BLOGS
Educational blogs for parents and professionals
Happy Holidays? 5 Ways to Maintain Optimum Mental Wellness During The Holidays
Happy Holidays!? Or is it? December has arrived, “Tis the season to be jolly?”. This is a time of the year we will be bombarded with messages of “joy, spirit, and much more, but it is also a time of the season when many people experience the complete opposite such as loneliness, depression, anxiety and more…
According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, 64% of people reported being affected by holiday depression. loneliness, stress, anxiety, and depression to name a few, are a reality for many during this holiday season. If you or any of your loved ones are experiencing these emotions, you are not alone. Here are 5 ideas we would like to share with you to help you survive and make the best of the upcoming holidays.
1. Music can be a distraction, why not learn how to play an instrument?
According to a study by Spotify, after playing a musical instrument, 89% of adults experienced increased feelings of happiness and relaxation. A third of participants noted that playing an instrument gave them a sense of purpose, confidence, and self-worth. If you are interested in learning an instrument, having a teacher will also provide an opportunity to make social and musical connections with another person who is there to support you! In this day and age, it is also common to learn an instrument through Youtube or other programs, (my nephew learned how to play guitar throughout the pandemic on YouTube).
Here are 4 recommendations if you would like to learn how to play a new instrument:
Try Take Lessons: Take lessons offers free live group lessons as well as 1:1 lessons that start at $1 an hour!
Try MasterClass: This program offers courses that are led by well-known instructors and even celebrities from all spectrums of the musical world.
Try Skillshare: Skillshare has over 27,000 classes available (including 2,000 free ones), it is a huge resource for online education almost anything, but is very ideal for learning about music or a musical instrument!
Try Udemy: Udemy is an enormous platform with a wide variety of subjects to learn about. If there’s an instrument you’re eager to play, even a less common one, it’s most likely here! Each course is designed and presented by an industry professional. Lessons start from $11.99.
2. Volunteering for a service program
In the documentary, Selena Gomez: My Mind and Me , Dr. Vivek Murphy discusses the concept of loneliness and how to take steps to support loneliness. He notes that what truly matters is the quality of connections we have with one another. In situations where we feel like we cannot be ourselves, it tends to disconnect us and distance ourselves from others which can lead to feelings of loneliness and/or isolation. In his research, Dr. Murphy emphasized how important it is to be of service to others. Service is one of the most powerful antidotes to loneliness and/or depression. Dr. Vivek Murphy concludes, “We reaffirm to ourselves that we have value to bring to the world”.
5 volunteer organizations we suggest:
Meals on Wheels: Meals on Wheels is an organization that works to better the mental, emotional, health, and economic well-being of Americans in need, especially seniors. They constantly work towards their vision of ensuring that every American senior can enjoy a nourished life with freedom and dignity. Their mission is to make efforts to stop anyone going hungry or feeling lonely.
Insight Heart Foundation: Insight Heart Foundation is an organization providing essentials to vulnerable adults and children within low-income communities in Canada. They work to provide clothes to people who are homeless, school supplies for children, provide transportation for seniors, and much more.
ClimateScience: Climate Science is a UK-based organization driven by volunteers from all around the world! It is a place for people to learn about realistic solutions to climate change and resources to work together and contribute to our environment effectively!
Resource of 25 NGOs in Asia: Interested in contributing to communities in Asia? This website has a fantastic list of non-profit organizations to volunteer or donate to that include a variety of countries and needs
Peace Corps: A U.S. government program that provides volunteer opportunities to over 60 countries all over the world in continents such as Africa, Europe and Asia!! It does not charge people to volunteer, and provides meaningful work to support developing communities.
3. Tap Into Your Creativity
Being alone can be an opportunity for us to tap into our creativity! According to Shrein Bahrami, therapist and author of The Loneliness Companion, “being alone allows more freedom to choose to make time and space for a creative activity without external pressures. If we allow ourselves to connect to our emotions, we can choose to feel and express them safely through a creative outlet which can be healing and meaningful.
Here are 4 creative outlets:
Write a song: The idea of writing a song may be intimidating, but the process of writing a song can be exhilarating and fulfilling! . This link will give you easy steps to write your own song to express how you are feeling (even if you do not have much musical experience).
Make a painting/drawing: Drawing or painting can be a great positive distraction. This link provides tips on how to start drawing or painting even as a beginner.
Write a story: Not only can we write about how we’re feeling, but we also can write an alternate reality that reflects how we feel or how we want to feel. This link provides many tips to start writing your own authentic story!
