Can Music Cure A Disease?

What if you could listen to a specific melody and the tissue in your lungs would begin to repair. What if there is a specific drum rhythm played by an indigenous people in remote Africa that could trigger your body’s repair of its immune system? What if Mozart could heal your cat? 

I’m not here to say any of the above examples are impossible. I’d like to share my experience as a clinical musician. 

First we have to consider the placebo effect, because that amazing mind ability can assign healing to any treatment modality in which we believe healing will occur. Medical science has no idea of how it works, just that it does sometimes occur. So if your mind fervently believes that listening to a specific type of music will heal you, then it just might.  But as with the placebo effect, we can’t predict who will be affected ….or why! 

When a cure happens, a part of our body is restored to the condition that existed before the onset of disease or injury. 

As humans our bodies are extremely diverse, complex and have dozens of internal system clocks. Our physiologies change as we age, are exposed to powerful emotions, suffer stress, make lifestyle choices, and pursue various diets. 

We can’t predict that listening, playing or singing will always ‘cure’ a condition. In my online course The Healer’s Visit, I describe how specific types of music can support healing and recovery. 

Music CAN help you feel better. Music can deliver amazing beneficial, therapeutic results. Sound and music can be used to create environments that support healing that may speed a cure. But we can’t assign specific curing properties to a type of music, and predict with confidence that listening to that type of music will result in a cure every time, to anyone who listens. 

Now I’d like to hear from you. Did you or anyone you know ever have a healing experience with music? Was the experience just maybe feeling better, or was there some kind of reversal or cure? Do you believe music can heal or cure? If so, what is it about music that sparks this belief? Do you reach for music when you don’t feel well? If so, what kind of music? Is the music a song or instrumental? Do you have a favorite instrument that when you hear you feel better? 

Please leave a comment here at JamesSchaller.com and share with our community. 

If you’d like more real-deal, practical resources about sound, music and healing, then sign up for updates at JamesSchaller.com. In my emails I often send specials like free music, tips on how to create healing environments and referrals to essential resources for healing music, inspiration, and how to rest and re-set. 

James Schaller, CMP is a clinical musician and consultant who trains caregivers how to use therapeutic music, and consults with healthcare facilities to create soundscapes that benefit patients and staff.

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