Music Is Medicine
The Buzz for Longevity: Paths to Renewal Series continues this week with a snapshot of music and its healing powers.
Eugenia Manolidou - Greek classical composer joins the Kefi Life Podcast to enlighten us with her knowledge and personal experience of music as a form of wellness.
Eugenia, born in Athens, Greece is a pianist from the age of 5, a student of Conductor Vincent LaSelva and composition at the Juilliard School. At the age of 25 she became the youngest female conductor to conduct on stage in Vienna. Her eduction in composition and Ancient Greek contributes to a robust conversation which highlights the healing powers of music today. Kefi Life episode 212 goes live this Thursday.
In my interview with her, Eugenia shares many examples of music as medicine with the Ancient Greek practices prescribed by doctors of that time period.
For example, they would recommend patients listen to wind instruments like the trumpet and flute to energize the spirit, instruments like the harp and guitar to calm the soul.
It’s not a surprise that the sounds of music can physically alter the mind, restore harmony to the soul and nourish the heart. Plato understood this concept of music as medicine, “Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.”
“Healing is a matter of time, but it is sometimes also a matter of opportunity. - The Father of Medicine- Hippocrates
In the modern era of the Mediterranean way of life, wellness is a rhythm- how we eat, how we gather, how we move, and how we listen. Science now confirms what ancient cultures lived by: music heals.
We know from science that music increases:
Dopamine (pleasure and motivation)
Serotonin (mood balance) and
Oxytocin (connection and bonding).
PubMed study 2014 reports listening to music lowers cortisol, heart rate and blood pressure compared to rest, showing a biological impact on the stress response.
This directly supports immune function and lowers inflammation.
Oliver Sacks, MD Neurologist has been quoted with the following “Music can pierce the heart directly; it needs no mediation.” Dr Sacks documented music’s power in patients with Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and brain injuries.
Frontiers in cardiovascular Medicine (2024) Did a meta -analysis of 20 randomized controlled trials that found that music interventions significantly lowered blood pressure, heart rate, anxiety and depression and improved sleep quality in patients with hypertension.
Have we whet your palate to the possibilities of applying music to your medicine repertoire of recovery? You don’t need a diagnosis, just intention.
The Kefi Life recommendation is begin your mornings with uplifting and rhythmic music to set the energized tone. For midday, settle into grounding, instrumental music and by night time play slow and melodic tunes.
For more a more defined prescription of music and healing, look for a Board-Certified Music Therapist credentialed through the American Music Therapy Association. (AMTA)
In the meantime, happy and healthy songs to you as you journey on your Path to Renewal.
Filakia-Kisses,
Kiki
