Love music? Well, the human mind is amazingly powerful as it can change your perception of the world, allow you to communicate with people, think years into the future, and recognize patterns like a computer. There is an unlimited amount of power stored within the human mind, and scientists are still busy trying to unlock its full potential.
The brain is capable of processing information consciously when making a tough decision and unconsciously when protecting us from psychological harm. Music then, has the power to shape how we think about every personal belief we have, and it can subconsciously enhance every cognitive function the brain has at its disposal. Intrigued yet? You should be…Continue on for The Subconscious Mind: 5 Ways How Music Impacts Yours!
1. Music’s Connection to a Higher Power
Music allows us to become closer to God. It has been proven that music is an analgesic because listening while in pain will allow us to manage the pain better.
Music releases different neurotransmitters such as endorphins, oxytocin, and dopamine. Endorphins are targeted by medical professionals to ease a patient’s pain symptoms. Religion is known to have the same effects as music in this department.
When others converse with God by praying, they are activating the brain’s prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for executive functioning in the brain including sensation, perception, and judgment. Empirical evidence of this is staring at a photo of Jesus while in pain. A believer will begin to focus on Jesus and the ability that he has to heal and become strengthened by him.
People who do not believe may not experience the same phenomenon in as many instances. It is said that a high oxytocin level can strengthen the faith of those who believe in Jesus. It is possible then that a low oxytocin level can weaken one’s belief in a higher power.
Music releases oxytocin in the brain, so those who are spiritual can become empowered by the pleasure and meaning they receive from the melodies and harmony that is music.
2. Music’s Impact on Recognition
Listening to music allows the brain to adapt to subtle changes in auditory stimuli. People often listen to music in their leisure time, and they learn to recognize the different instruments, which ones match best, and which ones don’t. People with a distinguished ear for music learn when the pitch of a song is too high or low. They understand when their brain will not enjoy the song in 1/100th of a second. Some people can identify songs that have the potential to be hits in this amount of time as well when they are not tone deaf.
When you listen to music, you are strengthening your brain’s ability to recognize different patterns. An example of how this is useful is when listening to your surroundings at night. You learn how to focus on multiple stimuli at once such as cars driving by, birds chirping, and rainfall. If something is inconsistent in your surroundings, your brain may be able to recognize this in a fraction of a second faster because of the practice you have listening to music. In situations like this, the subtle recognition of a change in the environment can save your or someone else’s life. You become alarmed faster and can sprint into action and others can do the same for you.
3. The Hypnotizing Effect of Music
Music can be played at different frequencies, each having a different effect on the “bioelectrical oscillations” (waves) of the brain. The different frequencies of the human brain are Delta (1-3Hz), Theta (4-7 Hz), Alpha (8-15 Hz), Beta (16-30 Hz), and Gamma (31-100 Hz). Delta frequencies can be used to connect you to reality, improve awareness, for healing, and improve sleep cycles.
Theta frequencies are used to center you, to help you become one with your internal sense of peace and danger, and to improve your memory. Alpha frequency waves are targeted to improve artistic expression, improve clarity of imagination, and put one’s body in a resting state of peace.
Beta frequency waves make you more alert of your internal and external environment, allow you to focus more easily, and improve the brain’s cognitive functioning.
Gamma waves may be targeted to allow for self-reflection, raising your plateau of focus-allowing you to maintain focus longer, and opening your mind to more possibilities. By playing music at each frequency, you are activating a different combination of brain regions that allow for different cognitive functions to be trained and enhanced.
4. Musical Entrainment
Entrainment is any living organism’s ability to unconsciously become synced with the physical movements and bodily processes of other organisms. Some organisms like fireflies, flocks of birds, and schools of fish are herding when they move like they have been practicing coordination for thousands of years.
They have evolved to react to predators at the same time which has helped them survive. Musical entrainment is when people become synchronized through music. A theory known as resonance, becoming synchronized with vibrations, states that human consciousness may come down to the way the universe, and everything in it vibrates.
The theory states that the reason humans can think on the same frequency, experience the same emotions, and perform symphonies may come down to vibrational synchronization, which could be perceived as universal harmony. It takes longer for humans to become synced to each other because we have individual minds, so we stop and think before we react. We learn through practice how to react in unison when we perform in a choir or dance a choreographed dance to salsa. Our reactions may not be completely instinctual, but we have learned how to master the art of synchronization.
5. Positive Music and the Healing Process
Have you ever been in a predicament where you had to spend weeks confined to a bed? One of the unfortunate things about life is that there will be times where we are not in the best health, and it will deplete us.
Every year in mid to late fall, the seasonal flu comes around and people become stricken by the virus. If fortunate, they will have someone bringing them chicken noodle soup, dry toast, and orange juice to make them feel better. If not, do not be alarmed because there is a way to decrease the length of the flu.
The beautiful melodies of music may soothe you into good health. There have been times when flowers were withering away and people became desperate, so they decided to experiment with music.
Classical music has been shown to completely heal a flower that is on the brink of wilting away. People even try singing and speaking to their plants, and the happiness along with the person’s will to fight for the plant helps them recover.
Positive music can do for people what it does for nature, which is to completely transform them with the energy of love. When resting on your bed and feeling down, try playing gentle music with an upbeat tempo and notice the difference in your energy level and mood.
Smile along with the music, believe in the positive lyrics, and hum along to it. Think positively and the flu that you may have will fade quickly. Music was created by God to heal the universe. The capability it has to heal humans is unique because we are the only beings with higher intelligence, and it reflects all that we experience. What that means is that it influences us spiritually and emotionally because life is filled with joy and pain.
It also means that God uses it to benefit us in every way possible even when we are unaware. You have learned that the power of the subconscious mind is unlike anything else in existence. When we use music to tap into the powers that lie beneath the surface, we can accomplish anything.
The subconscious is where most of the brain’s energy is being used because it is responsible for our dreams, spiritual beliefs, perception etc. It is strong yet fragile because anything that fully enters the human mind can remain in the subconscious for a lifetime.
From hypnotism and religion to the power that music has to help us recuperate from an affliction, music is a the universal instrument for uniting and improving all life. Do you have a distinguished ear for music? What type of music allows you to be most creative? Is your faith influenced by the music you listen to? Who are your favorite musical artists of all time? Let us know in the comments below and join in the conversation on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram!
I’ve always wondered how music is used to keep people trapped in “The Matrix” – it’s endemic in the lyrics if you analyze them carefully. This article is so helpful to raise awareness. Thank you!