Write a poem: Don’t want to commit to writing a long story? Try writing a short poem! You can even try challenging yourself to make a poetry journal. Creating a poetry journal could keep you accountable to constantly create something, while also giving you a way to reflect on how you once were and how far you’ve grown. This link guides you through starting to write your feelings and thoughts into a personal piece of poetry.
Keep in mind that when tapping into our creative outlets, aiming for perfection is not the main goal. The key goal is to process how you are feeling and turn it into something you can hear, feel, see, or touch. Through this we provide a sense of accomplishment and value in our lives.
4. Move and Dance!
It has been proven that moving reduces stress, boosts self-esteem, relieves feelings of depression, and so much more. (Bruce, Debra 2022) When we exercise, our body releases chemicals known as endorphins which trigger positive feelings in the body! (I love to crank my favorite songs and dance in the kitchen or in the shower).
Here are 4 movement and dance exercises:
Plan a thematic walk: Walking during the cold weather can be tedious and depending where you are located can be dangerous. Depending on where you are located, adjust the setting, and try to go out for a little walk to let your mind and body reset. This link will provide some ideas on how to make your walk a little more exciting.
Dance to a Video: An in-person dance movement class can be so fun but sometimes it’s hard to find one! This web resource provides a 30 minute “all-level” cardio dance workout! Get those endorphins pumping and enjoy moving and dancing to upbeat music! “Mewsic Moves”!
Stretch: Stretching is important for our minds and bodies. It helps improve flexibility which supports our physical performance in other daily physical activities. Stretching also brings our thoughts to the present moment which can be very beneficial to our mental health. This video offers support to individuals of all levels and ages to start stretching our bodies which overall impacts our mental wellness.
Hiking: Hiking is an excellent form of exercise that connects ourselves back to nature. Not only can we gain the feel-good endorphins from moving, but we also can gain perspective on how there is so much beautiful life around us. Hiking also has benefits for our heart, balance, and allows us to disconnect from all the outside noise. This link organizes trails for you whether you’re a beginner or an expert.
Not only do we encourage you to move, but music is proven to help motivate our bodies and minds to move at a steady pace for a longer period of time. (Thaut, 2015). Click the link below to see our holiday post from last year that includes a variety of songs to add to your movement playlist!
5. Join a social group meaningful to you
It can be challenging to put yourself out there, but a rewarding way to reduce the feelings of loneliness is to make an effort to connect with other people. Like Dr. Vivek Murphy said, one of the greatest elements of life is human connection. Taking the time to listen to someone and practice empathy can help us feel less alone, connected and be a positive presence for someone else. One way to connect with others is to join a club! Finding a group that has similar interests as our own can be a great start to making meaningful connections.
Here are 4 resources to various clubs:
Join a book club: Reading is an awesome way to learn, grow, and escape into an alternate reality. It gives us the opportunity to transform our everyday life. Taking the opportunity to talk to people about a book that you just read and enjoyed can be even more transformative! This resource is a reading program that is a worldwide digital version of a local book club. If you can’t find a book club in your community, this is a great way to connect with people from all over the world!
Join a singing group: Music is a wonderful way to deeply connect with people. This link takes you to an amazing group called, “The Sofa Singers”. Developed during the pandemic, this group was created with the mission to have an inclusive and supportive worldwide community that sings together online. Regular sessions take place at 7:30pm Tuesday and 11am Friday every week (GMT). Similarly, Mewsic Moves transitioned their Glee Choir for adults with neuro-divers, intellectual and developmental needs during the pandemic to an online zoom platform to help with community connection.
Join a gardening community: Gardening can make us feel more at peace and practice mindfulness by being present. It requires us to focus our attention on the immediate task allowing us to feel better in the moment. What’s even better is being able to do this while also having a place to share our little plant treasures with other people. Gardening can also be quite difficult if we don’t know the best way to take care of our plants. This resource link provides 10 online gardening communities!
Join a music appreciation community: A feeling possibly better than listening to your favorite song is having someone who loves that song just as much as you and listening to it together! There is ample evidence of how music adds life to our communities, engages our brains, and strengthens our sense of belonging and connection with others. (Playcore, 2020). This link directs you to a variety of music appreciation groups near you.
Mewsic Moves would also like to take this opportunity to introduce you our own music-making communities, Glee Choir and Musical Minds.
Glee Choir is our music therapy program for adults with neuro-diverse, intellectual and developmental special needs. The group is a safe space for our adults to share their love for music, while also working on a variety of goals such as building self-esteem, expressing emotions, social skills, and much more. We offer this program in person as well as via zoom to help support adults that are located in remote areas where programs may be less available.
