Of Music and Life
"Without music, life would be a mistake. Friedrich Nietzsche."
"When I hear music, I fear no danger. I am invulnerable. I see no foe. I am related to the earliest of times, and to the latest." Henry David Thoreau.
"Music Hath Charms to Soothe the Savage Breast."
This famous quotation from William Congreve (1670-1629) evidently has a lot more truth to it than he ever realized four hundred years ago.
To complete the quote:
"Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast. To soften rocks or bend the knotted oak."
According to Dr. Michael Miller, Director of the Center for Preventive Cardiology at the University of Maryland Medical Center, music can make you feel good. Therefore, possibly and possibly prevent a heart attack.
According to Dr. Miller, earlier studies showed that music affects heart rate and blood pressure. In addition, he states that laughter and prayer improve cardiac performance.
Dr. Miller's research group selected a group of healthy participants to study the effects of music on the cardiovascular system. Subjects chose a joyful type of music that made them feel good and the second type of music that made them feel anxious. Using a blood pressure cuff, the researchers discovered that the people who listened to joyful music increased blood flow of the brachial artery, a very healthy response. However, the artery flow decreased when the subjects listened to anxiety-producing music.
What is very significant is that the increased artery flow is equal to what people experience after aerobic exercise.
So, what this means is that for you to remain heart-healthy, it is essential to do such things as
a) be careful about what you eat,
b) maintain a healthy weight,
c) exercise regularly
d) provide yourself with the opportunities to laugh as much as possible, and, finally,
e) listen to music that you find joyful and is not anxiety-producing.
Regularly performing these activities might allow you to prevent a future heart attack or stroke. At least, that is what the findings seem to suggest.
Stress is a killer. Stress pumps lots of adrenaline into our system, resulting in the release of much bad stuff that clogs our arteries. However, the activities discussed above reduce and even reverse the impact of stress. Music, laughter, exercise, and others help release endorphins that create a wonderful, relaxed, and euphoric feeling. That is just the opposite of what work and other problems do to us. So, keeping your heart and mind healthy is very much a "laughing matter."
Let yourself laugh and listen to happy music. "Soothe that savage breast" and live longer and more joyful.
Contact Dr. Schwartz at: [email protected]