By Linda Gertrude
Means, Ph.D., CMT
Peacehope Healing
Arts, Monroeville, PA
www.peacehope.com
Background music is a traditional element in most massage
practices; in fact, for many of us, it would seem strange to give or receive a
massage in the absence of music.
And music therapy is a much-studied field, with decades of clinical
research in contexts ranging from physical rehabilitation to childbirth. Music has been proven to have measurable
therapeutic effects for pain management, learning, immune response, blood
pressure, respiration, depression, and many other medical conditions.
So why not use our massage music intentionally to support
the therapeutic effect of our bodywork treatments? We can use music in specific
ways to produce desired energetic effects, slow the brainwaves to induce deep
relaxation, captivate the attention to quiet the mind, open the client’s
emotional and spiritual body, and inject a musical experience kinesthetically
into the body. Happily,
current MP3 technology liberates us from the constraint of predetermined
playlists burned onto CDs, enabling us to customize the musical selections
track by track for each individual session. Let’s take a look at a variety of principles
and strategies for integrating music therapy with massage therapy.
Resonance and Vibrational Healing
Because we are made of energy,
everything in our organism is in constant vibration, and the vibrational
pattern determines our experience of health and wellness. The vibratory effects of listening to
music influence our energy patterns through the phenomenon of resonance. Energetic resonance is the process that occurs
when the vibrational frequency of one energy field changes to match another
vibrational field, for example when a tuning fork is struck and another tuning
fork tuned to the same frequency begins to vibrate in the same room. Music is a powerful vibrational input
which shifts our energy patterns through the process of listening. One well known example is the Mozart
Effect, based initially on research done by French scientist Alfred Tomatis,
who reported experimental research results indicating that Mozart’s music
promotes learning and healing of mental imbalances. Another simple example is the effect
that listening to rock and roll has on our driving; I’ve personally been
pulled over by the police while unknowingly speeding under the influence of
high-speed music!
One specific vibrational effect
that can be produced by music is the slowing of brainwaves. Brainwaves are the vibrational patterns occurring
in the brain, which shift at different times in response to our thoughts, our
emotions, our physical activity, our state of consciousness, as well as
external influences. Brainwaves are
classified according to the speed of vibration in hertz, which are cycles per
second:
·
Beta waves occur at >12 Hz, and typify our
normal walking-around brain activity throughout our waking hours.
·
Alpha waves occur in the frequency range of 8-12 Hz,
a pattern which is associated with daydreaming and hypnotic trance states. In the alpha state, we are awake and
lucid, in a state of detached, relaxed awareness. The alpha state bridges the
consciousness of the beta state with the subconscious access that occurs at
slower brainwave frequencies.
·
Theta waves occur at 4-8 Hz, and have been measured
in dreaming sleep and in the extremely deep meditation of advanced meditators.
·
Delta waves are the slowest brainwave patterns,
occurring in the range of 1-4 Hz.
Delta waves have been measured in non-REM sleep.
The slower-than-beta brainwave frequencies are all
associated with healing states of consciousness. Hypnosis is an effective process for
healing because the alpha brainwaves of a hypnotic trance take us to a state in
which our organism is receptive to positive change. Healing may also occur more readily in
slow brainwave states because the conscious mind, which maintains beliefs about
our diseases and limitations, may take a backseat to the subconscious, which
maintains memories of how everything functions optimally in our bodies. Dr. Herbert Benson of Harvard Medical
School has spend decades studying the relaxation response -- the physiological
opposite of the fight-or-flight response – marked by decreases
in heart rate, blood pressure, rate of breathing, and muscle tension. The relaxation response only occurs at
brainwave frequencies of alpha or lower.
The Monroe Institute pioneered the scientific development
of music composed to entrain the listener’s brain into slow brainwaves
states. Many other composers have
continued to develop slow brainwave music, including Jonathan Goldman and Dr.
Jeffrey Thompson. Music with a
tempo of 60 beats per minute has been found to shift brainwaves from beta to
alpha frequencies, and shamanic drumming is known to produce theta
brainwaves. In a massage session, alpha
wave music may improve the overall therapeutic effectiveness of the bodywork
through the client’s relaxation response.
