by Hans Hageman
I’m going to be doing some more work with that symphony metaphor so…
Balancing The Music
Some of us suffer from the disempowering habits of though we have developed and that have now become a part of our subconscious – the limiting beliefs set in motion by parents, bosses, media, etc.. Others of us have the problem of having cultivated and developed a specific part of the brain. We may be called “gifted” but we are not in balance; much like a bodybuilder who spends too much time building up his arms and who pays no attention to the proportional development of his legs.
Moving Through The Woods
Early interest in music, literature, and art fashions a brain that will react more readily to stimuli of this sort throughout life. Early habits of right-thinking also establish neural pathways through which thought will be more likely to flow. While neglect of right-thinking until the later years will cause us some difficulty if we try to make a change, all is not lost. Just as someone on a well-worn path through the woods can blaze a new trail, we can, by choosing our trance and with other means of self-help, get on a new path.
Staying In Tune
Research continues to show how we are constantly creating our brains. If we were to create a violin on which to play, we must make a good instrument if we are to give a good performance. Whether it’s the violin or the personal self, we are either in tune, or out of tune. We make a first-class instrument or a poor one and fiddle away as best we can. We must strive to create the best instrument possible and keep it constantly in tune for our own listening and playing pleasure and for those in our lives.
Thought Is The Lead Violin
The force that fashions our instrument is Thought. The brain tends to react along established paths and therefore by wrong habits of thought we make it increasingly difficult for ourselves to think clearly. Long-held beliefs and prejudices have made their impressions on the brain; therefore the sooner we begin to eliminate them, the better. In comparing the brain to an instrument we must, however, remember that the player works from within. Harmony of mind tends to produce a normal and harmonious instrument. It is for us to keep ourselves in harmony, then, and the brain will take care of itself.
As a reader of this blog, I’d love it if you showed up to our workshop on December 15. Contact me by email (hans@HansHageman.com) for a special discount.
by Hans Hageman
When we workout, most of us don’t usually think about calm nerves as one of the goals for the session. We go to a gym or health club with a sound system or put on a IPod. The playlist, more often than not, has a powerful and simple rhythmic ( and not always melodic) structure. Heavy metal and rap figure prominently on the music menu. We feel motivated, our hearts start racing, and the adrenaline starts to flow but… are these the things we want happening? I contend that we need to go a different route for more of our workouts.
Things Your Mother Didn’t Tell You About The Autonomic Nervous System
The Autonomic Nervous System (“ANS”) regulates the functioning of organs and muscles. It’s divided into the sympathetic, parasympathetic, and enteric systems. I will focus on the first two.
Sympathetic
When we’re in a situation of “fight or flight” this system causes our digestion to slow down, and our heart rate and blood pressure to increase. We also increase our production of cortisol and adrenaline. This system obviously played and plays a critical role in our survival but the chronic production of these effects ends up being too much of a good thing. That music that you want pumped up as you go for the big lift or an extra mile will eventually play a role in things like hypertension, suppression of our immune system, and Type 2 diabetes.
Our bodies do a pretty good job of recognizing emergency and danger. Artificially adding to this stimulation with our choice of workout music (on top of job and family stress) is not something we should be doing.
Parasympathetic
The parasympathetic system helps us to rest and digest. Energy is saved, blood pressure decreases, and digestion begins. Classical music and, more specifically Baroque music (with its 60 beats per minute – like the human heart) gives us the ability to more easily access or remain in the parasympathetic state. Baroque music has been studied for its “Mozart effect” and its healing abilities. It stands to reason that it would have a beneficial effect in what would otherwise be an adrenaline dump of an activity. It makes sense to me that if we exercise in as close to a parasympathetic state as possible, using music and awareness, then we are better training our bodies for a more healthful reaction for times of stress that are not life threatening. Make the substitution on your IPod a couple of times a week and see what happens.
Why a post like this? Because I love you.
Are you willing to give classical music a try during your workout? What do you listen to now? Comment and let me know.
