Music exploration is a great therapy that can be self prescribed or done with a therapist. Here are some of my musings….

I have found that it’s a great way for empathetic understanding and strengthening of the ventral vagus nerve.

• The lyrics or emotions conveyed through music give me a glimpse into someone else’s world. The space of knowing someone else has experienced similar emotions to my own is powerfully connecting.

I found it can be a way to explore, redefine and heal.

• The lyrics and rhythms, the silences, the different types of vibrations and sounds through a variety of instruments and voice qualities - all of these things resonate with my body, mind and spirit in profound ways. In this resonating space, I feel seen through the music I choose and no longer controlled and limited.

It can be really fun and expressive.

• It is a space for organized or spontaneous healing. It can be so fun to sway and dance to the beat. To let my body be free to take up space and move however ‘crazy or not crazy’ that it wants to move.

It helps me slow down and be present in the current moment.

• I listen to podcasts and books on double speed. (Music gets all jumbled and sounds like a bunch of chipmunks on double speed 🤣)…I have to listen to it on real time, normal speed which is soo good for my brain and limiting beliefs - It reminds me that I don’t need to rush my healing.

And it can also be very triggering.

When the lyrics, or energy of a song is triggering for me. I can choose to turn it off or move away at any time.

And…..

I can choose to use the triggering as a chance to pay attention to the regulation of my body, mind and spirit…..and track what’s going on within me.

I chose to listen in spaces like, my home, in nature, or with friends, where I have taken the time to create this safety. Then I am not afraid to experience my body ‘going out of whack’ or disregulating. This space of connecting and allowing helps me gain more trust in myself because I use the tools I have to regulate myself when triggering occurs. Music is a safe place for me to practice doing this. But it hasn’t always been….

Music was a big part of my life growing up. So it makes sense that now it’s a big part of my trauma. For almost a year, I put down all music and chose not to listen to, play the piano, or sing anything I previously had experience with. I let go of all the ideas of what I had been told and what I believed was ‘good’ music or ‘bad’ music, and opened up a new path of healing.

I listen to music now and I love it!❤️ I no longer listen using the lens of, “is this good or bad music”, rather, the idea and question, “does this music create goodness to my soul?” And through this new question, I am finding so much goodness. And I am finding what I like and don’t like. I am discovering me.

As I was starting the journey of listening to and finding music I wanted to bring back into my healing space and into my everyday life, I asked friends what songs they liked most.

Here are some of my favorite lyrics from a few of the songs my friends suggested….these songs have become my own.

AJR - Turning Out “you say I turned out fine, I think i’m still turning out”

Highwomen - Highwomen “we are the highwomen, singing stories still untold….we are the daughters of the silent generations, you send our hearts to die alone in foreign nations and they return to us as tiny drops of rain, but they still remain, and we’ll come back again, and again, and again,”

Macklemore - Glorious “I made it thought the darkest part of the night and now I see the sunrise…I’m feeling glorious.”

Sia - Saved My Life “I’ve been waiting for you”

Pink - You Can Use Your Hand “I’m not here for your entertainment, You don’t really want to mess with me tonight.”

Does music help you heal? What are some of your favorite lines? What are some of your favorite musical sounds? (I like the marimba drums & the oboe).

And if you haven’t tried music therapy, give a go….see if it’s a tool you’d like to add to your healing toolbox. It’s a powerful tool I often reach for.

Remember - ❤️

You Matter. Your Healing Matters. You Are Worth It!