For those of you have joined me on my quest to learn the best way to use music in conflict resolution, here's an article that quotes some of the best music researchers. Reading it will remind you of some of music's effects. From "Music: It's in your head, changing your brain" (CNN):
Here's one way you might not already be using music: Making a deliberate effort to use music to alter mood. Listen to something that makes you energetic at the beginning of the day, and listen to a soothing song after an argument, [Daniel] Levitin says.
Is there anyone reading this who has not experienced music changing his or her mood? And who has not seen a shift in mood move parties in a dispute towards resolution? So if music can shift mood, can it facilitate conflict management? I have met many people who think so but the challenge so far has been in finding the right music, knowing that the effects of music are not universal. A song that annoys me may lead someone else to a state of calm.
From the article, more properties of music that might be beneficial in mediation.
"I think there's enough evidence to say that musical experience, musical exposure, musical training, all of those things change your brain," says Dr. Charles Limb, associate professor of otolaryngology and head and neck surgery at Johns Hopkins University. "It allows you to think in a way that you used to not think, and it also trains a lot of other cognitive facilities that have nothing to do with music."
...
Music is strongly associated with the brain's reward system. It's the part of the brain that tells us if things are valuable, or important or relevant to survival, said Robert Zatorre, professor of neurology and neurosurgery at Montreal Neurological Institute.
Click to read the rest.
Comments