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For all of us, at one point or another, sound helps to put us in a different state of mind. For some of us, classical tunes calm nerves, helps a study session go smoother, or entrances us into a good night’s sleep. For others, classic rock makes us want to dance, country music might bring out the romantic, and just the sound of silence can bring a little relief now and then. Many people are comforted by music and studies show that different instruments that produce sound are considered to be a type of natural health.

A 2008 study from the University of Maryland School of Medicine revealed that listening to music that makes you happy for 30 minutes can help to reduce your stress level. Hearing joyful sounds during the day can tell the brain to release endorphins which make you feel happy, your muscles can relax and eventually your stress lowers and pain can be relieved. A different study from 2008 also showed us that listening to calming music like Mozart or crashing waves at the ocean can lower your blood pressure because soothing music slows down your breathing as well as your heartbeat. Your brain waves also tend to react to the sounds you are hearing by slowing down or speeding up according to the beats.

Besides just tuning your radio or switching on your cd player or ipod, sound therapy can help in other ways. Ancient tools such as tuning forks and singing bowls are often used to calm an “overexcited” nervous system. According to Jonathan Goldman, who wrote the book The Seven Secrets of Sound Healing, tuning forks are able to create sound vibrations to provide healing properties. Tuning forks are able to effortlessly realign your inner chakras, clean them of any static energy, and replace harmony and balance in your life. Tuning forks are used by being tapped lightly and hum lowly in order to spread the healing vibrations into the space around you.

Another type of meditative sound therapy is the ancient tradition of singing bowls. Also known commonly as “Himalayan bowls,” these metal (often made from bronze) bowls also vibrate in order to produce a healing sound. Singing bowls are called bowls because they look like inverted bells, sitting flat on their tops without a handle; these “bowls” can also be large or small and are “rung” by being rubbed on the sides and the top of the rim to produce the sound or by being pounded lightly. To play a singing bowl, the friction of rubbing a wooden, leather, or plastic mallet to increase the overtones. Used for relaxation purposes as well as part of religious practices, singing bowls offer support to many.

Research has also been done regarding the link of sound and insomnia. You might think that trying to listen to a playlist while in bed might be counteractive to actually falling asleep but the opposite is true when dealing with the inability to sleep or with waking up often during the night. Listening to white noise, the rainforest, or even the sound of falling rain can ease you back to sleep or urge a restful night without tossing and turning.

Instead of just being an outlet to make you happy, calm your nerves, de-stress, relax your muscles, or help you sleep, sound can also be a way to boost your brain function. Studies say that learning a musical instrument and practicing each day makes your brain moldable and able to store more information as well as keeping it young and sharp. So if you are anything like me when I was a kid, and do not enjoy practicing the piano for an hour each day, just remember that if you stick with it your brain will most likely age better than your peers, and the repetitive motion of playing the instrument—as well as the music it produces—will also help you be more relaxed. Even though I yawn as I type this, I better go find my lullaby CD to lull me into a reassuring sleep.

By: Lara Endreszl
Published: Sunday, 19 April 2009

If dog is man’s best friend, it makes sense that being around animals could help you heal or put you in a better mood. Animal therapy, also called Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT), is a blanket term for a wide range of activities, good-for-you benefits, and a diverse group of animals that are able to help. Since dogs and cats are the most common household pets, no one should be surprised that cuddling with your little friends can provide a calm and soothing relief.

However, rabbits, fish, horses, dolphins, elephants, birds, and lizards can also be considered calming, as well as other small animals. Programs involving these types of animals are increasingly popular among organizations like nursing homes, retirement communities, hospitals, rehabilitation centers, psychiatric wards, including even correctional facilities.

Fish tanks have long been seen in restaurants, homes, doctor’s offices, in shopping malls, and aquariums are larger than life stress relievers. Studies have shown that fish tanks in care centers particularly dealing with Alzheimer’s patients can improve their eating habits, increase calm, and decrease erratic or destructive behavior.

Riding horses on the beach is a benefit of many tropical vacations but the repetitive motion of sitting on the horse is known to help balance and coordination and horse therapies have been proven to increase the strength and stability of physically and mentally challenged individuals. Specifically, horse AAT therapy is called equine-assisted psychotherapy (EAP), and there are other branches as well that deal with specialized horse therapies.

Another resort-type of luxury is swimming with dolphins. Dolphin therapy started in the 1970s in Florida as a way to motivate children with Down syndrome. Marine life can inspire more gentle behavior and there is a possibility that they have healing properties as well. Some experts suggest that dolphins use their underwater sonar waves as a healing process to boost T-cells in humans. A marine biologist Amanda Green, says that research is currently being done to support this but new hospital methods are offering technology that acts like sonar, “Many therapists believe that a dolphin's sonar causes a phenomenon called ‘cavitation’ inside the soft body tissue of the human body. It precipitates a ripping apart of the molecules….many hospitals already use a lithotripsy machine that uses low frequency sound waves to break up kidney stones and gall stones. The physics of that machine are not different from a dolphin's sonar.”

Perhaps the most well-known method of animal assisted therapy is used with dogs. Besides dogs being wonderful companions and helpful to the blind, trained dogs are brought to schools, hospitals, and nursing homes in order to bring joy. Just the simple act of spending time with a dog, and the exercise involved with petting and walking with a dog helps patients and the elderly exert themselves physically. Both the dogs and their owners have to go through a special type of training to be certified “animal assisted therapy” pets. Within the first hour of spending time with a dog, a person’s blood pressure is known to drop, mental function improves, and smiles often show up. Certain trained dogs are able to assist patients with their wheelchair abilities, cognitive function, memory problems, and some patients even adopt maternal instincts while interacting with the animals. Loneliness can be curbed by spending time with a friendly animal and some think cats can also provide such love.

If you or a loved one is suffering from depression, physical or mental disabilities, or recovering from a serious illness, maybe spending time with a furry friend can lend a paw to their recuperation. Also the next time you are feeling down or just want a little pick-me-up, go to your local shelter and play with the animals or volunteer to be a shelter mother or father to puppies or kittens that are not yet ready to be adopted. If you think your fun-loving dog is social and well-behaved enough to be an AAT dog, get in touch with training facilities in your neighborhood and share the love of your pet with someone in need.

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