Tag Archives: music

Music: the Multipurpose Medicine

Point to Ponder:

How often do you listen to music?

by Neissa Brown Springmann

Today I am feeling relieved and amazing! Thanks to grandparents keeping the kiddos, my entire weekend was devoted to cleaning, sorting, organizing and purging. I started on one end of the house and thankfully made it to the other end, and through all rooms, closets,cabinets, drawers, etc. After five loaded 42 gallon trash bags, a garage piled with garage sale and donation items and a non-cluttered and totally organized house (with the exception of the garage), I feel light as a feather and grateful to have cleansed from what felt like years gluttonous behavior.

It’s ironic, because during the fall and even within the past few months I have spoken on and off with Russell about the idea of purging, downsizing and simplifying our lives. It’s not like we live in a big house, but I have found a way to collect an excessive amount of stuff. I had a closet filled with clothes and shoes I don’t wear, shelves crammed with books I don’t plan to read, a kitchen loaded with dishes and platters that I don’t need, and soooo much more. Be careful for what you ask for, because downsizing and becoming a minimalist is exactly what the universe gave me! I got what I asked for, I just didn’t think it would show up in the loss of a job and a move to San Diego, making downsizing and getting rid of all non-necessities a must.The point of this journal is not to convince you to organize or purge (but if you do, iGnite Member Annemarie Glover shared the awesome organizational blog IHeartOrganizing with me — check it out), rather it’s to remind you of the power of music! Oh my goodness…from the moment I started until the time I finished, my shuffled iTunes library was cranked up! I had every single window in the house open and at about 11:00pm on Saturday night. I thought for sure my neighbor was going to come over and ask me to turn it down. But, there was no way I could’ve heard the knock on my door or door bell ring anyways. It was awesome!

From Otis Redding, Guns and Roses, George Strait to Bruno Mars, I was rockin’ and, had it not been for energy that the music gave me, there was no way I could’ve completed my project — much less dance from one room to the other. It was fantastic!

From infants to seniors, I think it would be hard-pressed to find a person on the planet who doesn’t like music. It’s the universal pick-me-up, and multipurpose medicine, which might be why the The Voice continues to be the #1 rated television show on Monday nights. For sure, getting to look at Adam Levine, Blake Shelton and Pharrell Williams doesn’t hurt, but music is magical and according to the Huffington Post article Music And Health: 11 Ways Playing And Listening To Music Help Both Body And Mind, music has plenty of healthy benefits. In brief:

According to Researchers from Drexel University, they found that cancer patients who either listened to music or worked with a music therapist experienced a reduction in anxiety. A doctoral thesis from the University of Gothenburg reveals that listening to music everyday lowers stress. The University of Maryland Medical Center researchers have found a link between listening to music and heart health. The researchers found that listening to joyful music is linked with dilation of blood vessels’ inner lining, meaning more flow of blood through the blood vessels. Specifically, the diameter of blood vessels grew by 26 percent when a person listened to happy music. Researchers from University of Utah Pain Research Center showed that listening to music is effective as a distraction for anxiety-prone people from feeling pain and as a result, could help people feel less pain. Finnish researchers found that listening to music soon after a stroke could help with recovery, News Medical reported. Published in 2008 in the journal Brain, researchers found that listening to music was linked with improved verbal memory and attention among stroke patients, compared with listening to audio books or not listening to anything at all.

Action Item:

In addition to listening to the birds happily singing their springtime songs, I encourage you to play music, dance and let it be one of your happy and healthy pick-me-ups and medicine for your week!

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Bust a Move

“Music speaks what cannot be expressed, soothes the mind and gives it rest,
heals the heart and makes it whole, flows from heaven to the soul.”
(Unknown)

Point to Ponder:
When was the last time you allowed yourself to let loose and dance without caring how you looked?

Action Item:
At least once this week, turn off the television in your house and turn on some fun, upbeat music. Notice how your mood and the vibe in your house changes!

by Neissa Brown Springmann

Surprisingly, this past year has been “the year of music” for me. This was certainly not planned, but since September I’ve had the amazing opportunity to seen Maroon 5, Kelly Clarkson, John Mayer, and Chris Botti in concert. And, one month month from now I get to attend the Chicago and REO Speedwagon concert! Even though I do enjoy music, this is extremely unusual for me. I’m not fond of huge crowds, so going to a venue where there are thousands of people does not appeal to me — which is likely why I’ve only attended one ACL festival in the eighteen years I’ve lived in Austin. But, I must say that my “year of music” has brought me unexpected and tremendous joy. In fact, I think I’d go as far as saying that each of these concerts sets my soul on fire! It’s possible that this reaction was a result of me desperately needing and wanting a girls’ night out, and while I am sure that had a lot to do with it, there’s no doubt that it’s mainly the product of talented musicians sharing their passions, by which, I am inspired.

Music, as I’m sure we’ve all experienced, has a similar effect on us as smells do. It can take you to a sad or happy time. It can move you to tears, or cause you to dance. In fact, when I finally ‘let go’ and stopped caring if I looked like a dork while I danced around at the concerts, the experiences were even more exhilarating. In fact, it was amazingly liberating!

The conclusion I’ve drawn is that music quickly takes me to my happy place and always causes me to dance, which I’ve decided I will no longer deny myself of. Music and dancing transform the moods of me and my family in two seconds flat. All I have to do is turn off the t.v. and plug in the iPhone and the energy of the house changes. It is because of this that during our final week of July I am recommending and encouraging you to try turning off the discouraging and non-inspirational television or talk radio and turning on your iPhone, Pandora, etc. Wherever you are spending significant time (car, office, bathroom, kitchen, living room), turn on some music and bust a few moves. And while you’re at it, feel free to send us a video of your dancing!

If we’re all lucky, we’ll still be dancing at the age of the man in this video and looking this good!

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Spring Playlist

There’s something about the newness of spring that calls for a fresh playlist. So, we asked each of our leaders for their favorite songs of the season – for what’s keeping them movin’ & groovin’ with a smile on their face, and so formed the iGnite Spring Playlist. Whether you use it for working out, chilling out or jamming out in the car, it’s sure to lift your spirits. Enjoy 🙂

iGnite’s Spring Playlist