Music and Memory – Alive Inside

  • Spiritual Bypassing, Relationships and The Shadow - Providence Holistic Counseling Services

Music has been a part of my life since early childhood like many of us. I remember when my dad used to bring me home 45s of The Beatles and I was ecstatic. The next stage in my musical connection developed in adolescence through my teen years. Like many teenagers, music was the heart and soul of my life and one of the few places I felt safe and understood. In my late teens I became a disc jockey, and have done so at various times throughout my adulthood. When the mess that was my teens and 20s began to shift, music again was at the core of my development and a safe place for me to go when I felt overwhelmed or fearful. Today I cannot imagine life without music! My relationship with music typically mirrors my relationship with myself. When I first stumbled upon the website of Music and Memory, I was thrilled and almost began to cry watching the video of The Story of Henry. The Music and Memory iPod Project is amazing! I invite you to read some of the content below from their website and view a few of their videos, including the trailer to Alive Inside The Music and Memory Story.

 

Beyond wanting to support The Music and Memory iPod Project because they’re doing great work, it is also personal to me. The last few months before my mother passed on in 2002, she was experiencing dementia and often did not know where she was or who I was. I remember one night I was sitting next to her in the hospital holding her hand and talking with her. In the middle of our conversation, her face became tight and she started yelling at me stating, “Stop talking to me whoever you are! I’m on the  phone with my son Michael. Go away and stop bothering me, so I can talk to my son Michael!” I reminded her that I am her son Michael and she was not on the phone with me, but sitting right next to her holding her hand. She looked startled and confused, I was hurt and desperately wanting to remove my mother of her struggles. I wonder if I was aware of the connection with music and restored memory demonstrated through The Music and Memory iPod Project, if it would’ve helped her come back to life? More than anything, what I remember from that period of her life was missing my mother as I knew her the earlier 40+ years.

 

Music and Memory - Alive Inside - Providence Holistic Counseling Services - Lisa-Schroeder-time-music-song

The Music and Memory iPod Project – Alive Inside

“No one wants to end up alone and isolated in a nursing home. It’s hard enough to lose someone you love to Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia. It’s terrifying to think you could end up there yourself, someday.

But there’s reason to hope for a better life as we age. At MUSIC & MEMORY℠, we help elders in care facilities suffering from a wide range of cognitive and physical challenges find renewed meaning and connection in their lives through the gift of personalized music.

 

Music and Memory - Alive Inside - Providence Holistic Counseling Services - music-memories not just the song

Beloved Music Can Renew Lives Lost to Dementia

Our approach is simple, elegant and effective: We train elder care professionals how to set up personalized music playlists, delivered on iPods and other digital devices, for those in their care. These musical favorites tap deep memories not lost to dementia and can bring residents and clients back to life, enabling them to feel like themselves again, to converse, socialize and stay present.

Music & Memory’s work is rooted in extensive neuroscience research. The results can be nothing short of miraculous.”

 

Music and Memory – The Story of Henry

 

Music and Memory – The Brain-Music Connection

“As we all know from hearing that song associated with a first love or leaving home for good, music is profoundly linked to personal memories.

In fact, our brains are hard-wired to connect music with long-term memory.

Even for persons with severe dementia, music can tap deep emotional recall. For individuals suffering from Alzheimer’s, memory for things—names, places, facts—is compromised, but memories from our teenage years can be well-preserved.

Favorite music or songs associated with important personal events can trigger memory of lyrics and the experience connected to the music. Beloved music often calms chaotic brain activity and enables the listener to focus on the present moment and regain a connection to others.

Persons with dementia, Parkinson’s and other diseases that damage brain chemistry also reconnect to the world and gain improved quality of life from listening to personal music favorites.”

 

Music and Memory – Music and the Brain

Oliver Sacks on Music, Memory and Emotion

Oliver Sacks, M.D., noted neurologist and best-selling author of Musicophilia, discusses the impact of personalized music on people suffering from Alzheimer’s and severe memory loss.

 

 

“The past which is not recoverable in any other way is embedded, as if in amber, in the music, and people can regain a sense of identity. . .” — Oliver Sacks

 

The Story of Music and Memory – Alive Inside Trailer

 

Read more about Music and Memory at Help For Alzheimer’s.

 

Music and Memory - Alive Inside - Providence Holistic Counseling Services - Music And Memory Poster

 

What do you think about the research and discoveries on music and memory? What is your relationship to music and memory? What significant events in your life can you recall certain music or songs such as bookmarks?

 

Music and Memory - Alive Inside - Providence Holistic Counseling Services - sometimes we can't choose the music

 

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Do Something Good For Someone Else, and Don’t Get Caught – Kindness

 

Michael Swerdloff

Providence Holistic Counseling Services

What is Reiki Counseling?


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