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It is all very scientific when you consider how our in high school again trying to impress the ladies with
mind-body recognizes or receives these sounds. your new sneakers.
Analyzing how the mind-body reacts to sounds In general, if we say music has a healing effect on peo-
involves studying the central nervous system. Our ple through whatever mechanisms - their perceptions,
sympathetic nervous system, that picks up on threat, their neuroception of music, how their brain process-
and our parasympathetic nervous system, in particu- es what they are hearing - then music has something
lar our vagus nerve, helps us relax. In the endocrine common in healing.
system where our hormones reside, such as serotonin
and oxytocin, hormones released when hugged, a That is a quintessential pantheism view of God in
loved one or pet is nearby. nature, there is humanity in nature, and nature is also
music in this context, giving music this incredible
I'm very interested in the mind-body aspect because, power. You can get a sense of this when you listen to
through scientific exploration, we can show that mu- the music from the movie, “Saving Private Ryan” such
sic activates various systems within our bodies. as “Hymn to the Fallen” by John Williams and you
automatically have a lump in your throat. One of our
Candace Pert, a neuroscientist was an incredible pio- upcoming concerts falls on 9/11, and we’ll be playing
neer of body-mind medicine; also known as psycho- a piece almost synonymous with the events of Sep-
neuroimmunology. She has scientifically shown how tember 11, 2001; Barber’s Adagio for Strings, and it is
these three disciplines: psychology, neurology, and just incredibly moving. It almost defies human experi-
immunology, all work together in determining ill- ence to listen to it and not get emotional.
ness and health. Our brains are firing when we listen
to music and our whole bodies are receptors, so yes, ZGP: I’ve read where you all can use mu-
there is huge scientific research being done into how sic’s power in helping cancer patients un-
we react to music which I find fascinating! dergoing chemotherapy. How does that
work?
ZGP: Can we manipulate music to bring PS: I’ve been using music in this area for 11-12 years,
humanity together? starting in Savannah, Georgia with the Savannah
PS: Music has a different effect on people. For ex- Philharmonic and the Elizabeth and Curtis Anderson
ample, hard rock or more ‘aggressive’ music has a Cancer Center. The Andersons, as well as Carl and
calming effect for some people. So, we must be careful Alice Kirkland, are passionate about the work we do
because not everyone reacts the same. When we, the with music and those battling cancer. So, you can just
musicians of the Jackson Symphony go and play for imagine in a place like the Kirkland Cancer Center a
the patients at the Kirkland Cancer Center, you must couple of musicians from the Jackson Symphony go
be careful with music because it accesses people’s in and interact with patients while they receive che-
emotions, and you don’t want someone in a vulnera- mo. I go when I’m in town. We introduce ourselves
ble position to have a bad reaction. and offer to play a piece of music for them. We do not
go into the dynamics of the benefits of the music so
A cancer doctor in Savannah, Georgia loved to listen whether they choose to hear a piece out of boredom
to “Stairway to Heaven” in the cancer center and I was or clearly in a vulnerable position, seeking a healthy
like, “Dude, really?” He replied, ‘no, no, no, it’s not distraction. Distraction is a form of treatment. The
like that. It can be soothing to the patients.” Of course, music provides a temporary respite from the stress of
the opposite might be true as well. Music might a diagnosis and the subsequent treatment. The music
bring about desirable and undesirable memories; empowers the patient and thus has an impact on the
it is intimately connected to our memories. Music, session.
like smells, can take us to a particular place in time.
The smell of a particular cookie could take us to our We literally have this oversized menu of songs starting
grandmother’s kitchen or a song to a pleasant (or not with popular tunes, Disney tunes, liturgical hymns
so pleasant) time in the past. A song from your youth like “Old Rugged Cross,” “Amazing Grace,” mov-
comes on the radio, you crank it up and you are back ie soundtracks, country, and more. Typically, two
164 www.zoegracepublishing.com ZGP Magazine
musicians will go in and play the selected pieces. At over and beyond my work on the stage, having fun
the conclusion, we ask about their experience with with the music, and has become the most rewarding.
the music. Research suggests that the music creates a ZGP: Do you believe there is a genuine
moving, healing experience. The goal is not to prove connection between music and the soul?
our theory but enter the sessions with an open-mind PS: Absolutely, yes. When you talk about the phys-
and genuinely illicit an open-ended response from the iology of the body we think of the tangible aspects.
patient. You will start to see reoccurring themes and However, our physiological make-up is directly con-
patterns. nected to our psychological make-up. Our bodies and
our minds are intricately connected. There are physio-
Scientifically, music is trackable. There is a compas- logical exchanges with our immune system, our neuro
sionate connection that is significant at play here. En- functions, and endocrine systems; a constant commu-
glish psychologist Paul Gilbert is a fantastic guy who nication among the variety of systems that make up
has this psychotherapeutic model focusing on com- the human body. Thus, the soul is raison d’être, or the
passion focused therapy. Gilbert teaches how com- ‘what is behind’ it all. If people experience a connec-
passion is more than kindness. Through this focused tion between their soul and the music, they choose to
therapy, the musicians that are visiting the patients at listen to. If you were to write my epitaph it would be,
the cancer center are motivated to ease the suffering “my kids and music,” there is nothing more pleasing
through the stimulating language of music. At the end or necessary for my soul than these two.
of the session, it becomes vital to ask about the patient
about their experience and to witness, even briefly, a ZGP: Music is in your soul and therefore
diminished state of suffering. the need to have it exists. If music stopped
existing tomorrow, how would you begin to
For example, a lady in her thirties chose a Disney create it?
song because it reminded her of her children. She had PS: I think, and this might be a bit too far out there,
gone to see the movie Aladdin with her kids. Another that music can be part of one’s soul, and as I look
older lady chose, “Raindrops Keep Falling on My out the window, I can hear the birds, hear the breeze
Head” and started to cry, experiencing an intense tthrough the trees, all of which is harmonious. Music
emotional reaction. For a tune that generally is very is a universal thing and a universal idea. If you think
jolly and positive, it turns out it was the song her of music as consonance and dissonance, then music
grandmother had sang to her as a child. can be similar to your own connection with others. I
feel we can find music in different experiences that is
not necessarily Beethoven or Freddie Mercury.
ZGP: You have eloquently broken down
the science behind music’s ability to move
through our intricate systems, but is there
anything inherent in music that can’t fully
be explained scientifically?
Another lady in her sixties chose a song played at her PS: Hans Christian Anderson said, “Where words
wedding. She had just lost her husband a few months fail, music speaks.” As a person who loves the work of
earlier. When you hear those stories, it is the ones that German philosopher Hans-Georg Gadamer “Every
stop you in your tracks. thought we have can be expressed in language” but
that’s in a whole other area of hermeneutics. But when
However, it signifies the music is being used almost you say, “Uh I just can’t express that in words,” which
as a portal. It is professional musicians such as Elise always starts the sentence because you are struggling
Dougan, Grace Shaw, or Charles Lewis coming in to to find a way to express your feelings. Gadamer would
play, asking permission to enter their space and give say that the opposite is true, in that you’d conclude
this gift of music. The person accepts our presence
in their very vulnerable space and time. This work is
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