In a climate of swine flu, job losses, financial crunches and the like that keep us locked into fear and anxiety, we may well ask ourselves where will it all end? And is it a call to action for us as individuals to re-assess our values and priorities and stop all the worrying?

However, what is interesting to note is that as our stress levels soar, our immune system depletes and yep, you guessed it, more crises and yet another overload on the health systems of the world. One area that more and more have turned to is self help with bio-feedback tools, mind machines and relaxation or calming music.

So does relaxation music work? and how many CD’s or downloads have you bought and then discarded over the years?

There is no doubting the power of music, as Albert Einstein himself credited his genius to his playing the violin and high school students who study music have higher grade point averages than those who don’t. Plus, the top three schools in the U.K and U.S.A all place a great emphasis on music.

So I guess the question is When is relaxation music NOT RELAXATION MUSIC?… An answer to this is when it doesn’t bring on the physiological relaxation response that will improve your overall well being.

Well what is the relaxation response then?

"The relaxation response is a physiological state of deep rest that changes the physical and emotional responses to stress" (Herbert Benson..Harvard University)

Well how does calming music bring on the relaxation response?

Its like this..relaxation music of itself is often just that, music which should help us to relax, often put together in a flowing melodic way, with synths, panpipes, flutes and the like generally nice to listen to, but often missing the important ingredient that will bring on that important "relaxation response"

So what is the missing ingredient that will help bring on this response?

Working as a sound therapist and educator it is not difficult to test various music out in a school setting and observe what works effectively to calm the kids… and to be honest, hands down it’s the music that has the sound therapy layered underneath, using a method called brainwave entrainment.

Well, what is scientific brainwave entrainment?

When the brain is presented with a rhythmic stimulus, such as a drum beat for example, the rhythm is reproduced by the brain in the form of electrical impulses (brainwaves). If the rhythm becomes slow and consistent enough, it can start to replicate the natural internal rhythms of the brain. When this happens, the brain responds by synchronizing its own electric cycles to the same rhythm, therefore having a physiological effect upon the natural rhythms of the body including the heart. An example of this being that a drum beat at 60 cycles per minutes will drop the body’s rhythms to follow that 60cpm beat and therefore bring on a state of relaxation.

So is relaxation music myth or magic?

Again, in my opinion and observing the effects of a multitude of relaxation CD’s tested in classrooms in real life settings, then most of the music out there doesn’t appear to do what it claims.

However, the CD’s that follow the brainwave entrainment/sound therapy layered formula model, very often bring about improved focus, concentration and calm that will take the listener into the desired brainwave state for optimum performance as witnessed time and time again in the classroom.