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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.
Introduction
| Music Therapy | Mantras

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