In the context of massage, the music
played during a session will invariably create a shift in the vibrational
frequency of the client and of the therapist. As therapists, the energetic contact
that we make with our clients also creates an experience of resonance. So our vibrational pattern becomes our
client’s vibrational reality.
When we use music for its vibrational effect, we can embody the music
ourselves as therapists, and because we are in close energetic contact with the
client, our vibrational embodiment of the music creates another stimulus for
our client’s experience of resonance with the energy of the music.
Instrumental vs. Vocal
The vocals occurring in music
affect our consciousness in two primary ways: vibrationally and semantically. The vibrational effect is the result of resonance
with the energetics of the specific sounds, syllables and intonations, combined
with the sound of the singer’s voice as an instrument, independent of any
meaning attached to the lyrics. The
semantic component of the vocals contains the meaning of the lyrics, if we
understand them.
Conventional wisdom in the massage industry seems to
indicate that vocal music is a no-no for massage. It’s certainly true that the
lyrics of much popular music are not supportive of a healing experience, love
lost and all that stuff. But sacred
music is a different matter. The
vocals can be emotionally uplifting and inspiring, and may also produce a
vibrational healing response.
In languages like Sanskrit and
Hebrew, each word is believed to have a specific energetic effect, and the
prayers and chants of these languages have been used as medicine for
millennia. Many of these prayers
have been set to beautiful melodies with gorgeous instrumentation by artists such
as Deva Premal, Rasa, and many others.
These chants can also be used to cleanse the energy of your healing
space. I like to keep chanting
playing in my massage room for a few hours after a session has ended as a
method of musical smudging.
When we listen to music sung in
a language which is foreign to us, we only experience the vibrational effect,
because we have no linguistic comprehension of the lyrics. Although you can’t always know
precisely which languages your client understands, beautiful soothing music
sung in foreign languages may often be a safe choice, and the beauty of the voice
adds another dimension to the non-vocal instrumentation. I love using the Brazilian CD Cançoes de um Mar Infinito sung
in Portuguese, because the songs are vocalized by the healers at the Padre Pio
House, a spiritual healing center in Rio de Janeiro, and the music was recorded
as spiritual medicine.
Semantic comprehension of lyrics
is a big factor in music sung in a language which we do understand, and fatuous
lyrics are certainly not valued for healing. One December I walked into the massage room in a spa that
pipes music into the therapy rooms, where the owner is enamored of all things
pertaining holidays, so the spa was featuring Christmas music that month. When I heard “Yes, we
need a little Christmas, right this very minute, it hasn't snowed a single
flurry, but Santa, dear, we're in a hurry” cheerily chirping from the
speaker in the massage room, I swallowed my initial reaction of dismay, turned
off the room speaker, and switched on my portable Ipod speaker for my upcoming
session.
On the other hand,
comprehension of sacred lyrics in our native language can create a positive
experience for the client. Familiar
prayers set to music and other spiritual songs can have a comforting effect,
particularly when you know the client’s spiritual and religious
background well enough to guess whether this kind of lyric will be
welcome. Sophia’s Prayer of St. Francis/I am Sustained from her Emergence CD, for example, is extremely beautiful musically and
spiritually, and I like to use it strategically with clients who have expressed
a need for spiritual support in their session. The songhealer Sophia has many tracks
sung in English which are not obviously associated with any specific religion,
but rather express universal spiritual sentiments, and her sweet voice and
melodies combined with the inspirational lyrics produce an angelic listening
experience. The lyrics of
Sophia’s song Sweet Surrender
can create a beautiful opening for a session: “I am opening in sweet
surrender,” expressing our intention for the client at the start of the
massage.
