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Expressing Yourself Through Music

Posted on July 27, 2018 in Active Aging

“Music is a higher revelation
than all wisdom and philosophy.
Music is the electrical soil
in which the spirit lives, thinks, and events.”
~ Ludwig Von Beethoven



Beethoven believed, nearly 200 years ago, that music is essential and necessary for spiritual happiness, success, and well-being. Two hundred years later, we’ve learned enough about successful living to understand just how wise his words were.

As it turns out, music helps out in more ways than most people realize, making it a critical component for all people who are aging.

Playing a Musical Instrument can Help Prevent Dementia

Learning to play a musical instrument as an adult results in a substantially lower risk of dementia and other cognitive impairment, according to the Dementia Research Foundation of Australia. A study of 157 sets of twins (in which one had been diagnosed with some form of cognitive impairment while the other had not) discovered that participants who played an instrument in older adulthood had a 64 percent lower risk of developing dementia.

Exercise Your Brain by Learning to Play an Instrument

Sixty and Me reports that music does for the brain what circuit training, cycling through various exercise machines does for the body in a single workout. Playing a musical instrument involves the use of a number of different areas of the brain at the same time. In terms of physical exercise, it’s akin to circuit training, moving from one exercise to another.

Explore Your Spiritual Side with Music

Joining a church choir or playing hand bells for a church is a great way to not only expand your mind and reduce your risks of cognitive impairments or dementia, but it’s also a great way to fulfill some peoples spiritual needs. Some people even volunteer or are hired to play the piano for their churches too. Some larger churches feature full orchestras while others have praise bands that might include many different musical instruments including woodwinds, brass, strings, etc.

Listening to Music for Nostalgia and More

Of course, listening to music being performed either live or recorded has its own set of benefits. Hearing songs from the past has been proven to help many Alzheimer’s patients settle in moments of agitation and can bring back happy memories for almost anyone. Music can be as powerful as your sense of smell when it comes to bringing back strong memories and associations of the past.