evaluating your responses to music

[pianonut]

1. set aside 20 minutes of relaxation time.
2. find a comfortable position.
3. find a quiet uninterrupted place.
4. check your pulse rate.
5. observe your breathing patter (fast, slow, normal)
6. assess your muscular tension (pain, muscle tightness, shoulder stiffness, jaw and neck tension) are you loose, limpy, sleepy?
7. evaluate your mood state (angry, happy, sad)
8. listen to any music you choose for 20 minutes.  let your body respond to the music as it wishes; loosen muscles, lie down, dance, clap, hum
9. following the session, asses your breathing pattern.
10. assess your muscular tension.
11. evaluate your mood state.
12. record the name of music selection and your before-and-after responses in a music notebook for use when developing your own therapeutic tapes.
13. on a separate page in your notebook, recall and write down the many ways that music makes you feel.

ps. you can create your own tapes - if your mood is tense or angry, you might start out with a short selection (3 minutes or less) of music that resonates with your mood, and then add selections that increasingly move you to a relaxed state.

ideas from 'Music, physician in times to come' compiled by don campbell