Music & Sound Can Affect Health

Mantras when practiced with transcendental meditation are repeated in our inner dialogue, but can be practiced with or without background music or sounds. I have some information that a few musically inclined qigong friends and I wrote about in a book we co-authored a few years ago. Whether it is singing bowls, drumming, chanting, or other musical instruments and sounds, it is basically the same concepts.

Masaru Emoto, in his book The Hidden Messages in Water, showed that music has a direct effect on water. By playing a certain piece of music, and then looking at water molecules under a high-powered microscope, he saw that when soothing music was played, the water organized itself with symmetry and beautiful designs. When turbid music was played, such as heavy metal, the water looked putrid and disorganized. The human body is 60 to 80 percent water. Music, whether positive or negative, has a profound effect on us. It can focus us, or it can distract us, it can make us happy or sad, bringing out a wide range of emotions.

Children exposed to music develop better listening skills. They do better in subjects such as math, language, and reading. Music also helps the brain’s plasticity and capacity to change and grow.

Studies have shown that when people have listened to music labeled “happy”, their creativity went up, and when your favorite song comes on unexpectedly, you get a small boost of dopamine. Numerous studies have also shown music can help with anxiety, depression, insomnia, ADHD, PTSD, and schizophrenia.

Music is uniquely human. Animals, with the occasional exception of some birds, can’t process music or feel rhythm in the same way that humans can. Studies have shown that when an animal is dancing to music, they are imitating the owner and not moving to the beat. Historically, music has played an important role in every culture.

Nearly 40,000 years ago, early humans used carved bones with animal skins over tree stumps to make basic instruments. Bone flutes have also been discovered and dated back to 40,000 to 80,000 years ago. Even the early Torah was set to music so people could remember it before they would write it down. People have always used music to remember things.

I have learned also that for thousands of years, chanting as a form of music has been used as a vehicle to create a deeper spiritual connection. The sound of OM, is said to be the universal sound that contains all other sounds. A study revealed that chanting the word OM triggered the area of the brain that is associated with calmness and a sense of inner peace. The syllable OM was found to trigger that more than any other syllable.

Om Mani Padme Hum
It has been said over the centuries that all of the teachings of the Buddha are contained in the simple mantra of Om Mani Padme Hum. This can be roughly translated as “The jewel of the lotus.” Below is a hidden 5 element meaning of the mantra, from the album “The 5 Elements of Om Mani Padme Hum”

Om: Wood element: rising, spring time, sprouting upwards. The color is green.

Ma: Fire element: rising and dispersing. Picture flames flickering and dancing. The color is red.

Ni: Earth element: centered and sweet. It does not rise or fall much, always returning to the center. The colors are yellow and gold.

Pad: Qi: sometimes referred to as the 6th energy. Similar to fire, this energy dances both upward and downward. The color is purple.

Me: Metal element: splitting and falling. The season is autumn, and there is grief in the metal element. The colors are white and silver.

Hum: Water element: flowing, building up and dispersing. The season is winter. The colors are blue and black.

Reference:

Leone M., Campbell J., Moltzan J., (2019), Journey Around the Sun

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I write often about topics that affect our health and well-being. Additionally, I teach and offer lecture about qigong, tai chi, baguazhang, and yoga. For more info, contact Jim Moltzan at info@mindandbodyexercises.com, 407-234-0119 or through my site at http://www.mindandbodyexercises.com

Conspiracy Mentality – huh, what is this?

Conspiracy mentality is a generalized belief that secret and powerful forces aspire to control or rule the world. A lack of control has been identified as one of the driving forces of conspiracy beliefs. When people fear a lack of control in their lives, they compensate for this deficiency by seeking patterns, even if these patterns are based on illusion. Events of a large magnitude warrant an explanation of comparable proportions. Studies conducted in both the USA and the UK showed the belief that Covid19 is a hoax or a stronger belief that the virus originated in a medical laboratory (Imhoff & Lamberty 2020).

A Neuroscientist Explains What Conspiracy Theories Do To Your Brain Video | Technology Networks

Conspiracy theories are not supported by sound evidence but rather are based on various thinking patterns that are known to be unreliable tools for tracking reality. True conspiracies are revealed through available evidence of actual and verifiable events, along with a healthy dose of skepticism. People might look to a particular conspiracy of scientists to explain a general scientific conclusion when it aligns with their political ideology, but not when the scientific consensus has no relevance to their own politics (Lewandowsky & Cook 2020).

Not all conspiracies are false theories, as many were actually true such as the US government poisoning alcohol during Prohibition, to discourage people from drinking booze, the CIA testing behavior modification using LSD and other hallucinogenic drugs on Americans in a top-secret experiment, and the Gulf of Tonkin incident of 1964, which was faked to encourage American support for the Vietnam War (Cahn 2021). Another proven conspiracy is The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment, which speaks volumes of how America’s medical culture has used race as a way to wield power for its own personal gain (Lombardo, 2006). The list continues with “Operation Berkshire”: the international tobacco companies’ conspiracy, where the industry’s commercial interests were protected by both promoting controversy over smoking and disease and through strategies directed at reassuring smokers (Francey & Chapman 2000).

