Music is the language of the spirit. Its melody is like a playful breeze which makes the strings vibrate with love.  O divine Music! We lay our hearts and our souls closely within you. You teach us to see with our ears, and to listen with our hearts. – Kahlil Gibran

It’s 5 a.m. most mornings. I reach for the smartphone and click on my ‘wake-up’ play list for positive motivation. By 6 a.m. I’m listening to a ‘workout’ play list, which is paced and timed perfectly to energize me through the movements that jumpstart my day. By 9 a.m. soothing music is playing in the background to relax my mind as I settle and focus at my desk. It was 8:15 a.m. on a Saturday in February this year when my friend Stan, accompanied by his guitar, serenaded and soothed my teary-eyed father at his bedside a week before he passed.

Music, interwoven into almost every aspect of our lives, is used to focus, inspire, console, energize, soothe, celebrate, motivate and heal. We are vibrational beings, in rhythm with a natural energy that flows from, to and through creativity and back through us in ways that we may never fully comprehend, yet we feel it in our soul and know it as emotion in our body.

Ancient science and modern neuroscience confirm that music is a scientifically valid way to combat, reduce, decrease, counter or overcome conditions that include stress, depression, immune dysfunction, pain, Alzheimer’s and more. 

This month’s theme and feature articles focus on the healing aspects of music and movement, which have the ability to lighten our spirits, infuse us with positive vibrations and either calm or stimulate our minds. Combined with the celebration of Yoga Month, this issue becomes a powerful tool for healing and personal growth.

Thank you to all of our musician and yoga friends and all healers for bringing your powerful energy into the world. May the beauty and rhythm of music embrace us and carry us all on our journey to good health and remind us daily to feel good, live simply and laugh more.