I think that we are all specially connected to music and can find comfort in it. When we were carried in our mother’s womb we heard her heartbeat and have probably been innately affected by rhythm ever since.

Rhythm

When we tune in to sound or tap into a rhythm I think it can take us to a place of safety and healing where we can switch off from the stresses and strains of life outside. This is good to know as the factor of stress has been widely cited as influencing our mental health and even sometimes bringing on a crisis.

Soundtrack to our lives!

Music has such a presence. It can be like a soundtrack to our life. What would a film be like without its musical soundtrack? Some people work or study with music playing, some people find it helpful to walk through town with headphones on and some people turn to music to consciously relax and rest. I think that it can be a lovely idea to have a personal playlist or songbook of our favourite songs and pieces of music to reflect our different moods and states of mind. It is good to keep on working on this through good times and bad. It is a good thing to identify or search out the pieces of music or songs that make us happy, that help us when we feel sad, that we can relax into or concentrate with.

Your mental health

For help with mental health I think that it is nice to know that music is perfectly harmless and that it really doesn’t matter how long we listen for. As some addictions are very harmful or worrying it is good to know that here is one that can be indulged in to our heart’s content! And there’s always more music to explore. There is power in music. It can change the way we feel or think. It has been said that if we listen to a piece of music by Mozart for example that it can actually temporarily alter the functioning of the brain and boost the IQ. This is known as the Mozart Effect. And babies can be soothed and lulled to sleep by gentle strains of music. We, as living beings, are constantly vibrating in a subtle sense and so if we tune in to the vibration of a pure or uplifting piece of music it can change our own frequency!

Connection

If we are able to make music with an instrument or our voice it can be so beneficial to make use of this gift to help with our mental health. So many people have benefited from joining a choir, joining a drumming circle, singing in church, singing in the shower or learning to play an instrument. Or sometimes it is nice to sing along to a catchy song with somebody else. It can help us to connect. And deeper connection is great for mental health recovery. I really think that music is something we can always turn to in times of mental health difficulty or distress and be helped by. It is a friend. It can nurture us and help us and keep us broadening our horizons.

Music is magic

“For me there is something primitively soothing about this music, and it went straight to my nervous system, making me feel ten feet tall”- Eric Clapton

Music has saved me so many times, from spiralling into a black hole. I have had my head in a pillow that is covered in black mascara tears wondering how I will ever feel better again, then a song comes on, and I lift my head… I like this song… it’s one of those you can’t help but sing along to. At first- I am singing and crying at the same time, it’s terrible, but by the end of the song I am Stevie Nicks in all her bohemian glory!

Music can make you feel transcendent, like you are soaring through a swirling cosmos on the back of a pink dolphin. Jeff Buckley, Pink Floyd, anything with an epic instrumental solo, it makes you sing, it makes you dance, it can feel chaotic at times, but you feel.

It gives you a cuddle

And even when it’s not as dramatic as all that, it can wrap itself around you and give you a lovely cuddle. I recently experienced a huge loss and am currently trying to navigate my way through a period of grief, its hard but music speaks to me, it comforts me

“Sweet dreams til’ sunbeams find you,
Sweet dreams that leave your worries behind you,
But in your dreams whatever they be,
Dream a little dream of me”

Music isn’t a miracle cure that solves all our problems, but for me, music is magic. What is it that pulls you out of your pillow, what is your magic?

“Thank you for the amazing work you’ve been doing, it’s clear you have made a big impact”

HeadsUp loves the opportunity to scream and shout about the great work we do and the amazing people we support. We did just that at the Suffolk and North East Essex ICS ‘Can Do Health and Care’ Expo2022 last week where we got to speak to lots of different services about what we do here at HeadsUp.

We had a lot of interest from services wanting to work with us, learn from us and thank us – which was amazing! Although we don’t do it for the thanks, it was lovely that services could see the great work we do through our participant quotes, wellbeing data graphs and videos.

Some of the services we got the chance to chat to were Colchester Borough Council Digital Inclusion Team, Open Road, Care Development East, Citizens Advice, East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust, YMCA, NHS teams and many, many more!

You may see us out and about at events in the future and if so feel welcome to come and say hello to our friendly members of staff who are happy to take the time to chat to you about everything HeadsUp.