Would you agree that music is one of the most amazing gifts we have to enjoy, share and give in this world? It delivers combinations of sounds that can evoke just about any and every emotion you can imagine. Equally amazing is the topic of music itself.
Thinking objectively about it, I’m fascinated when I look at the role music has played and continues to play in my own life. While I’m not good enough to pursue a career as a musician, I do play guitar. I listen to music daily. I sing in the shower every morning and often have song snippets randomly streaming through my brain.
I have two brothers who play and compose music professionally, as well as another brother and my mother who perform (or performed) in choirs. With The Health Insider, I’ve written an article about my mother’s dementia, her response to music and how I reconnect with her through music. I wrote another one on Sound Therapy. I absolutely love live music (with earplugs) at small clubs, restaurants or big concert venues —whether jazz, rock, R&B, classical, Celtic, country— the feeling that my soul has been nourished.
The Power of Music Across the Globe
But it’s not just music, it’s that meshing of sounds that does something for me. I’ll never forget the experience of rising at 4:30 a.m. one morning on a trip to California where I had been afforded the opportunity to “chant” with monks and experiencing what can only be described as a type of transcendent state or nirvana throughout my body.
Another time, I was trekking up the Himalayan mountains, pushing my body to extreme limits in the blistering heat. We ascended for several hours until we finally got to a flat point where we set up camp for the night. I was absolutely miserable, pondering the stupidity of such an undertaking. Our group collapsed to the hard ground, which after that day’s gruelling workout, felt like a pillowtop mattress to us. The sherpas accompanying us just looked over and smiled. They’d seen so many groups before us collapse in similar fashion.
In the meantime, they got busy immediately setting up a campfire and then formed a circle around it, encouraging us to join. I just wanted to sleep. I wanted quiet. I wanted comfort. I wanted warmth. The sun had now fully set, and the temperature dropped to what felt like freezing. I reluctantly moved over to the fire circle and joined them for the warmth.
One of the Sherpas started to sing a Tibetan melody that was short and kind of catchy. The other Sherpas immediately join in. The song repeated over and over again. Looking at their faces, they were absolutely joyful as their voices became one. It wasn’t long before we each joined in as the one voice became fuller and louder and louder still.
I soon found my entire being, mind and body, transforming from what was a state of sheer misery to one of utter joy and inner warmth, comfort and contentment. It was, without doubt, one of the most unforgettable experiences of my life. Pain to comfort. Misery to joy. Discontent to Content.
The Science Behind Brains and Music
So what’s that all about? What is actually going on physiologically in our brains and bodies that can have such an impact when we hear—and participate in—music?
This morning, I happened to catch an article published on the McGill University website about a study co-authored by McGill University psychologist Caroline Palmer on the topic of Neural Resonance Theory (NRT)—the idea that our brains and bodies don’t just understand music; they physically resonate with it. “They become it,” as Palmer explains. Our brain’s natural oscillations sync with rhythm, melody, and harmony. This resonance shapes our sense of timing, musical pleasure, and the instinct to move with the beat.
That struck a chord with me (pun intended). At a high level, it helped to give some more context to the many personal experiences I’ve had with music over the years—how it lifts me, calms me, inspires me, and at times, almost seems to realign me.
The sounds of music are more than just poetic language. Today, an increasing number of researchers and therapists are exploring how NRT can be applied in clinical settings.
Music isn’t just entertainment—it’s a brain-boosting, life-lengthening therapy. Read this article to discover how melodies can keep you healthier, longer.
In stroke rehabilitation, for example, patients are now being treated with rhythmic auditory stimulation. By engaging with music—particularly with rhythm—they’re able to improve their gait and coordination. Their brains seem to assimilate the beat, and this rhythmic structure helps restore motor function. It’s as if music helps rewire what a stroke may have broken.
For people living with Parkinson’s disease, structured rhythm has also shown powerful results. Those struggling with movement and timing have responded to musical cueing that helps regulate motion—walking becomes more fluid, less effortful, more connected
Even in the realm of Mental Health, music—through the lens of NRT—is becoming a key tool. The idea that a song can “meet us where we are” emotionally is more than a cliché. Music activates the same neural pathways involved in mood regulation. Listening, singing, and even just tapping to music can reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety. It becomes a safe place to rest our minds—or to lift them
Read about the Mozart Effect and how listening to Mozart’s “Sonata for Two in D Major” helps Epilepsy victims.
For children with developmental challenges, music can serve as a bridge. Structured, predictable, and joyful, it encourages social connection and self-expression in ways that spoken language sometimes can’t.
And then there’s Dementia—a topic close to my heart because of my mother. I’ve seen first-hand how music can reach parts of her that memory loss seems to hide away. A song from her childhood, or Que Sera Sera by Doris Day, a love song from years ago—it’s as if the rhythm finds the person again, even if words or faces have been forgotten. Within minutes she transforms from speechless to engagement and laughter. She sings along, answers questions, even if only for the duration of my visit with her. NRT suggests that the brain’s deep resonance with music might be responsible for this reawakening,
The takeaway here is simple but profound: music doesn’t just move us—it quite literally moves within us. Our neurons resonate. Our muscles react. Our emotions align. And in that synchronization, there’s healing.
Music is indeed a remarkable gift. One we often take for granted. But science is now catching up to what many of us have intuitively known all along: Music heals, transforms, and connects us to something bigger—often even to ourselves.
~ Read more from The Health Insider ~
- From Misery to Joy: Why Your Brain Dances to the Beat of Music
The therapeutic properties of music are just starting to be understood in a way that demonstrate how music may be one of the most joyous and powerful healing tools we have. - Too Young for Cancer? Colorectal Cancer in Adults Under 50Colorectal cancer is rising fast among adults in their 20s and 30s. Experts don’t know why—but early screening could save your life.
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