0:00

In

0:12

this week's episode of AnxietySlayer, we're

0:14

discussing how music has the power

0:16

to transport you to a peaceful place,

0:18

which is one of the reasons why it's so

0:21

helpful for managing anxiety. Listening

0:24

to calming music can help reduce

0:26

your stress levels and help you relax

0:29

Vander can also help improve your

0:31

mood and outlook on life by

0:33

lifting your spirits and reducing negative

0:35

thinking. Welcome

0:37

back to another episode Ananga. Hey,

0:40

Shann.

0:41

Music's such a beautiful way

0:43

of creating an atmosphere. Mhmm.

0:45

You know, we talk a lot about colors and essential

0:48

oils different ways of creating

0:51

environments in your home

0:53

music is such a wonderful

0:55

way to do that. Two,

0:58

when there's so many different palettes

1:00

of emotional experiences, releasing

1:03

emotion, uplifting emotion, calming

1:05

the mind, There's so many

1:07

different ways we can use music in our

1:09

home. Manifu gave me some speakers

1:12

that I can have in different rooms. So

1:14

I've been really enjoying that I've set them up

1:17

with an app on my phone so I can

1:19

broadcast music to different rooms

1:22

the setting I prefer is called

1:24

house hearing where I can be listening, reading

1:27

in the lounge, and then when I go to the kitchen

1:29

to prep something for lunch, the same

1:31

things playing in the kitchen I can hear

1:33

it in my room I found that a

1:35

really good experience whether

1:38

I'm listening to an audiobook or a lecture

1:40

her also to have that continue

1:42

wherever I am in my home or

1:45

if I just relax and have some

1:47

beautiful music playing it creates an

1:49

atmosphere throughout the

1:50

house. So I've been really enjoying

1:52

experimenting with that. Oh,

1:54

that sounds like fun. I like

1:56

that setup. I have been

1:59

enjoying my Sony

2:02

headsets, this beautiful had

2:05

phones that are noise cancelling and

2:08

pop on my head similar

2:10

to what you're doing, only having them having

2:12

these headsets on, can move about and

2:15

do my thing not hear everything that's

2:17

going on in the village when

2:20

when it's noisy outside. But

2:22

I also have a nice speaker

2:24

set up as well that our

2:27

house is pretty open so that that one

2:29

speaker can fill the main floor

2:32

There's such a difference in the environment

2:35

when you're listening

2:38

to something that that you're

2:40

really interested in or something that just makes

2:42

you

2:43

feel nice. Almost

2:45

every day, I start by listening to

2:48

a meditation called the I'm meditation

2:51

by doctor Wayne Dyer. And It's

2:55

really long. It's two or three hours long. I don't

2:57

I don't necessarily listen for that amount of

2:59

time. But I

3:01

really like to start the

3:04

day listening to this music.

3:06

Very ethereal, very

3:09

supportive. It's like a perfect

3:11

way to start the day listening to this.

3:13

Meditation. And

3:15

when we listen to something regularly, it can

3:17

become an anchor for

3:19

us as well where it invokes.

3:21

A certain state. There's some

3:23

music I really enjoy listening to.

3:25

My daughter and I discovered it a few years ago.

3:28

And we would put it on because it was

3:30

really gentle. But upbeat,

3:32

kinda happy. But also, it was easy

3:34

to have conversation or read a book.

3:36

It didn't cut into whatever else you were doing.

3:39

We would just put it on quietly in the mornings,

3:41

and it created a really nice gentle atmosphere

3:43

in our house. So I've been going back to listening to

3:45

that more again lately. It's

3:48

by lalotone. And

3:50

they do this book. It's almost childlike, gentle

3:54

looping songs.

3:55

I recommend giving those guys a

3:58

listen to. Tell

4:01

us about your experience

4:04

as a musician Vander your

4:06

prior work with hypno dreams and

4:08

the

4:08

music. That you've created

4:11

for us what's that like to be

4:13

able to to do that, to

4:15

create and produce this beautiful

4:18

Music. Thank you. There's very

4:20

kind of you. I never consider

4:22

myself a musician.

