Brain Music
Last week, a participant in a Pain Management Group I run bounded into the room looking and feeling so much better. Asked why, he said, "Last week's session! The music is so helpful." He was referring to music which aims to restore rhythms in the brain's Default Mode Network (DMN) to normal. This music is freely available on YouTube.
The Default Mode Network (DMN) consists of several different regions of the brain. The DMN is a resting state network and is most active when the person is relaxed, awake and not task oriented. It is responsible for introspection, creativity and self-identity. For these reasons, it is worth introducing children to the soothing sounds that capture the brain's activity and harmonize it to the resting state of slow, rhythmic electrical waves. DMN music can help with stress, sleep problems and pain. A great deal of music is helpful for these conditions - a headache can be relieved by listening to any music you find relaxing and pleasurable. DMN music takes things a step further in entraining the brain's rhythms through specific frequencies which capture and reset the brain’s natural rhythms.
In his book Parenting for Everyone Vijayadev Yogendra says, “A child needs time to be a child; he or she should not be made into a small adult. A child must have time to lose the immaturities of childhood.” We know that there are many pressures on families that can push the child into premature independence, but an interesting factor is what has been termed the ‘parent expectation gap’. This comes about when we over-estimate what children are capable of at a particular age. Research from the USA found:
Recently concerns have been expressed about some unintended consequences of the idea of resilience. Many people who have poor self-esteem and/or alternatively high expectations of themselves might needlessly suffer because they see themselves as not having the necessary resilience to cope and will try to just 'tough it out' . Adaptability gives more scope for alternatives. In a situation of bullying at work for example, options include reporting the offender or even leaving the job if no action is taken. This might mean accepting a number of changes in circumstances. Being able to accept the need to change and the ability to adapt is going to make that a lot easier.
The fourth factor I want to talk about here is something Vijay Yogendra called Innateness. Vijay felt that “Each child comes with a gift, and it is up to us (parents and teachers) to unwrap it!”