Sometimes a particular song can
have an unexpected personal impact for a client. The first time I met C., she was
suffering from a series of life events which left her in a state of emotional
turmoil. Her intention for our
first massage session was to get grounded, take the edge off of her emotional
distress, and gain some clarity to make decisions about her future. I happened to include the Over the Rainbow track from Israel
Kamakawiwo'ole’s Alone in Iz World
CD in the playlist for the session, just because of its sweetness and
innocence. After the session, C.
expressed her relief and appreciation, and she mentioned Over the Rainbow specifically, telling me that the song touched her
deeply. So I made a note of this on
her chart, and made sure to include it in her second session. After the second session, C. told me
that she had doubted the validity of the profound spiritual opening that she
had experienced our first time, and she came back hoping to validate that first
impression of our work together.
And when she heard Iz singing Over
the Rainbow again, it brought back the original feeling,
reinforcing her confidence in our healing work. In a session months later, I forgot to
add C.’s favorite song to the playlist. At the end of the session, after I
released the final touch, I quietly raced over to the laptop, and moved Over the Rainbow into the playlist to
the next position. The song began
to play while C. laid wrapped in the sheet, basking in the afterglow of her
massage. After she got off the
table, she commented on how amazing the timing of the music was, her song
started playing just at the very end when she could simply lie still and soak
it in!
Iz’s rendition of Over the Rainbow is also an example of
how a song can be used strategically to captivate the client’s
attention. Everyone knows the Judy
Garland version of this song, but Iz tweaks the melody in an interesting way,
his sweet voice is so touching, and his little vocal riff in the last twelve
seconds makes people smile. So the
listening experience may be delightfully surprising to someone who has not
heard the Iz version before, keeping the client’s attention riveted to
the music for three and a half minutes, helping to release other thoughts or
worries.
Yin Massage, Yang Massage
Music targeted for massage is traditionally intended to be
used as background music, and thus is characteristically quiet, relatively
unstructured, and often not terribly melodic, which keeps it from drawing the
client’s primary attention.
The energetic effect of this type of music is primarily yin: calming and
sedating, slowing bodily processes, quieting energy flow. This is very good medicine for a client
who has a deficient yin or excessive yang condition. However, not all clients fit this
profile. Sometimes the opposite
type of medicine is more suitable: stimulating yang energy to revitalize a
sluggish body.
Similarly, our massage techniques themselves can be performed
with yin energy or yang energy, producing corresponding therapeutic
results. When we work rhythmically,
we stimulate energy flow, and when we work deeply, slowly and non-rhythmically,
we provide a sedation effect energetically. When we match the music to the work
energetically – or match the work to the music – we can boost the
desired energetic outcome.
According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, all natural
processes move back and forth between a yin state and a yang state in a
never-ending cycle. Our life
processes like sleeping/waking, activity/rest, inhalation/exhalation,
diastolic/systolic are examples of the constant yin/yang cycles in the human
organism. Yin energy is always
moving toward yang, and yang is always moving toward yin. Optimal health is a reflection of
yin/yang balance and flow. So it
makes sense that a massage session should also cycle back and forth between yin
and yang activity. A music playlist
that includes yin and yang components enables us to create an balanced
experience for the client’s energy body.
Depending on the client’s specific condition, the
session may be designed to provide either predominantly yin or predominantly
yang effects, with a playlist matching the energetic objective. Indications for a primarily yang session
may include yin conditions such as fatigue, depression, lethargy, sluggish
metabolism, muscular stiffness, edema, poor digestion, or coldness felt in the
body. A yin-dominant session may be
indicated in the presence of yang conditions such as restlessness, anxiety,
inflammation, hypersensitivity, or headache.
Even in a session which intends to promote primarily yin
or yang energy, both energies play a role in releasing energy blockages,
stimulating energy flow, and creating balance. In a session which is designed to
energize the body, we may choose yang music which has a lot of movement and a
definite rhythm to work with. But
the playlist should also include tracks which support yin work, to facilitate
deep tissue work done in a slow non-rhythmic manner, and quiet work done on
sensitive areas such as the face, neck, and belly.
Emergency Response Massage International uses reggae
music with chair massage to provide an energizing effect for fatigued rescue
workers. However, it’s
arguable that there is not a one-size-fits-all music energy solution for all
rescue situations; clients who have experienced trauma in the field may benefit
more from a calming, soothing yin approach to their massage session.