Or when the AMA got caught conspiring to “contain and eliminate the chiropractic profession. As reported in Marc Micozzi’s Fundamentals of Complementary, Alternative, and Integrative Medicine: A staunchly antichiropractic policy was pursued by the American Medical Association (AMA). In 1990 the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed a lower court ruling in which the AMA was found liable for federal antitrust violations for having engaged in a conspiracy to “contain and eliminate” (the AMA’s own words) the chiropractic profession (Wilk v. AMA, 1990). The process that culminated in this landmark decision began in 1974 when a large packet of confidential AMA documents was provided anonymously to leaders of the American Chiropractic Association and the International Chiropractors Association. As a result of the ensuing Wilk v. AMA litigation, the AMA reversed its long-standing ban on interprofessional cooperation between medical doctors and chiropractors, agreed to publish the full findings of the court in the Journal of the American Medical Association, and paid an undisclosed sum, most of which was earmarked for chiropractic research. This ruling has not completely reversed the effects of organized medicine’s boycott, especially when it comes to application of the most effective and cost-effective treatments for common pain conditions.

Conspiracy mentality is interconnected to a feeling of lack of control to a perceived threat. When people feel more in control of their environment and decisions within it, they are more able to tolerate the seemingly constant ebb and flow of conspiracy theories. If people are educated to be aware of unsound reasoning found in most conspiracy theories, they have a better chance of not being influenced by such theories. When people are educated or prebunked, prior to their knowledge of a particular conspiracy, they can develop a resilience or awareness of the conspiratorial messages. Prebunking, also known as inoculation, consists of an explicit warning of an impending threat of being misled, and an objection to the misinformation’s arguments (Lewandowsky & Cook 2020).

Logic-based facts can help to explain misleading methods in unsound reasoning used in conspiracy theories. Educating skeptics about the logical misconceptions found in anti-vaccination conspiracies has been found to be effective by drawing attention to vaccination research that has been conducted by independent, publicly funded scientists who can discredit conspiracy theories about the pharmaceutical industry. Fact-based information can support that the conspiracy theory is false by communicating accurate data. Fact-based and logic-based inoculations have both been successful in prebunking other conspiracies such as some of those surrounding the terrorist attacks of 9/11 (Lewandowsky & Cook 2020).

References:

Imhoff, R. & Lamberty, P. (2020). A bioweapon or a hoax? The link between distinct conspiracy beliefs about the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak and pandemic behavior. Social Psychological and Personality Science.

Lewandowsky, S., & Cook, J. (2020). The Conspiracy Theory Handbook. http://sks.to/conspiracy (Links to an external site.)

Cahn, L. (2021, July 26). 12 Conspiracy Theories That Actually Turned Out to Be True. Reader’s Digest. https://www.rd.com/list/conspiracy-theories-that-turned-out-to-be-true/

Micozzi, Marc S.. Fundamentals of Complementary, Alternative, and Integrative Medicine – E-Book (p. 537). Elsevier Health Sciences. Kindle Edition

Lombardo, P. A., & Dorr, G. M. (2006). Eugenics, Medical Education, and the Public Health Service: Another Perspective on the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment. Bulletin of the History of Medicine, 291-316.

Francey, N., & Chapman, S. (2000). “Operation Berkshire”: the international tobacco companies’ conspiracy. BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 321(7257), 371–374. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.321.7257.371

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Good Health and Well-being Doesn’t Just Happen

Good health and well-being doesn’t just happen. Rather being mindful of your lifestyle choices of diet, exercise/activity and attitudes towards your life in general. These are the key factors in our culture today that have led the US to an epidemic of overweight and obese people. This has led to even bigger crises that can be easily seen over the last 2 years.

The age-adjusted prevalence of obesity among U.S. adults was 42.4% in 2017–2018. The prevalence was 40.0% among younger adults aged 20–39, 44.8% among middle-aged adults aged 40–59, and 42.8% among older adults aged 60 and over. There were no significant differences in prevalence by age group. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db360-h.pdf

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db360-h.pdf

From the Mayo Clinic:

Obesity represents a risk factor for higher severity and worse prognosis in patients with COVID-19 infection. Likewise, obesity-induced adipose tissue inflammation and its effects on the immune system play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of COVID-19 infection. Moreover, it also results in metabolic dysfunction, which may lead to dyslipidemia, insulin resistance, CVD, MetS/T2DM, and HTN. Older age also represents a risk factor for poor prognosis in patients with COVID-19 infection. Clearly, prevention of obesity in the first place and especially its progression to more severe forms is desperately needed throughout the health care system and society. These efforts are also needed to help improve prognosis in the next pandemic, as well as for primary and secondary prevention of CVD and diabetes mellitus. In the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, clinicians should recognize that the obese, and more so the more severely obese, are at higher risk for clinical deterioration with COVID-19. As such, these patients need to be carefully monitored and treated more aggressively to reduce morbidity and mortality.

https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/…/S0025…/fulltext

Be well, Become healthy, be wise.

