For the power in music

FOR MOTHERS-TO-BE

Many scientific researchers have come to the conclusion that music is active inside the womb since the foetus starts to develop an auditory system between the weeks of 17 and 19.

As there is already a kind of music being formed inside the womb through the beats of the heart, the pulse and the flow of the blood, it is similar to listening to music underwater. It is found that when the mother listens to the kind of music that she likes, it affects the foetus in the similar pattern as it echoes the mother's response to the quality of the music. It alleviates the heart rate of the baby as the mother's heart rate increases.

If you are pregnant, try introducing your baby to the kind of music that you enjoy. Soothing music works best as it keeps you calm and in turn makes the baby to calm down.

FOR WHEN WE STRESS OUT

When we are stressed, our body releases a hormone in response to the stress, lowering the cortisol levels. We feel anxious, unable to gather our thoughts in an organised way.

Music in turn does the opposite, it stimulates the production of dopamine, a mood enhancing chemical in the brain that has an opposite response to stress, relaxing you as you move your head to the beats. Ever imagine how when it feels like everything is falling apart, a piece of music can make you forget about all the struggles that life has to offer?

MEMORIES THAT ARE EVOKED

It is said that music stimulates more part of the brain than any other human function. Given the power of the words accompanied by the rhythm and tune of a music, it can bring back fragments of memories from your distant past.

Say you are feeling all sad and mopey, but the moment a familiar happy song plays, reminding you of the time you spent with your cousins in the backyard of your grandma's house, you will find yourself smiling and your mood all uplifted.

Similarly, a phrase from an old Taylor Swift song plays and all the memories from your sixth-grade bad breakup come rushing in.  Some scientific researchers suggest that music can be a form of treatment to curing Alzheimer's and dementia.

REDUCING PAIN — PHYSICALLY AND MENTALLY

In life we all go through tough times, some that fades away with time while others that stay back only to resurface from time to time. In those dark times, music can play a big role it mending the broken heart. Even for a while, we  find ourselves immersed in the words and the melody of the soul soothing music.

Surprisingly, music has the ability to cure not only mental pain but also physical pain. It stimulates the production of opioids, human body's natural pain reliever, which can act just like any other pain medication. Along with the 'feel good hormones', it energises you and alleviates your mood.

MUSE FOR MY CREATIVITY

Not only does creativity come from brainstorming ideas, but also from the profound layers of our soul, taking its own passage in time. Music which acts as a muse can prompt this process and provide one with abundant inspiration.

For some it could be soothing verses of a Rabindra Sangeet and for others it is the loud beats of a hard rock song. From this inspiration through music, creative minds are able to blossom the raw ideas into the masterpieces that are hence manufactured.

WHILE CRUNCHING THOSE NUMBERS

Music can be of many types and genres. While we have the option to pick from our favourite singers to the genre of the music, we can choose to step into our own world just at the tip of the finger.

Music makes any boring or difficult activity fun. Be it solving the nerve wrecking sums that you have to finish or the long winded numbers of chores that your mother has asked you to complete. It has the power to energise you in way that even caffeine fails to do. Music makes everything better and colourful.

Music plays an incredible role in every activity, every mood and in every part of our lives. Without music, movies would be boring, work-outs would seem ten times harder and life would be a lot more stressful and colourless.

In a world of seven billion people, some are into Jazz while others might

be into thrash metal.

No matter what the genre, everyone has their own music mantra, so what is yours?

Photo: LS Archive/Sazzad Ibne Sayed