One of the things I most love about my video series, Sweating in the Spirit, is the mind-strengthening gospel music we created just for working out. When you workout to music that reminds you that it is God’s will to take care of your temple, I believe it does more than just provide a good beat to move to. It also inspires you from within, motivating you to keep going, keep pushing and keep striving. After all, a good exercise regimen is about much more than losing weight, maintaining your weight and looking good. It is about worshipping God through your actions – in this case, the action is taking good care of your temple.
When I created Sweating in the Spirit, I took that to heart and commissioned musician Butch Stewart, who among other accomplishments, produced theme music for The Oprah Winfrey Show and the Tom Joyner Morning Show. Numerous studies show that music can have an impact on your mind, body and spirit. It does this in a couple of ways. First, you know that what you take into your mind eventually comes out. That’s why Christian music can be such a powerful force in helping you in your Christian walk. In Philippians 4:8, the apostle Paul instructs us, "Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy – meditate on these things. Music is a form of meditation. When you listen – or "meditate on" – angry or vulgar music on a regular basis, that music negatively impacts you. When you listen and meditate on spiritually uplifting music, it has an uplifting affect on you – and your stress level. Keep this in mind next time you are in the music store or stressed out in traffic listening to the radio.
Really think about what you listen to and how it makes you feel when you are listening. Sometimes, you have to simply turn off the radio or television, or at least find something more "true, noble, just, pure and lovely" to listen to. Find something that is "of good report." I’m not suggesting that you ignore the real world and never listen to the news, but I am suggesting that you limit your intake of negativity because it can actually have an impact on your health. Your mind, body and spirit are intricately connected. That’s why it has been proven that stress and negative emotions such as anger, bitterness and resentment can manifest themselves in physical symptoms and even illness. Stress and negative emotions have been connected to high blood pressure, heart attacks and strokes. Something as simple as joyful Christian music that helps put you in a better mood can make an impact on decreasing that stress and soothing those emotions.
The second way that music impacts you is to have a direct effect on making healthful changes in your life. More doctors are now using music as a part of the treatment plan to help heart patients, migraine headache sufferers and others maintain their health and recover from illness. A study at a Baltimore hospital shows that heart patients obtained the same benefits from listening to 30 minutes of classical music as they did from taking 10 mg of Valium, an anti-anxiety medication. In a California State University study, patients suffering from migraine headaches were trained to use music, imagery and relaxation techniques to reduce the frequency, intensity and duration of their headaches.
Music has a potent impact on the mind, body and spirit, and it can be used to effect healthful changes. More and more doctors are using music as part of their treatments to help patients stay healthy and recover more quickly from illness.
Medical studies also show that classical music can actually have an impact on intelligence and productivity. A University of Washington study showed that people editing manuscripts increased their accuracy by 21% when they listened to classical music in the background. And just ten minutes of similar music while taking the SATs resulted in higher scores for students during a University of California study.
It’s not just classical music that can have an impact. Use your favorite, uplifting music to do the following:
- Stimulate your mind. Faster music can activate mental alertness.
- Relieve anxiety. Slower music helps slow your breathing and heart rate, and calm the mind and physical tension.
- Lift "the blues." Blues music can actually help you access and release negative, powerful emotions.
- Help you concentrate. Calming music with a steady tempo can help you concentrate.
- Help you relax. Relaxing music, in addition to relieving physical tension, can help lower blood pressure and calm your mind.
So turn on the music!
Donna
