Ahh, those long summer days. Don’t they suggest the sweet sounds of music playing? Those music festivals! Lying stretched out on the cool grass, the blue, blue sky overhead, fellow music lovers around you, touched by the music on the bandstand. What wonders each summer brings!
Music makes a deep, natural connection with our feelings. Just listen to babies cooing with happiness when they are warm and fed and loved. They sing before they talk. It’s universal. Every place in the world, large and small, has its melodies and rhythms that stir feelings of belonging in its citizens, light up memories of home and family, of growing up, of friends and loved ones. Songs remind us of places we’ve been, people we’ve known. It can stir us in so many ways.
Did you ever notice when you are moved by the music, your whole being is nourished? Consider how your moods and memories are associated with music. If you’re a jogger, you know you can push on a little farther with the right playlist sounding in your ears. Soothing music in the doctor's or dentist's office can help calm anxious patients. And fitness instructors know that good bouncy tunes make exercise more effective and enjoyable. “Spiritual” music can inspire. My father-in-law, a legal rationalist, would go all dreamy listening to Bach.
So how can all this relate to weight loss? Listening to music can get you moving, which helps you burn more calories. Some researchers claim that fast music ratchets up your metabolism and muscular energy, accelerating your heartbeat and elevating your blood pressure, while a slow beat does the exact opposite.
Music, said poet William Congreve, has “charms to soothe the savage breast”. But does music have the power to play with our appetite? One study found that music can influence the speed with which we eat. Slow music slows us down; test subjects listening to slow music downed three mouthfuls of food per minute, as compared to the five mouthfuls by diners listening to a fast beat.
Music can also trigger eating habits you may or may not want. If playing Christmas carols sends you into obsessive Christmas baking, with lots of sampling, you might want to limit the Jingle Bells and play some rock and roll. Try an experiment. Do you eat less to the strains of Pachelbel’s Canon? Does the beat of your favourite group have you up and moving around instead of snacking in front of the fridge? (Humour columnist Dave Barry might say: “Fridge Magnets – good name for a rock group!”)
Yes, do pay attention to how your body reacts to the external stimuli it receives. Sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste are all part of the equation. But keep on enjoying music.
Check out our website at www.tops.org. TOPS is about positive weight-loss support. Develop a weight management style that really works for you. Join us every Wednesday morning at the Community Centre, from 9:00 to 10:00. If you want to Take Off Pounds Sensibly with us, please call.
Submitted by Amber Harvey