For a client with a yang condition, it may be useful to
begin the session with yin music that supports slow, calming touch. After sedating the excessive yang state,
we can promote a strong clear flow of energy throughout the body by working
with music that moves with a definite rhythm. The session might end with yin music,
matched with calming, grounding bodywork, to help the client go back out into
the world in a quiet energetic state.
For shiatsu sessions, I make sure that every track is
rhythmic. Songs may vary according
to tempo, enabling me to vary the pace of the work during the session, but
shiatsu relies on rhythm, whether fast or slow.
Kinesthetic Musical Experience
Music
therapy has traditionally been delivered in an auditory way, so the therapeutic
effects are produced by listening to music. In a massage session, we have the opportunity
to add to the auditory experience of music with bodywork techniques that inject
the music directly into the client’s body, producing a kinesthetic input
as well.
When we match the rhythm of the work to the rhythm of the
music, the musical rhythm is felt kinesthetically, allowing the body to
experience the effects of the rhythm in a direct fashion. In my Massage/Music Fusion workshops, we experiment with the feel of
performing the same massage move to clips of songs with varying rhythms. Each time the music changes, we pause to
feel the new rhythm in our own bodies, then resume the massage move, now
matching the new rhythm. When
non-rhythmic music comes on, it becomes difficult to impose a distinct rhythm
in the bodywork, which demonstrates the naturalness of using rhythmic music for
rhythmic massage moves, and reserving unstructured music for deep non-rhythmic
work.
How many times do you repeat a particular move during a
massage? I’ve asked this question
of massage students and received various responses. “Until it feels like I’m
done,” was one response, and a very good one. “The Rule of Four” was
another response. The student
elaborated, “Four seems like a good number.” Hmmm. Here’s another idea: try matching the phrasing of the massage
to the phrasing of the music as it is playing. When you become familiar with favorite
pieces and you can anticipate the changes of phrasing in the music, you become
able to use the music to guide the changes in the bodywork itself. This enables the client to feel the
music in the body, as the rhythm and phrasing of the work is synchronized with
the music. I’ve watched the
recognition on the faces of clients as they begin to realize that the massage
is choreographed with the music, and they react with delight. This works especially well with songs
that have phrasing which changes at fairly short intervals, such as tracks 2,
3, and 4 on Deva Premal Sings the Moola
Mantra.
Bringing the work to a stillpoint at the end of each track
is another way of choreographing the bodywork with the music. Wait, hold, breathe, listen until the
next track begins, then allow the new music to lead the way for the next
segment of the massage. The
stillpoints punctuate the session with kinesthetic silence, providing an
opportunity for the client to integrate the work.
Some
songs have a musical form which synchronizes well with alternating movements in
the bodywork, such as Jiv Jago from
Rasa’s Devotion CD, or Mary
Youngblood’s Walk With Me from Beneath The Raven Moon. Other melodies have a shape that seems
to support circular movements, such as Celestial
Meditation on Joseph Nagler’s Dreams
CD, or Sophia’s Prayer for the
Warriors on her Return CD. Play around with your favorite music to
find moves that complement the feeling of the music in your client’s
body, and bring those massage techniques into the work when that music is
playing.
Moving
your whole body with the music enables you to embody the music kinesthetically
yourself, which translates to your client’s energy body as you maintain
contact via touch. Singing with the
music is another way of embodying the music energetically as a therapist, and
the vibrational effect of your singing helps you to inject the music’s energy
into your client’s field.
Drumming
on the client’s body is another method of creating a direct kinesthetic
musical experience for the receiver.
Drumming has been used as medicine for thousands of years in virtually
every culture on the planet, and modern-day music therapists study the healing
effects of rhythm on the body.
Rhythm has been found to have a strong entrainment effect, facilitating
motor coordination, brain organization, and speech articulation. By drumming directly on the body, we can
amplify the auditory effects of listening to the rhythm of music. Plus extensive body drumming can help
the client move her attention out of the head and into the body, to quiet the
mind and enter a slower brainwave state.
