Good Vibration
“Good Vibration” by Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch is still on my workout playlist after all these years. It may be terribly dated and cheesy (and embarrassing to admit!), but I can’t help it… it always puts me in a good a mood. Music preference is different for everyone and resonates with each of us in unique and distinctive ways. The type of music one person finds relaxing may affect others like nails on a chalkboard. However, most people agree that music has a powerful and profound impact.
Think about the music you grew up with… your mom or dad’s favorite bands, the music they played around the house or in the car. How about the song that reminds you of your first love or head-over-heels crush? Do you remember what music you were listening to during that especially difficult year? The music you’d rather delete altogether? For better or worse, music has the power to transport us to another time and place, influence our moods, and change the way we feel.
Dr. Masaru Emoto is a water researcher from Japan who studied the impact of music on the formation of water molecules. He collected water from various places, and exposed the water to different words and types of music. He then froze the water samples and studied the ice crystal formations under a magnifying glass. He discovered that water exposed to classical, harmonious music or positive words developed into beautiful, symmetric, and intricate snowflake-like crystals. Whereas the water exposed to chaotic music or mean-spirited and negative words developed into disorganized, misshapen, and malformed crystals. This is especially relevant, considering 60% of the human body is made up of water. How might the music we listen to or words we hear (or speak) effect us on a cellular level?
On the other side of the globe, in Montalcino Italy, amid the rolling Tuscan hills and towering cyprus trees, some of the world’s best wine is grown. Giancarlo Ciagnozi, a lawyer turned wine-maker, decided to conduct an experiment of his own. High above the rows of grapevines, Mr. Ciagnozi has mounted big speakers, and everyday he projects music throughout his vineyard. The sounds of Mozart dance along the rosemary-scented breezes to serenade his grapes. What has he discovered? His grapes turn toward the sound of the music. They are fuller, more succulent, robust, and ripen more quickly. The leaves are greener, thicker, and more lush. Researchers continue to conduct studies to determine the influence music has on wine crops.
We may not completely understand why and how music is so impactful, whether it’s the rhythm or the resonance, the vibration or the composition, the energy or the harmony. Yet, somehow music has the power to create an observable shift, and we can facilitate this shift by making conscious choices about what we expose ourselves to. We can choose thoughts, words, and music that make us feel strong, beautiful, joyful, peaceful and inspired. Therein lies the potential to grow and develop in positive and healthy ways. (And for good measure, you may want to sip a glass of Brunello while enjoying the masterful melodies of Mozart… Salute!)