Relaxation Videos For At-Home Music Therapy to Combat Stress and Anxiety
Since the pandemic began we have all had to get used to doing more and more things from home. Telecommuting is still the norm for a lot of people. But people are telecommuting to all kinds of places these days. I telecommute to both my therapist and my doctor and more and more people are signing up all the time. So if you are stuck home and have been dealing with all the increased stress and anxiety that the pandemic has caused but haven’t found a productive way to deal with it. I have good news. Even though you are stuck in your home, there are things you can do totally for free thanks to the Music Therapy Program at Penn State University. Check out the article below to find out what the music therapy program has done and how it could benefit you today.
One of the great things about music is that it allows you to focus your thoughts on something other than your inner monologue. Because of this, you are able to achieve greater feelings of mindfulness and greater states of calm. And although any type of music can help you find calmness, there are certain styles of music used in music therapy that are specifically curated by music therapy scientists, researchers, and doctors to induce feelings of calmness and to reduce feelings of stress and anxiety. This music is largely composed of relaxing sounds and is almost always free from lyrics. Lyrics tend to overly engage a singer and instead of initiating a state of calmness and mindfulness, they keep the listener too engaged and can actually diminish their feeling of calmness.
But now thanks to the miracles of modern technology you can access a specifically designed playlist that is composed of tracks that are used for professional music therapy right from the comfort of your own home. The good people at Penn State University’s Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center have created a Youtube Playlist that allows you to access videos that have been specifically curated by their team that they use with real patients. The idea was to make sure that the music therapy was accessible to all their patients. But they figured that if they could just create a Youtube channel, why not share it with everyone? So if you or someone you know is struggling with feelings of anxiety and stress (and let's be honest who isn’t these days) this playlist could be just the thing you are looking for.
There’s almost a certainty someone you love is struggling with their mental health because of the pandemic. Nearly half the nation's adults have reported negative mental health affects that are directly tied to the pandemic. And that rate is much higher for young mothers and African American adults. The numbers are uncertain for children though because children often lack the faculties to accurately describe or articulate their feelings. This means that half the country’s adults are going through something pretty significant with their mental health. And an unknown number of the nation's children are dealing with mental health issues due to the pandemic.
And that cuts across political aisles. It’s something we all go through. Which is why I think what the researchers and doctors at Penn State have done is so cool. Their idea that “access is the key thing” they wanted to foster is the exact opposite of the kind of greed and price gouging we have come to expect from our society during this pandemic. But these researchers understood they had created something that could ease the suffering in the world, and they decided to just share it with everyone guaranteeing they are responsible for reducing the most amount of suffering for the most amount of people they possibly can be. Which is nothing short of inspiring in my opinion.
The playlists themselves are quite enjoyable. I practice meditation in my personal life and when I needed to write this article and found out about these playlist I had to give them a try. And they worked for me just as well as the music in the meditation app that I pay for works for me. So I would personally like to say thank you to these researchers for saving me that annual subscription fee. And while the playlist itself isn't the same thing as going and meeting with a licensed music therapist, the doctors were kind enough to leave instructions in the description of each video on Youtube.
That way you understand how to breathe and how to positionposture yourself while you listen to them in order to get the most efficiency out of them. And the nice thing about these playlist is that they are designed to be used for anybody at any age level. So whether you are dealing with an angry toddler or an angsty teenager (or even just your own anxiety) these playlist can be utilized in your life to produce a profound state of calmness and relaxation for anybody.
Not only are these videos accessible in the sense that they can be accessed by any age group, they are also available on Youtube. I know I mentioned that already, but the thing about Youtube is that they have an app for every device. So whether you just have your phone, laptop, tablet, smartwatch, desktop, VR headset, or plain old flatscreen television, you can watch these relaxation videos.
So whether you are on the bus, walking down the street, in a crowded room, or before a big Zzoom meeting, you can access these videos and help ease feelings of stress and anxiety. And if you have loved ones who are suffering from increased feelings of stress and anxiety from the pandemic (you do) you can also share these videos with them and they can access them anytime they need them. So if you are worried about somebody you love be sure to shoot them a link. It’s entirely free so they have nothing to lose and a whole lot to gain by reducing their feelings of anxiety and stress. And wouldn’t you rather have your kids do something that is actually good for their brain for once while they are on their phones?
