Tuesday, October 26, 2010

A HEART-FELT BEAT

Music makes my heart feel happy, sad, excited, angry... a whole spectrum of emotion; that's why I love it.  There are no language barriers - just a beat that makes you feel...

Everyone has a number of songs that they've heard along the way that evoke something within them.  I have many that I love, particularly a hit from the 80's that was sung by Sylvia Striplin, "You can't turn me away."  It came off of her only released album, Give me your love, and everytime I hear it I think of my hometown, New York City,  back in the day when people went out to parties to dance and the music was soulful. I am not sure why it reminds me so much of New York but I think it was being played a lot in the clubs I frequented when I first started coming on the scene. When I later became a DJ it was one of those songs I tended to play early in the night and reminice to in the booth.  That's what music does, evoke emotion.

Interestingly enough music is often created within the range of 50-200 bpms (beats per minute), the same tempo as the extreme range of our heartbeats.  And generally, the tempo of a song will equate to the heartbeat that is associated with the emotional or physical state that the music is suggesting.  For example, a faster beat equals a higher energy level and a slower beat is more laid back and relaxing - usually.

The human heart is fascinating - it's a muscle that can never take a day off work.  The day our heart stops beating is the day we meet our maker.  It needs to pump the fresh oxygenated blood we breathe into our lungs and expell the carbon dioxide we breathe out.  It beats faster when we exercise, feel stress, fall in love... and slower when we sleep, feel relaxed, get a massage... We have all been created so divinely!

As a DJ I use music as a medium to take a crowd on a journey with me... I understand it's power.  As a massage therapist I respect the neurology of why music is so powerful.  We hear a the lyrics and beats associated with a song and they send signals to our brains that light up areas of corresponding emotional memories we relate to what we are hearing.  This is why, when you get a massage, there is usually some ambient new age bell chiming in the background;  it's relaxing and fairly safe to assume that the only emotion it will stir is of peace.  We have to be careful as massage therapists to ensure the whole experience is healing - we only want to dig up the totally relaxed feelings inside you so that your mind can  mellow out to our continuous therapeutic touch.  That being said, since my background includes being a DJ, I like to steer away from the traditional spa music from time to time and just play some good, chillout music.

When I touch a body during a massage it is the kneaded touch that enables your heart to take a rest while I help move as much blood around your body an aerobic exercise would move.  This movement brings nutrition and oxygen to your muscles and joints of and help you feel blissful.  When I touch the turntables as a DJ it is a needed touch that makes you move your body and pump your own blood.  As you feel the beats you dance the night away.  Either avenue of therapy you choose for yourself I love what I do because both things are designed to make you feel good and that it turn makes me feel good because, after all, we are all connected.