4:25

It's just something I started

4:27

doing years ago. I love music at

4:29

school. I wanted to be a music

4:32

teacher. That's what I wanted to

4:34

do. So was learning flute at

4:36

school, but it became very

4:39

technical. lot of pressure.

4:41

I got quite stressed out with it Vander it became

4:43

very scales and arpeggios and --

4:46

Mhmm. -- learning set pieces, and it was really

4:48

killing the joy. Of music for me.

4:51

Then because I wanted to to teach,

4:53

you need to learn to play piano as well to do

4:55

the exams and to have the qualifications for that.

4:57

So I started learning Shann, and that also

4:59

became very much theory

5:02

Vander practice and scales. And

5:04

I just wanted to make tunes. I just

5:06

wanted to make music. I loved music.

5:09

I loved listening to music. I loved

5:11

classical music from a very young

5:13

age. So I

5:16

threw it all out. I just stopped

5:18

playing everything in. I felt like it killed

5:20

it for me for many years. And

5:22

then some years later, I had

5:24

the opportunity to travel with

5:27

a band playing Indian music.

5:30

Devotional Indian music, and then you did

5:32

someone who could play the flute. So I went and bought

5:34

a secondhand flute and started practicing.

5:37

Vander you went, than than if I

5:39

went that was a really good experience, so I kept

5:41

the flute. And then I just stayed

5:43

playing for the love of it and learning

5:46

things by ear. And I

5:49

was interested in computer music in the early

5:51

days when you could start, you know, recording

5:53

into a computer and sampling different

5:55

sounds and making your own music

5:58

that way. I was all about that very

6:01

experimental Vander just playing around

6:03

quietly with my headphones on. And from

6:05

there, I started to develop pieces for

6:08

relaxation Shann did

6:11

that for my own pleasure

6:13

and exploration for many years. And

6:15

then I started working with somebody

6:18

called Sylvia Hartman, who's some.

6:21

An energy therapist, she writes

6:23

WholeMs, and guided healing experiences.

6:26

So I created the music for her work,

6:28

which was called Hip No Dreams. the

6:30

way we did that was that she would record

6:33

the spoken journey. Sometimes they were quite

6:35

long, fifteen, twenty minutes long.

6:38

And I would create the soundscape

6:40

that sat under her

6:42

voice. So I would use different healing instruments,

6:44

bamboo flutes, chimes,

6:47

to bet in bowls. Well,

6:49

and that played in so beautifully for us

6:52

Vander all of the work that we did

6:55

That experience allowed you to do

6:57

the same thing for anxiety Sivyer and for all

6:59

of I don't even remember how many albums we've created

7:01

up until this

7:02

point. Think it's a seven or eight.

7:04

Yeah. That was how I

7:06

created the music. For us, when we began

7:08

working together, you would speak the beautiful

7:10

journey or the guided experience then

7:13

I would create the music as a live improvisation

7:16

under your voice. So the idea was

7:18

that the music went with what

7:20

was being spoken and supported. The

7:22

atmosphere of what was being spoken.

7:25

So just develop like that.

7:28

Well, I think it's magical. I

7:30

have loved music. Or ever and ever,

7:33

grew up just outside of Detroit, went to

7:36

a whole lot of concerts, ended

7:38

up as a DJ in college, Vander

7:40

was always the one putting together the

7:42

mix tapes and playlists and all

7:44

that stuff. Always the one that

7:47

was you know, beaching the party

7:49

or or whatever. So

7:51

from a listener and a vibe

7:53

perspective, so completely

7:56

different than the the creation perspective,

7:59

but both based

8:01

on a love of music, Shann.

8:04

I

8:04

mean, you can't have one without the

8:05

other. They go together. Yeah.

8:07

Can you talk a little

8:09

bit about the different frequencies of music

8:12

how they're used and what that's all

8:14

about. I know that the I am meditation

8:17

that I listen to in the morning is that

8:20

four hundred and thirty two hertz Vander

8:23

but beyond that I, you know,

8:25

I I don't know. I just I know that that's really

8:27

chill meditation

8:28

music. That's about it. Yeah. I've seen

8:30

the number out there as the as the chill out

8:32

frequency. Mhmm. I don't understand

8:35

a great deal about frequencies. It's not something

8:37

I've looked into personally. the

8:39

way I make music is through pacing

8:42

and time. So what

8:44

I would do is match the tempo and energy of

8:46

the person speaking, the guided practice

8:49

and then I'll gradually slow the music

8:51

down Vander their voice. It's

8:53

a hypnotic technique when you work

8:55

with somebody and he hypnosis where you meet

8:57

them at a certain state and establish rapport

9:00

with them. Mhmm. And then you gradually

9:03

gradually calm down and slow

9:05

down and they come along with you.

