Singende Kinder

With a new wave of panic, fear and anxiety spreading around the world with the appearance of the latest Covid variant, I have been pondering the nature of dis-ease against the background of what I am learning in my harp therapy certification training.

If you look up the word 'ease' in the 1828 Webster dictionary, it references a quiet state, tranquility, free from anxiety. Dis-ease is the opposite of that and it is being in that state of mind that is very literally making us physically sick. Stress is incredibly hard on our bodies.

I know it's all a complicated subject. But there is so much evidence out there that calming our minds and our hearts put us in a state of being where our bodies can heal. In fact, they used to send patients to the countryside to bask in the sunshine and fresh air and calm their minds..

There is a book out there that has been around for decades written by a Harvard medical doctor called The Relaxation Response. He teaches what putting ourselves in a 12-18 minute meditative state daily can do to improve our health in every way. Yes- prayer is a meditative state. My harp teacher visited him some years ago. He had heard of her work with the harp. She said what he was describing could take place instantly with the vibrations of the harp. And he concurred.

Soooo..I have a little prescriptive care for you. Unfortunately, when they created CD's and digital music, they disrupted the sound waves that are so healing. But the good news is everyone carries around an amazing instrument with you all the time--your voice. The vibrations of your voice as you sing are therapeutic and will bring a state of calm faster than anything I can think of. And if you want to bring it up a few notches, find some other voices you can regularly harmonize with. Even if you have to social distance.

Given what I know, I think it could take us a long ways in battling this pandemic. The fear and anxiety are only going to make things worse. We need to fight dis-ease with 'ease'.

Art credit: Singende Kinder by Waldmuller