Abstract:
Across generations, music as a form of healing has been modified throughout the world. By pulling in a social energetic flow for emotional expression, it can provide more accessibility and sustainability in recovery programming. Traditional music therapy is described as “the art of using musical sounds in bringing changes from undesirable unhealthy conditions to a more comfortable one” (Nnamani, 2014). Community music therapy sessions are considered more than a performance, but an active exchange between the participants and the facilitator described as “community musicking,” or “collaborative musicking.” As relaxing music decreases heart rates, it can serve as a catalyst for improved physiological functioning. Challenges around restorative sleep are due to cognitive processing occurring during stages of sleep where interruptions shift the body’s ability to restore and regenerate for the waking hours. Sound as a form of ancestral medicine is a sustainable and easily accessible way to soften the body as it seeks rest and digestion over heightened anxious states of survivals.