Be more active, eat healthier, sleep better, stress less – these are the key components to maintaining a strong immune system.

I am currently offering lectures and classes for group, small group & private instruction in Wekiva, Longwood and Winter Park.

Mind and Body Exercises on Google: https://posts.gle/aD47Qo

Jim Moltzan

407-234-0119

www.MindAndBodyExercises.com

Practice a Body Scan Meditation

Top 10 Benefits of Meditation:

Reduced Stress.
Emotional Balance.
Increased Focus.
Reduced Pain.
Reduced Anxiety.
Increased Creativity.
Reduced Depression.
Increased Memory

Carve out time in your schedule to practice a 15-minute body scan meditation practice. You will thank yourself afterwards. Set an alarm for 15 minutes or longer if you care to. As the wise old saying states “if you don’t have time to meditate for an hour everyday, you should meditate for two hours”. We can make time to do the things we prioritize if we care to do so.

Lay flat on a couch or flat comfortable surface allowing yourself to go through a progression from physical awareness to mental realization, and then to an emotional release to become present in the moment. Become aware of your body becoming a bit heavier as you put your focus into your body instead of everything outside of your physical being. From here focus on your breathing becoming deeper and longer with pauses between each inhale and exhale.

Start at your head and work your way towards your feet. This allows you to release muscular tension as you move downwards ending in your toes and then out and away from your body. Become aware of the tension in your eyelids, eyebrows, jaw, and lips allowing you to relax these same areas by first tensing and then releasing the muscles.

Feel the tension in your upper back, and move your neck and shoulders a little side to side, and up and down to feel the contrast between tension and relaxation of these areas. Stressful emotions of anxiety or frustration develop in your neck and shoulders. Once you direct your focus on these muscle areas, you may be able to engage them with your thoughts to relax them and the surrounding muscle areas.

Work your way down through your torso, letting your skin and muscles hang and sink into the couch beneath you. Your hip bones (pelvis) sink into your glutes. Once you are comfortable with the physical awareness of your body, move on to becoming aware of your senses and what is occurring in your immediate environment. Your fingertips and toe tips may tingle when you focus more so on your breathing, all while relaxing of muscular tension throughout your whole body.

When your alarm goes off, open your eyes slowly and re-enter into seeing what is around you. The rest of your body may be more relaxed and comfortable, while feeling calm and refreshed thereafter. The room may appear slightly brighter and sharper. You usually will feel better during and after these practices. Sensations of feeling more refreshed, more calm, more aware, and even more energetic after each session. This session allowed you to “reset” your tension in your body, while releasing mental stress. When your body is relaxed, your emotions become neutral or calm once again.

These practice sessions may become priceless for some people. With these methods, you can have control over your well-being on the levels of physical (body), mental (mind) and emotional (self-awareness). Often, I see people who are constantly seeking the goals of achieving pleasure, peacefulness, joy, love, compassion, ecstasy, and bliss but not being aware that we ourselves are in control of gaining and maintaining these aspects of our lives.

https://hackspirit.com/25-surprising-meditation-statistics-everyone-needs-to-know/

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Qigong, tai chi, baguazhang, and yoga are not the only methods that can be used within this formula but have proven the test of time as methods to cultivate harmony of the mind, body and spirit. These exercise practices offer a wide spectrum of physical wellness benefits, stress relief as well as means of self-awareness. Not all teachers nor students practice these for the same goals.

For more info, contact Jim Moltzan at info@mindandbodyexercises.com, 407-234-0119 or through my site at http://www.mindandbodyexercises.com

Herbs as Botanical Medicine

Herbs have been used for thousands of years worldwide, as the main source of primary medicine. While it is easy to debate the usage and effectiveness of herbal medicine today, it is worth noting that 75-80% of the world population still relies upon herbs to stay healthy. Herbal remedies are still thought to have little or no side effects, while being relatively inexpensive and available throughout many developing nations.

25% of modern medicines are derived from medicinal plants. However, prescription drugs have caused many deaths in the US averaging about 1900 per week. Foods, herbs, and spices are often considered to be safe until proven otherwise, coming from many years of human consumption, and not necessarily having been scientifically proven to be safe.

An area of concern that can be reflected in today’s world culture is that science can be used to distort facts and sometime sway a viewpoint on a particular issue. Pharmaceutical companies as well as herbal medicine companies have pursued research that favors their product, while not necessarily getting a neutral or even factual report of the product in question. For me, this makes doing my own in-depth research on any food, pharmaceutical or herb even more important. I don’t feel that today, we can take benefits or side-effects of any consumable at mere face value and assume that it must be good for us because somebody says so.

Supplements should not and cannot take the place of eating a balanced high-quality diet. Supplements, whether vitamins, herbs or otherwise should not be used as a replacement for eating foods that have the nutritional requirement to maintain good health.

Be well, become healthy, be wise.

References:

Horne, S.2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bv9oXPZHBl4

http://stevenhorne.com/credential-program

http://schoolofmodernherbalmedicine.com/users/steven-horne-1.html?page=1