Music
Therapy
 Music
therapy is a scientific method of effective cures of disease
through the power of music. It restores, maintains and improves
emotional, psychological and physiological well being. The
articulation, pitch, tone and specific arrangement of swars
(notes) in a particular raga (melody) stimulates,
alleviates and cures various ailments.
Music
therapy has a long history dating back to ancient Greece. King
David's curing an illness by playing the harp would count for
the same in the Old Testament. Hippocrates, the father of
modern medicine, used it extensively. In ancient Egypt pain of
childbirth was reduced thus. In Indian legends Thyagaraja,
the famous south Indian musician is believed to have sung back
life into the dead. And in 1729 Richard Browne compiled the
well-known Medicina Musica.
 Music
can be defined as "…a kind of inarticulate, unfathomable
speech which leads us to the edge of the infinite and lets us
for a moment gaze into that." Basically a sound (nada)
generating particular vibrations which moves through space and
effects the human body. In classical Indian system it usually
takes the form of a raga which has four sources - folk songs,
poetry, devotional songs of mystics and compositions of
classical musicians.
 Ragas
are closely related to time of the day and seasonal changes and
emotional status. Symphonies of raga have a
definite soothing effect on the mind as well as the body. The
muscles, nerves and chakras of affected parts go through
alternate contraction and relaxation during impulses and the
in-between intervals respectively. This enables energy from a
universal energy field to flow into human energy field and
affect the central nervous system - roots of auditory nerves
being more widely distributed than any other. Also beats in
music have a close relation with heart beats with those below
the pulse rate calm & relax the system and those above
excite & rejuvinate.
While ragas can cure tension, blood pressure, heart
ailments, insomnia and other disorders, it should be kept in
mind that such therapy treatment should be conducted either
early morning, evening or late night, never long sessions on an
empty stomach and ideally with regular short breaks in between.
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