Calendar
Are you are anyone you know about to have some surgery?
Dr. Cash has her long-awaited surgery tapes out now and they are going like hot cakes! So much research has been done documenting the beneficial results of music before, during, and after surgery. Your cannot afford to have surgery without this two-tape set that gives you all the information you need on how to talk with your doctor before the procedure, how to use the tape, and then, one tape of just all music. You can even call Alice personally if you need to for clarification! All for $19.95. What a deal!
A color biography sums up Dr. Cash's Services:
http://www.healingmusicenterprises.com/PRcolorbio2002.pdf
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