Musical Reflections

“Take a day to heal from the lies you’ve told yourself and the ones that have been told to you.” ~Maya Angelou

I recently came across this powerful quote and it reminded me of something I’ve recently been exploring … tapping! (not toe tapping, but tapping on seven points on the head and upper body area).

The whole point of tapping is to “rid” our body/mind/spirit of any negative messages, just as the Angelou quote says. I have found tapping to be a profound healing experience! If you would like more information, here’s two resources:  Nick Ortner of the Tapping Solution and Margaret Lynch.

In a nutshell, tapping helps move us out of our Reptilian brain and into our executive brain (pre-frontal cortex). It also helps us relax and feel calm to make even better decisions. Doesn’t all of that sound awesome?!! Can you see why I’m enjoying this new experience of learning to tap?!!

The second keynote speaker at the recent Mayo Clinic’s holistic wellness conference was Henry Emmons, MD. He gave a wonderful, thought-provoking presentation on “Restoring Resilience.”

He began his discussion by inviting us to reflect on our “container” and attending to it (hence the bucket to the left!!). What is draining it? What is filling it up? As well as suggesting, “We may need to bring in other things, blending science and heart wisdom to sustain us, bringing us into balance and improving our resilience.”

On the next day of this conference, I was keynoting about self-care. I was struck by how these thoughts that Dr. Emmons was suggesting about resilience also relate to how well we take care of ourselves. In other words, “filling our buckets” is important to nurture our body/mind/spirit (eg. self-care) and impacts how resilient we are in many different situations.

We often hear the adage “The health care system is rapidly changing.” But what exactly does this mean?

Last week, I spoke and played the harp at the Mayo Clinic’s Holistic Wellness conference. And I had an opportunity to attend some of the sessions that addressed the health care shift. In the coming weeks on this blog, I’ll be discussing several highlights from this conference.

The first keynote presentation was by Bill Manahan, MD. He began with the expansive question, “How much of the body’s imbalance is connected to body/mind/emotions/spirit?” He suggested a broader, integrative approach is needed many times. And this is the transition that is occurring – evolving from the current medical model of disease care to truly managing health (not just disease).

Definitely “food for thought”…

The Western model of medicine is based on research and medical technology. This is positive and gives us a certain baseline of professionalism from medical staff (doctors and nurses) and comfort about caring for our health.

Is there research about music and its positive effects? Yes! An excellent “primer” of research information about music and healing is Don Campbell’s “The Mozart Effect.” This book is filled with documentation about music and its impact in a variety of situations and with a multitude of illnesses/diseases.

That said, I have seen again and again that there’s a mystery to the healing power of music. Miraculous things happen while I play the harp at the hospital and hospice bedside. Sometimes, it can’t be explained … there’s no research, no evidence, no reason “why.” It is a mystery, a mystical experience. Music helps create sacred space, a healing environment. We may never understand exactly how/why it works … that’s part of the mystery. And part of our human experience is about living in the mystery, allowing it to just be.

Let’s not discount these amazingly beautiful experiences just because they are anecdotal and without “data.” It really is about integrating the mystery with evidence-based medicine … now, that’s Mind/Body/Spirit healing!