Depression Getaway with Wendy Love

They both understood the motivating power of music. John Philip Sousa was one of the greatest marching song writers of all time. I am not sure if Jane Fonda was the first to try and make exercising fun by adding music, but she certainly hit on a neat idea about making exercising enjoyable and even appealing!

We don't have to sing to use music as a form of self-expression. Just listening to music you enjoy is a form of self-expression as well. Music has the ability to transport us in a way no other activity does. When was the last time you listened to some music that you really enjoy?

Did you know that there is a part of your brain that remembers music even if you can't remember anything else?  One of my favourite music memories was in 1964, New York City. I was fourteen years old. My family and I were sitting in a theatre on broadway waiting for 'Funny Girl' to begin. Now this is the original live version with Barbra Streisand. I had already owned the soundtrack album long enough to memorize all of the songs. When the orchestra started up I was filled with anticipation and the experience was magic for me. I cannot hear that same overture without picturing that exciting memory and recalling every detail. We have been chatting about the therapeutic effects of music for depression. Last time I was telling you what kind of music I used for a depression getaway where I could lose myself. Today I am going to tell you about the kind of music where I can find myself.

Music power can be experienced by any age. My husband used to teach grades sevens and eights. They have their own taste in music but each year they read together and studied 'The Phantom of the Opera'. Once they became familiar with the story they listened to the music. This opera style music had a powerful effect on each one. To climax this experience he took them to downtown Toronto to see a live performance of 'The Phantom of the Opera'. These normally restless, sometimes poorly behaved, usually noisy young people became calm, mannerly and quiet as soon as the curtain rose and stayed that way until long after it came down. Music power, there is no denying it. Music is personal and different for each of us. You may like country and western while I like broadway musicals. Listening to your country and western will not have the same music power, the same therapeutic benefits for me that broadways musicals have. 

Music therapy for depression was something I experienced before I even knew what it was. Music and me go way back. I grew up in a home where Broadway musicals or big band music echoed through the house.  We have chatted about 'Singing For Depression' and some of the benefits. Singing is not the only kind of music therapy for depression. Singing is good because we actually DO it and the act of DOING is good exercise for the brain. However, music, in and of itself, has benefits for all of us which mankind has been aware of for some time. And you don't have to do anything, just listen to it! It's free!