Role of music in helping brain to deal with stress By:Anureet Singh Bhangu

 Stress is an organism's response to a stressor such as an environmental condition or a stimulus or it is a body's way to react to a challenge.

The major causes producing stress are work load, inappropriate working environment, family problems, lack of money, job, bills, health etc.

 Listening to music relaxes our mind and body, especially slow and quite music which have beneficial effects on our physiological functions, it slows the pulse rate, lowers the blood pressure and decreases the stress hormones level.  Music also acts as meditation as it grabs our attention and distracts our mind from stress and frustration.

 Music play an important role in treatment of people with stress related disorders by using bio-feedback, guided imagery and other established techniques. People can identify and express the feelings associated with stress with the help of music

 Initially, music helps in physical relaxation by promoting relaxation of tense muscles which enables us to release some of the tension we carry from our stressful day. Moreover, music acts as an aid in stress relief activities as it includes practising yoga or our self-hypnosis which helps us to feel energized and recover.

 In addition, it helps in reducing our negative emotions as it takes our minds off from the stressors and helps us fell more optimistic and positive. It also helps us from getting stressed from life’s little frustration in future.

 We can use music in many ways to relieve our stress. Firstly, we should be aware of our rhythm of music which takes us to an automatic deep breath when we hear it. Secondly, we should be intentional about why we are listening to music.  For instance, listening to play, for enjoyment, for getting more energy or to relax.  After knowing about why we want to listen to that music, we should be aware about our choices according to the reason of listening to music. For instance, if we are listening to music to relax our mind, than we should prefer soft and slow music rather than the hard rock.

 In addition, slow deep breathing and singing are the other ways of using music  to relieve stress

 According to me, My course- I think is all about brain and thinking and it tells the way we learn and the way we think. The course also tells us about the functioning of different parts of the brain. Music is the therapy which relaxes our brain; listening to music keeps our mind busy and distracted from the stressors. Moreover, when we listen to soft music muscles of the entire body get relaxed as there is a direct link between muscles strength\weakness and music.

 In addition, the course also explains us how, “singing rewires damaged brain”. We have learned that by singing, a patient uses different areas of brain and this helps in early recovery. Besides this, if person’s speech centre is damaged by stroke, they can learn to use their singing centre instead or we can say that stroke patients can easily communicate through singing.

 For instance, patients can learn to put their words to melodies, the crucial connections form on the right side of the brain. Music might be an alternative medium to engage part of the brain that are otherwise not engaged

 Anonymous, “How music affects us and promotes health.”e- med expert. Niagara falls, Ontario. 16 April  Collingwood, Jane. “The power of music to reduce stress.” Psych Central Niagara falls, Ontario. 15 April reduce-stress/all/1/ reduce-stress/all/1/  O’Donnell, Laurence, “Music and the brain.” Niagara falls, Ontario. 15 April  Churchill, Cathy, “Coping with stress.” Control my stress. Niagara falls, Ontario. 16 April