9:07

So the way I create

9:10

music is through pacing, where usually

9:12

I will vary gradually over a

9:14

long track Reduce

9:16

the beats per minute so that the track ends

9:18

up at around sixty beats per minute

9:20

and research are Shann

9:23

that our breathing and our heart rate will follow

9:25

along with that and very slowly relaxed

9:28

down gradually as the music continues.

9:30

Vander

9:33

when it comes to music for

9:35

relaxation, Iraveda recommends

9:38

classical music as one of the best

9:41

genres for relaxation. Because

9:43

of that slower tempo in calming

9:45

melodies,

9:47

Yeah. Aveda comes from it's

9:49

in the name Veda. The Veda tradition

9:52

has its own incredible practice

9:56

of music for healing of

9:58

ruggies, if you've heard of Indian ruggies,

10:01

which are performed With

10:03

beautiful, fascinating scales, very

10:05

complex, very Vander, they performed

10:08

at different times of the day, to

10:10

invoke different moods, you get

10:12

morning ruggies, evening ruggies, in

10:14

time with what in the raiders that are called

10:16

the sunniest, the junctions of

10:18

time, during the day, so there's a whole

10:21

culture there of music for relaxation

10:24

and healing. But certainly, Iraveda

10:26

recommends what's gentle

10:29

Vander uplifting what isn't going

10:31

to be jarring to our nervous

10:33

system or disturbing To

10:36

our mind, I have a neighbor

10:38

that drives past here with music

10:40

pumps out of his Shann, which is not ironic

10:44

at all. A

10:46

phone itself tensing up and waiting for him

10:48

to turn it off. Now sometimes you listen

10:50

to music it makes you feel

10:52

unsettled or it can make you feel

10:54

low or it can make you feel like it's

10:56

almost violent. Mhmm. So our

10:59

Aravada teachers, as we've spoken about in

11:01

recent podcast, these energies, these qualities

11:03

of nature, and music along

11:05

with everything else also

11:07

falls into these categories. So

11:09

the type of music I already recommend is

11:12

Satvic music, which is peaceful,

11:15

uplifting, upbeat, devotional

11:19

music that that helps us fill. Settled

11:21

and positive.

11:25

If you're looking for specific music

11:27

to help calm your anxiety,

11:29

We have some recommendations for

11:31

you in the show notes, but

11:34

by different genre,

11:37

Motes art, Beethoven, Bach,

11:39

Bavaldi are all good choices for

11:41

classical music. There's

11:44

an amazing array of instrumental music

11:46

that you can listen

11:47

to, whether that be your uma,

11:49

and Kataro,

11:53

there's jazz, Miles Davis,

11:55

John Coltrane, and of course, there's

11:58

so much new age music to choose from as

12:00

well, whether that be an enigma

12:03

or deep forest, of course, guided meditations,

12:05

like the ones that we create for anxiety slayer.

12:08

Or that are available through head space

12:10

and and calm. The importance

12:13

is choosing time

12:15

to relax, setting aside time

12:17

each day, to

12:19

consciously enter into this

12:22

state of relaxation Vander enjoyment

12:24

of whatever it is you choose to listen to.

12:26

This is gonna help you calm

12:28

your precious mind in a way that you will

12:31

absolutely be grateful for. It's

12:34

really important that we have a practice

12:36

of consciously choosing to

12:39

relax. Yeah.

12:41

You know, we'll come home from work or from a social

12:44

interaction or an errand to something.

12:46

And we'll come in the door and think, you know what? I need

12:48

to sit down and put my feet up for few minutes.

12:50

I need to relax. But what we'll tend to do

12:52

is contact somebody, pick up

12:54

our phone, start prepping dinner.

