Music and Mindfulness

In this episode Myrriah shares about a personal experience with music that sparked her curiosity into the connection between music and mindfulness. She shares some research on the topic and gives an easy challenge to try and see if you have a similar experience. Research References: “By the second week of participating in our study, a number of individuals consistently reported in multiple journal entries an ability to regulate their emotions, elevate their mood, reduce stress, and relieve anxiety by listening to classical music.” “Decreases in brain activity in the primary somatosensory cortex, an area that is crucially involved in processing the location and intensity of painful stimuli, and increases in brain activity in the afferent fibers of the anterior cingulate cortex, anterior insula, and orbito-frontal cortex may be the mechanism by which mindfulness meditation induces its long-lasting pain-relieving effects in humans” Bell, T. P., McIntyre, K. A., & Hadley, R. (2016). Listening to classical music results in a positive correlation between spatial reasoning and mindfulness. Psychomusicology: Music, Mind, and Brain, 26(3), 226–235. https://doi-org.cuesta.idm.oclc.org/10.1037/pmu0000139 “The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of adding music components to mindfulness- and acceptance-based interventions. Specifically, the research analyzed effects on state mindfulness, level of personal engagement, and receptivity to future mindfulness- and acceptance-based practices. …there is value in including music-based practices into a mindfulness program.” Carter, M. (2021). A pathway to psychological flexibility: Exploring the impact of music-based mindfulness interventions for college students [ProQuest Information & Learning]. In Dissertation Abstracts International: Section B: The Sciences and Engineering (Vol. 82, Issue 3–B).