Ayurveda, Music & Healing

Listen closely: Are the lyrics expressing an energy that will support your well-being and the person you want to be, or are you choosing music with lyrics that keep you bound to old thoughts and feelings that no longer serve you?…
 
Music has an impact on physiological function and dysfunction in the body. Knowledge of the effect of music can help you create a healing environment. 
 
Can music be used as medicine?  According to Ayurveda, it can.  While Western science understands music in terms of pitch, tone, frequency, harmonics, time signatures and rhythm, Ayurvedic medicine understands it in terms of the ten pairs of opposite qualities. Some music is mobile.  The faster the beat, the more mobile its quality and the more energizing its effect. This is better for bringing balance to kapha dosha but can lead to imbalance in vata and pitta doshas. Other music moves slowly and is calming or stable. This is better for individuals with a vata or pitta nature but may lead to an imbalance in those with a kapha nature or imbalance. Music can be further understood in terms of the other nine pairs of opposite qualities. 
 
Excerpt from “Healing Your Life, Lessons on the Path of Ayurveda,” by Dr. Marc Halpern, Founder and Director of the California College of Ayurveda