MUSICIAN and medical doctor, Dr. Winsome Miller-Rowe, advocates music as one method of clearing the mind -- fast. "If you can get to silence in a meditative mood and stop the chatter that goes on in your mind, music can take you there," she said.
Dr. Miller-Rowe is publisher of 'Music for Meditation', composed for this purpose. Another is 'Time To Relax', comprising the soothing instrumentals and the hypnotic voice of health guru Dr. Anthony Vendryes.
"He deals with the muscles of your feet right up to your head, tells you how to relax and then takes you to the beach to feel the sun and hear the sounds of the birds," she said.
Dr. Miller-Rowe explained that the electrical activity of the brain, the waves and their frequency change according to one's state of alertness and the mood one is in. Music can affect those frequencies.
"Slow music, with spaces between the notes, slows brain waves through entertainment, the effect of one resonating sound with another vibration.
"Our bodies have rhythms in every area the brain is different from the heart. Baroque music which is 60 beats per minute will slow the heart rate and lower the blood pressure. Breathing slows too. Taking deeper breaths, the body becomes oxygenated and produces a chemical which acts like valium."
According to the medical doctor and musician, relaxing music depends on personal preferences. If you are in a mood that calls for a lack of regimentation, then jazz with its almost chaotic feel no specific pattern will bring on relaxation.
Anyone can create his or her your own catalogue by playing different types of music and paying attention to his or her feelings as the music plays.
"Personally," the doctor said, "I like classical and new age music which has no particular melody. If I want inspiration and a feeling of higher self, then I listen to Celine Deon and opera singer Andrei Boccelli. Opera is quite good at lifting the spirits. Strings with swelling notes, the harp, the flute these instrumentals tend to have this effect.
"Even the voice can have a calming effect on the body, using the prolonged sounds of vowels. Vary the pitch of your voice and feel the vibration in each part of your body. The vibration releases tension.
"Humming reduces fear and anxiety," she also said.
