Musical Reflections

While my harp therapy teacher’s mission is to have a “harp player in every hospital and hospice by 2020,” my vision includes: 

• Licensing harp CDs to health care systems for their closed-circuit TVs. This is a simple, cost-effective method to help hospital and hospice patients relax, feel peace and calm, and sleep. E-mail me if you want more information.
• In-service education of health care staff. Topics range from “Music and Healing” to “Music for Hospice” to “Self-Care for Health Care Providers.” Click here for more details about my presentations.
• CDs in hospital gift shops. Contact me for wholesale prices of my books and CDs.
• Playing at the bedside. For hospitals and hospices in the Twin Cities, I am available for these special bedside vigils. Contact me for pricing and availability. To find a therapeutic harpist in your geographical area, click here.

I’ve been doing this work full-time for the past 13 years and in that time, I’ve seen remarkable shifts in health care systems incorporating the ancient healing modality of harp therapy into the current evidence-based medical model. And we’ve only just begun … we are definitely living in exciting times!  This is my deep passion and I so appreciate your continued support to help make this a reality for those we are serving.

Sometimes when I have my harp in the hospital, I have an opportunity to play at the nurse’s station. They love it!

In most hospitals, the healthcare staff have been indoctrinated with a big dose of “It’s all about the patient.” While I don’t disagree with this, I know part of my role is to help nurses take good care of themselves. If they are healthy in body, mind and spirit, they can give excellent patient care.

So, playing the harp at the nurse’s station gives them a couple of moments to reflect, center and rejuvenate. As they connect with their hearts and peaceful spirits, they take this to their patients … a beautiful circle of healing.

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!

The Daily OM shared this beautiful review about my “Blessings to You” CD with its 1 million+ customers. I am deeply touched and humbled …

“Harpist extraordinaire Tami Briggs makes deeply soothing instrumental music that inspires deep tranquility and a sense of wellness. She first realized the healing power of the harp’s angelic sound while playing it for patients at hospitals and hospices. Now, Briggs combines the music with her knowledge of healing to move into the world of recorded healing sounds.

For Blessings to You, simple and eloquently heartfelt melodies and countermelodies form naturally occurring wells of comfort and solace, penetrating the “lullaby ground zero” of a deep-seated sense of self and security. Close your eyes and you can feel past infancies and access their feeling of security and warmth—feelings that are available to us at any age and time, regardless of actual circumstance. After all, as long as one has the right key, one can access anything. Briggs has the key in these template melodies that seem to predate our own natural existence, like timeless caresses from the eternal mother to whom we are all, always, just a few months old, innocent, and loveable.”

Click here to order your copy today!

Last year on Christmas Day, I received the following e-mail:

“My best friend passed away this morning. She was in the hospital unresponsive. I had taken your “Christmas Music for Tranquility” CD to her yesterday; her family played it early this morning. The whole CD played and as the CD player shut off, my friend took her last breath. Her daughters told me it was beautiful. I’m getting a CD for both of the daughters. Thank you for your beautiful music.”

I am deeply touched and humbled by this beautiful message. I feel so blessed to create music that touches your heart and soul.