Y’all I LOVE music. My mom enrolled me in piano lessons, and choir, voice, and musical theatre when I was a little kid and I loved every minute of that. My dad always played The Temptations, James Brown, Stevie Wonder, and Parliament Funkadelic constantly in the house. My Bubbe sang me songs from her childhood in the 1930s, and I slowly started discovering bands that spoke to me throughout my teenage years. That was followed up by spending sooooo many hours at music festivals, joining bands, and just generally keeping music all around me. So when I am feeling some type of way, I often turn to music to help me express that.

The other thing I’ve learned over the years in public education is just how much my students relate to music and use it as a coping mechanism for various periods of time. Music is universal and the emotions conveyed by the artists can transcend language, time, race, gender, and connect with so many of us.

**Mindfulness** has varied definitions, but has long been a tool of *meditation*, in the Buddhist tradition, for example, and mindfulness-based practices have become contemplative traditions in psychology, medicine, and education

(Baer et al., 2019; Birtwell et al., 2019; Hsu, 2016; Husgafvel, 2016; Kabat-Zinn, 2012 as cited in Hernandez-Ruiz et al., 2021).

These mindfulness-based practices help us to self-regulate and orient our attitudes to one of openness and curiosity (Hernandez-Ruiz et al., 2021). This is the reason that we practice mindfulness in so many ways, one of which is the use of music ,whether listening to it or performing it.

OK, so we have a basic idea of what mindfulness is, but how does music help me cope and be more mindful about my circumstances, attitudes, and feelings?

Disclaimer: I am not a therapist, but this blog is written based on my personal experiences, Mindfulness in Schools certifications, and 13 years of experience in public education, and my educational background! If you want to learn more about mindfulness and how it may help you, reach out to one of our therapists to book a session!

Let me explain:

Music sets the tone for the day

One of the most valuable parts of my self-care has been my morning playlist. There was a good period of time when I listened to this mix EVERY 👏🏽SINGLE👏🏽DAY👏🏽. This was intentional. At that time in my life, I was struggling hard at work. I felt alone, unimportant, and was doubting my ability to do my job with excellence. I built a playlist that had songs that inspired me on multiple levels. There were songs with religious themes, songs about motivation, songs with beautiful sounds that made me feel powerful and confident when I listened to them. When I played this in the car, it helped me walk into work feeling self-assured and prepared for my day. Not all of the songs were considered traditionally uplifting, but they were what worked for me! Some of it was because of the music, the lyrics, or a meditation, and that was what I connected with at the time.

On a mindfulness level, the music was helping me direct my attention to where I wanted it to be, a positive and energized state while calmly approaching my day. It wasn’t that I couldn’t do this on my own, but the playlist provided me some support in pushing myself to maintain the emotional state that I was trying to get to.

Music helps draw awareness to difficult emotions

We all know the love songs, the ones about heartbreak and missing home. And when those feelings hit me or I’m going through a conflict, I sometimes need help expressing those emotions. The beautiful part is that other, more eloquent writers have done that for me! Using other people’s words in a song to help me express how I feel in a given moment has been so helpful. I reference it in conversations, especially when I am trying to relate my emotions to another person. Using these song quotes gives me words to use when I may not be feeling at my best or most expressive. After listening to some songs that help me express my feelings, I’m able to draw on their vocabulary, analogies, and figurative language to put my own thoughts into words.

The songs aren’t about harboring negative feelings, or just listening to angry music to make the situation worse or breakup songs to keep myself sad. When I pay attention to the melodies, tone, and lyrics, it becomes easier to frame those emotions and channel them into something productive. That may be getting ready to have a conversation about my feelings, or simply processing them to move on from those thoughts and attitudes.

Get into the flow!

Sometimes, I just need to be in a flow state! I may have a lot of admin work for Human to the Fullest, writing training plans for my swim team or flag football team, grading papers, cleaning the kitchen…plenty of situations when I need to lock in. Carefully crafting a playlist with songs that I love and also allowing my mind to enter a flow state is a game-changer.

Flow state is described by psychology pioneer Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi as “a state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience is so enjoyable that people will continue to do it even at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it.” This state is what draws us out of languishing and moves toward active engagement and participation in our world and with other humans (Grant, 2021).

While flow-state is an offshoot of mindfulness-based practices, it is also something that allows us to actively engage with our world and those around us in a productive way that supports our emotional and social brains.

I recommend listening to this podcast from organizational psychologist Adam Grant for more about flow states https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/worklife-with-adam-grant/id1346314086?i=1000538486437.

If any of this sounds good to you, I encourage to look for ways that you can use music – be it performance or listening – to help direct your mind to the areas you want it to focus. It may take time, retraining your brain and that level of sustained attention can feel like a lot at first, but I promise that one you feel the difference in your nervous system, you will feel encouraged to continue your practice!

works cited

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works cited ~

Baer, R. (2019). Assessment of mindfulness by self-report. Current Opinion in Psychology,

28, 42–48.

Birtwell, K., Williams, K., van Marwijk, H., Armitage, C. J., & Sheffield, D. (2019). An

exploration of formal and informal mindfulness practice and associations with

wellbeing. Mindfulness, 10, 89–99. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-018-0951-y

Grant, A. (October 31, 2021). How to stop languishing and start finding flow | TED Talks Daily. Worklife with Adam Grant. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-to-stop-languishing-and-start-finding-flow-ted/id1346314086?i=1000538486437

Hernandez-Ruiz, E., Sebren, A., Alderete, C., Bradshaw, L., & Fowler, R. (2021). Effect of Music on a Mindfulness Experience: An Online Study. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 75(NA), 101827.

Hsu, F. (2016). What is the sound of one invisible hand clapping? Neoliberalism, the invisibility of Asian and Asian American Buddhists, and secular mindfulness in education. Handbook of mindfulness (pp. 369–381). Cham: Springer.

Husgafvel, V. (2016). On the Buddhist roots of contemporary non-religious mindfulness practice: Moving beyond sectarian and essentialist approaches. Temenos - Nordic Journal of Comparative Religion, 52(1), 87–126. https://doi.org/10.33356/temenos.55371

Kabat-Zinn, J. (2012). Mindfulness for beginners. Boulder, CO: Sounds True, Inc.