Musical Minds is our group therapy program for individuals with Parkinson’s and/or Alzheimer’s to experience music-making together in a fun and safe environment, while also working on a variety of goals such as improving cognitive functioning, memory, self-expression, motor skills, and much more. We also like to include partners and family members into this program to continue to focus on family connection.
Lastly, we want all of you to know that you are not alone in these feelings. Mewsic Moves felt so deeply about this that we produced a video during the pandemic that focused on mental wellness and invited music therapists from all over the world to join in a musical message to let others know that whenever you are feeling lonely, anxious or depressed, and more… “You are Not Alone”
The next few months can be extremely difficult and draining for some. We want to validate that this can be a very tough time for many and we are here to help support you and hope some of these resources will help you survive this difficult time of the year.
Peaceful and Well Wishes this Holiday Season. You are not alone. Also if you need additional support we offer a FREE 30 minute consultation and offer counseling sessions to work on strategies to make it through the holiday season.
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Why Singing is Important Especially During the Holiday Season
Photo by David Beale on Unsplash
Have you ever wondered why people like to carol during the holiday season? Why singing Christmas songs is a family tradition for so many American families? Or why does your church always ask you to sing together as a part of your Christmas Eve service?
The answer is probably simpler than you'd think. It's because it brings joy to you when you sing, especially when you sing with others. We are not saying this just because we are music therapists, but because science suggests it as well. It brightens your day by lifting your spirit, but do you know what it does to your brain? Well, let me unfold the magic of singing to you on a science level.
Before we know anything about modern choir or singing in church, human beings have already started the ritual of singings back to tens of thousands of years ago. Our ancestors, regardless of culture, language, or origin, have all used music or singing as a tool for community building. It's almost like it was built into our evolutionary history.
Although back then, singing and performing were mainly done by the "professionals", or the "talents", you can't deny the effect of closeness and joy for anyone who decides to open their mouths to sing, professionally or not. Neurologists have done researches to suggest that when people sing together, their brains release a hormone called oxytocin, which is commonly known as the "love hormone", and makes people feel closer to each other emotionally. Not only does the closeness happen between people who sing together, researches also suggested that the act of listening when singing in groups makes participants' brain responses to synchronize with one another. That's why it still makes you feel closer to the people around you regardless of your singing skills. It's not the excellent music we are looking for, but the closeness that music can bring us.
Other than making people feel closer together, music is probably the best anti-depressant you can get over the holiday season. No extra sugar or alcohol needed, singing will do the tricks! Neurologists suggested that our brains release dopamine and serotonin during singing activities (meaning both listening to it and doing it) with people you love. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter in our brains that regulates the pleasure and reward centers, and serotonin is found mostly in the digestive tract that helps regulate our moods, social behaviors, and appetite. According to Daniel Levitin, a psychology professor at McGill University and author of This is Your Brain on Music, said that around 20 percent of Canadians are currently taking some sort of SSRI or anti-depressant drugs to maintain their mood balance caused by lack of serotonin. It's incredible to know that singing with others, especially the ones you love, can lift your mood and fill your holiday prescription of that anti-depressant you've been taking.
If you are spending your holiday with any elderlies in the family, make sure you include them as well when you do the family singing tradition. Neurologists have shown that memories involved music can engage broader neural pathways than other types of memories. Listening to an old song can bring back so much of one's memories with vivid details of emotions or visual cues. Music therapists have spent years implementing music therapy services in nursing homes and elderly facilities, using music and singing to evoke the lost memory of many dementia and Alzheimer's patients. It's always a surprise for the families to see dementia or Alzheimer's patients who can't even remember their own sons' and daughters' names but can sing an old song without missing a single lyric. Singing stimulates multiple areas in our brains across both left and right hemispheres, which keeps more neuron cells in excellent working order.
I can't think of a better gift you can give to your family and friends this holiday season other than music. The most wonderful things sometimes are the simplest things that we fail to notice. So remember to sit down next to the ones you love, sing a little song together. Include the kids and elderlies in the family. It doesn't matter if you sing on pitch or in the most accurate rhythm, what matters is the closeness and joy that singing brings us.
I wish you a wonderful holiday full of music, warmth, and joy!
Resources:
https://www.choraldirectormag.com/articles/vocal-pro/your-brain-and-singing-why-singing-in-a-choir-makes-you-happier/
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/blogs/the-science-behind-why-choir-singing-is-good-for-you-1.4594292?fbclid=IwAR181J6umzSkdMnXRUbwVjQ-pIj0jvZmNwPvJudfj-ITK-EGbqKDkONu928
Here are some original songs that I wrote for your and your family for the holidays. Hope you enjoy singing them with your family and friends.
