Does the state of the world have you in a spiral with negative thoughts? Maybe the right music can help.

Let’s face it: The world is in a pretty sh*tty state right now. With all the bad news and endless doomscrolling, you might have found yourself mired in a continuous spiral of negative thoughts. How can we break this? Music.

An article at Psyche.co reminds us that humans have always used music to moderate highly emotional situations. Professor Stefan Koelsh is a professor of biological and medical psychology at the University of Bergen in Norway. He also has a book called Good Vibrations: Unlocking the Healing Power of Music.

I quote:

“We spend much of our lives lost in thought. Research shows that mind wandering occurs during nearly all daily activities, and that it’s frequently accompanied by emotionally charged thought content. This tendency to drift off is largely orchestrated by what neuroscientists call the default mode network (DMN), or, as I like to call it, the ‘autopilot network’. This collection of brain regions becomes active when you are not focused on the outside world – when you are daydreaming, recalling memories or imagining the future. Although it is essential for reflection and creativity, this network can also give rise to repetitive, intrusive thought loops that are hard to escape. If you have ever found yourself mentally replaying a stressful conversation or anticipating something going wrong, you have experienced the autopilot network in overdrive.

“Listening to music, however, can subtly shape the emotional tone of the thoughts generated by this network.”

Read more here. You might find it very helpful. (Via Andrew)