A Voice for Your Heart

Photo by israel palacio on Unsplash

I had an experience two weeks ago that stirred my heart in more than one way. I ended a challenging day supporting a young mother who had to deal with the loss of her five-month-old daughter. I climbed into my car, and I let out a deep sigh, finally feeling the wave of my own emotions swell within me. Without thinking, I picked a playlist, started the car and began my journey back home. The sounds and words rolled over my heart and mind, and the overwhelming ache slowly began to ease away as the kilometres passed.

We all use music in different ways. There is a strong connection between listening to music and experiencing pleasure. The reason for this is that it evokes the same biological and psychological responses as other pleasure-giving experiences, such as eating. We often find ourselves instinctively moving to the rhythm of music (nodding our heads, tapping our feet or even dancing), especially with songs we enjoy.

Listening to music can also help us channel strong emotions, such as frustration, anger, or sadness, harmlessly. Lyrics may serve as an expressive tool when they resonate with our emotions or experiences, providing a way to voice our feelings in a way we couldn't have before. Other times, we use it to calm ourselves down or relax. Listening to music can also form part of reflection, meaning-making or finding consolation. We sometimes associate a person or an experience we had with a specific song or piece of music, and hearing it can bring comfort or remind us of that time or person.

The reason music has such a profound effect on our emotions is that it simultaneously engages multiple brain processes and neural networks. For this reason, it is capable of evoking a strong emotional response, as well as memories, which creates a unique pathway for emotional processing.  Additionally, it also triggers a physiological response, particularly the release of dopamine (the "feel-good" hormone) and the reduction of cortisol (the stress hormone). Music provides a pathway to a more relaxed state where we can explore our emotions, process feelings and find relief from emotional distress.

The impact of music on emotional regulation and its development as a full-fledged therapeutic approach has only gained traction since the 1980s. But people have used music to express, make sense of and alleviate painful emotions since the dawn of time. Music has historically been an integral part of cultural, spiritual, and religious rituals and ceremonies, and has always been an intrinsic part of community life and artistic expression.

It's a simple, accessible and personalised way of helping you navigate life.  Go on, think of one meaningful song you know right now. Search for it on your playlist or look it up on Google. Listen to it on your way to work, while doing the laundry, or on your way back home this afternoon. A friend once told me, “Music cannot stir in the heart that which is not there”. Give your heart a voice today.

References

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Heshmat, S. (2019, Sept 2). 7 Effective ways to regulate emotion with music. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/za/blog/science-of-choice/201909/7-effective-ways-to-regulate-emotion-with-music

Kahn, J. H., Enevold, K. C., Feltner-Williams, D., & Ladd, K. (2024). Using music to feel better: Are different emotion-regulation strategies truly distinct? Psychology of Music, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/03057356241258959

Martín, J.C., Ortega-Sánchez, D., Miguel, I.N., & Gil Martín, G.M., Music as a factor associated with emotional self-regulation: A study on its relationship to age during COVID-19 lockdown in Spain. Heliyon. 2021 Feb 22;7(2):e06274. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e06274. PMID: 33665439; PMCID: PMC7907216.

Snyder-Lovera, E. (2024, July 2). What makes music therapy effective?. OHIO Today. https://www.ohio.edu/news/2024/07/what-makes-music-therapy-effective

Thaut, M.H., Francisco, G. & Hoemberg, V., (2021), Editorial: The Clinical Neuroscience of Music: Evidence-Based Approaches and Neurologic Music Therapy. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 15:740329. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2021.740329