12:57

We'll sit down with good intentions. We might

12:59

look at the news. We might do a whole load

13:02

of things that are stopping

13:04

what we were previously doing, but it's not

13:07

relaxing. Mhmm. Not

13:09

that conscious relaxation

13:12

where we're invoking the relaxation response,

13:14

which is a complete

13:16

opposite to anxiety and

13:18

to the stress state in the body. So

13:20

if we can get set up that

13:22

we have our favorite music our favorite

13:25

sense and our favorite place

13:27

to relax, and we can go to that

13:29

place. Ideally at the

13:31

same time or around the same time every

13:33

day even if it's just ten minutes, fifteen

13:36

minutes with the intention of

13:38

I'm gonna listen to this and just

13:40

let myself really go offline.

13:43

Put the phone somewhere else. Put

13:46

all the shirts and the things we feel we we

13:48

need to be doing. Put it all aside for

13:50

a few minutes, which is how we start. Most

13:53

of our guided relaxations is

13:55

give yourself permission to relax

13:58

for the next Ten minutes.

14:00

Yeah. There's something very healing

14:03

about setting that conscious intention

14:05

to deeply Relax, fully

14:08

relax, and take yourself offline.

14:10

And with the right music, that's a very

14:13

healing experience and a very good antidote.

14:16

To anxiety. I know

14:18

this as well that sometimes

14:20

your mind will want to get up out of that

14:22

chair get up out of the bed. It'll do

14:24

five or ten or fifteen other things. But

14:27

just keep at it. Keep practicing

14:31

keep allowing for

14:34

whatever amount of time you have

14:36

to just sync in, and and I promise

14:38

it'll get easier. Today's

14:42

show is brought to you by better help.

14:45

Learning who we are is a lifelong process.

14:48

Because we're always growing and changing.

14:51

And each time of our lives comes

14:53

with new experiences, new

14:55

challenges, and more self awareness.

14:58

Therapy can help because sometimes

15:01

we don't know what we want. Or

15:03

we don't understand why we react

15:05

the way we do until we

15:07

can talk things through. A

15:09

better health licensed therapist can take you

15:12

on that journey of self discovery from

15:14

wherever you are to becoming the

15:16

best version of yourself. If

15:19

you're thinking of starting therapy, give

15:21

better help a try. The

15:23

experience is entirely online,

15:26

It's designed to be convenient, flexible,

15:29

and suited to your schedule. Simply

15:31

fill out a brief questionnaire to get matched

15:33

with a licensed therapist. Discover

15:37

your potential with better help.

15:39

Visit better help dot com slash

15:42

slayer today to get ten percent

15:44

off your first month. That's

15:46

Selfhelp HELP

15:49

dot comslayer. Before

15:54

the break, we were talking about the

15:56

importance of carving out

15:58

time to listen to music for

16:00

relaxation Shann doing so

16:03

as often as you can. And

16:06

while music is helpful for

16:08

relaxation and calming anxiety.

16:11

It's also a wonderful way

16:13

for moving stuck energy. In

16:16

our bodies. One of the

16:18

best practices that you can do to

16:21

move energy in your body is to

16:23

put on some great dance music. And

16:25

just start dancing it

16:27

out, shaking it out, shaking your

16:29

limbs, making yourself

16:32

crack up, I'd definitely laugh

16:34

anytime that I'm in a space to just

16:36

move in that way. It helps

16:39

so much It can help you reframe difficult

16:41

emotions and experiences. It

16:44

can definitely improve your mood.

16:47

And We know that dancing can help

16:49

increase endorphins, which are

16:51

the body's natural feel good hormones.

16:54

So We suggest creating

16:56

a playlist of your favorite dance

16:58

music to shake things

17:00

loose. I remember reading

17:02

some time Shann article about

17:05

Western psychologists that are traveled to,

17:07

Rwanda, Selfhelp. People who'd

17:09

experienced terrible

17:11

trauma. And those

17:14

local souls were really struggling with

17:16

the western idea

17:18

of what they should be doing. To recover.

17:21

And after a short while, they

17:23

reported that they felt more depressed.

17:27

And they said, where's the dancing?