David and Steve Gordon have several CDs full of music featuring drums in
energetically balanced compositions.
Try drumming along with an entire track to provide an extended, ecstatic
body drumming experience for your client.
Putting it All Together in a Session
MP3 technology is a godsend for the 21st-century
massage therapist. We can store and
transport thousands of songs to use in our work, and quickly adapt playlists on
the fly. Laptop computers and MP3
players with portable speakers are two technologies which travel easily and
allow maximum flexibility in music selection. With my laptop, I like to plug in external
speakers for better quality and easier volume control during massage
sessions. For my MP3 player,
I’ve found small and affordable portable speaker systems which work
equally well. With either of these
technologies, it is easy to compose a playlist in a minute or less, and add,
delete, or reorder tracks in seconds.
And of course the technology enables us to mix tracks from favorite CDs
to create the perfect musical experience for each client.
Development of the playlist may be based primarily on the
energetic motif needed to create an energy wave that ebbs and flows in a
natural way, plus additional factors that provide for further customization. How well do you know the client’s
attitudes and preferences? For
regular clients, I like to vary the playlist from one session to the next, so
that the music and the bodywork that accompanies it stays fresh and
interesting. With a first-time
client, I prefer to err on the conservative side, with primarily instrumental
music, avoiding tracks with overtly religious connotations, like yoga
chants. In a spa setting,
I’ll sneak a peak at the client as he checks in at the reception desk,
scoping out age, manner of dress, energy and posture. All of these impressions provide clues
as to the probable energetics and possible musical adventurousness of this
stranger. The intake discussion
provides more information, so when I enter the massage room after the client
has gotten on the table, I may make further adjustments to the playlist based
on intake information.
I
often like to begin the session with a piece that starts with slow quiet
energy, then builds into a more melodic, moving song. This enables me to spend the first minutes
of the session making quiet, still contact, helping the client to acclimate to
my touch and open to my energy field, then initiating massage movement as the
movement of the music sets in. Some
songs that work nicely in this way include Hare
Om Namo on Deva Premal’s Essence
CD, Water on Daniel May’s Feng Shui: Music for Easy Listening CD, Body of the Goddess/I Am and Return on Sophia’s Return CD, The Prayer of St. Francis on Miten and Premal’s Trusting the Silence CD, and Sri Guru on Rasa’s Union CD.
Some
music can be used strategically to tap into the emotional body. When I have a client who expresses a
desire to release a stuck emotional pattern, I may include one or more tracks
on the playlist that tend to have a strong emotional charge, such as Joseph
Nagler’s Rain Forest Meditation
on his Dreams CD. When I want to help my client surrender
to sheer pleasure, I may put on Sophia’s Shakti/Universal Lover/Goddess Prayer from Spirit Healing Chants, and just dance its stunning potpourri of
energies into the client’s body for 19½ minutes, alternating from
peaceful to jazzy to wild abandon.
During the massage session itself, I let the music lead
the way for the work. As each track
comes on, I fill my body with the feeling of the music, and let it guide me to
the areas of the body that require that energy. I make sure that I’ve allowed for
enough variety in the music to help me cover the whole body with musical energy
that facilitates all of the work that I’ll need to do. And I make sure that I’ve included
music that I love listening to and dancing with, because the session is also a
music therapy treatment for me!
After the session, I include music notes on the
client’s chart. Did the
client comment on likes or dislikes regarding the music? I’ve had clients express
preferences relating to volume, vocal vs. instrumental music, and specific
artists or songs. I’ve known
people who are annoyed by hearing foreign language lyrics simply because they
are foreign.
Most
of all, music brought into the forefront of a bodywork session can introduce an
element of fun and excitement into the massage. It also creates an opportunity to
introduce clients to some of the beautiful, fascinating, sacred healing music
that they may not find in their daily exposure to mainstream music. It provides a canopy of healing energy
that infuses the session with inspiration and spirit, for the therapist as well
as the client.