17:30

Mhmm. Their practice was

17:32

to dance together and dance it out

17:35

of the body and how we supposed to get

17:37

better with out for dancing. that's

17:40

their inner healing cultures. It's

17:43

also there in qigong to pat

17:45

the meridian channels of the body vigorously

17:47

do Shann on your heels and drop your

17:49

arms, shake your arms, gain

17:52

bands on your heels with your arms over your

17:54

head just let him the bounce of

17:56

your heels travel through your body into your

17:58

arms and let them move how they naturally

18:00

do. Shaking and

18:02

moving trauma out of the body is in so

18:04

many healing traditions. And

18:06

we often talk about with anxiety that

18:09

awful feeling where you get stuck

18:11

Vander you feel like you can't move.

18:13

And it's really good to move however

18:16

you Shann. Definitely good to move

18:18

the body every day and get the stuck

18:20

energy. Going. You'll find

18:22

some Spotify playlist that

18:24

we put in our show notes today

18:26

for both calming music as well

18:28

as dance music. of

18:30

course, create your own playlist

18:33

or whatever it is you want

18:35

to use them for. It's a great way

18:37

to set yourself up and really enjoy

18:40

music. And to wrap

18:42

up today's episode, we're sharing

18:45

a calming, breathing relaxation. From

18:47

our tranquility album. And

18:50

invite you to come back next week where

18:53

I had the pleasure of having a conversation

18:55

with Chad Lawson who is

18:57

a delightful human being. He's

19:00

a pianist, yogi, and

19:02

creator of the album, Breathe. That

19:05

already has over five hundred thousand

19:07

streams. This album is so

19:09

gorgeous. You guys are gonna love listening

19:11

in and and learning more

19:13

about Chad. Thank you so

19:15

much for choosing to come back and listen

19:17

to anxiety slayer. We're grateful. That

19:20

you listen in we absolutely

19:22

love sharing these conversations

19:25

with you. Thanks, Ananga.

19:31

This breathing awareness practice can

19:33

help you calm your mind when you

19:35

feel overwhelmed by constant

19:38

thoughts or worries. We

19:44

recommend practicing this short,

19:47

mindful exercise at

19:49

least twice a day for best results.

19:53

Find a comfortable chair to sit in

19:56

where your feet can rest flat on the floor.

19:59

With your back nice and straight. Let

20:04

your hands rest in your lap,

20:07

palms facing upwards. Have

20:13

your hands relaxed and open

20:15

as if you were lightly holding an orange

20:18

in each Shann? Allow

20:23

your fingers to spread apart slightly

20:25

with gaps between them. Check

20:35

to be sure your shoulders are relaxed.

20:38

Rolled back and down. This

20:42

helps your chest to be open. And

20:44

receptive to your incoming breath.

20:50

Make sure your jaw is relaxed.

20:56

Have your mouth slightly smiling

20:58

to help your face relax. Now

21:03

imagine your head floating above

21:06

your neck and shoulders, supported

21:08

and connected, but without tension.

21:18

Now begin witnessing your breath. Simply

21:21

watching as it enters and

21:23

leaves your body, coming

21:27

and going. At its own

21:29

pace. To

21:32

help keep your mind engaged, you

21:34

can develop a sense of gentle curiosity.

21:38

You might notice your breath slow and

21:40

deepen,

21:42

or you might notice a pause between

21:44

breaths. All

21:46

you need to do is watch

21:49

and witness calm

21:53

and relaxed peaceful

21:57

Vander still noticing

22:02

each and every breath

22:05

come and go. Your

22:11

mind may be restless and may keep

22:13

bringing you other thoughts. That's

22:15

okay. It doesn't mean

22:17

you have failed. It doesn't

22:20

mean you're not doing this exercise correctly.

22:23

It is the nature of the mind to

22:25

Vander. So let it

22:28

Vander gently keep bringing it back

22:31

Keep drawing your mind back

22:34

to watching your breath whenever

22:36

it wanders away. Bring

22:45

your full awareness back

22:48

to your breathing with renewed interest.

22:55

Feel the temperature of your breath

22:57

entering your body. Listen

23:04

to the sound of your breath, leaving

23:07

your body. Watch

23:10

your chest rise and fall

23:12

with each inhalation and

23:15

exhalation. Keep

23:18

witnessing your breath with

23:20

passive, stressful awareness for

23:23

the next few minutes.