Music Is Medicine: The Healing Power of Music and Sound
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
Music Is Medicine is a podcast and reflection series by Melbourne musician Mat Creedon exploring the healing power of music, sound meditation, and deep listening.
How melody, emotion, and deep listening can turn music into a form of sound meditation and emotional healing.
In this episode of Music Is Medicine, Mat Creedon explores why certain melodies move us so deeply and how music can help the nervous system release emotion and restore balance.
Why does music move us so deeply?
Most of us have experienced a moment when a song suddenly touches something inside us. A melody appears, and within seconds it can shift our mood, bring back a memory, or even release emotion we didn’t realise we were holding.
This is one of the reasons many people explore sound meditation, sound healing, and the deeper relationship between music and the nervous system.
Music can feel like more than entertainment.
Sometimes it feels like medicine.
Discovering the Healing Power of Music
For me, this discovery began when I was very young.
I remember sitting with my family watching a Beatles documentary. Something about their music overwhelmed my senses. I didn’t understand what was happening at the time, but I knew that their songs were doing something powerful inside me.
Years later, when I began writing songs myself, I started to realise what that experience might have been.
The answer wasn’t just musical.
It was also connected to meditation.
What Meditation Taught Me About Sound
When I was around eighteen years old, I learned transcendental meditation.
The practice is simple. You sit quietly and repeat a mantra for around twenty minutes.
As the body relaxes, the nervous system begins to settle. And when the nervous system feels safe, things that were buried inside us can begin to surface.
Thoughts appear.
Memories appear.
Emotions appear.
But because you’re relaxed, you can observe them without fighting them.
This is one of the reasons meditation practices often help people process emotional experiences.
And interestingly, something very similar happens when we create music.
Music, Emotion, and the Nervous System
When I began writing songs seriously, I often found myself sitting alone in my bedroom with a guitar for hours.
I would close the door, sit comfortably, and simply start playing.
Sometimes I would drift into a kind of deep listening state, where the music seemed to appear naturally rather than being forced.
Looking back, I can see that my nervous system was relaxing in a similar way to meditation.
When that happened, emotions that were buried beneath the surface began to rise.
And those emotions often appeared as melodies.
Melody as Emotional Release
The most powerful melodies are usually both emotional and memorable.
Emotion and memory are closely linked. The more emotional something is, the easier it is for the brain to remember it.
So when a melody appears during a relaxed state of creativity, it often carries something emotional with it.
Instead of feeling overwhelmed by that emotion, the melody allows you to explore it.
Sing it.
Play with it.
Transform it.
What might have once been a groan of pain can become something musical and expressive.
Something lighter.
Something creative.
Why Songs Help Us Heal
This is where the idea of music as medicine becomes very interesting.
When a melody captures an emotional experience, it allows us to express something that might be difficult to explain with words alone.
And when that melody becomes a song, other people can experience it too.
Through listening.
Through singing.
Through feeling the emotional energy inside the music.
This is why certain songs stay with us for years.
They don’t just entertain us.
They resonate with something inside us.
Sound Healing and Deep Listening
Many ancient traditions have recognised this connection between sound, emotion, and healing.
Practices like sound baths, chanting, and meditative music all work with the idea that sound can influence the nervous system.
By listening deeply to sound, we allow the body to relax and process emotion naturally.
In many ways, songwriting, music performance, and sound meditation all share the same foundation:
Deep listening.
When Music Becomes Medicine
The next time a song moves you deeply, it may be doing more than providing entertainment.
It might be helping your body process an emotion.
It might be helping you release something you’ve been carrying.
It might even be helping you reconnect with a deeper part of yourself.
Music is one of the most powerful emotional languages we have.
And sometimes…
music is medicine.
Frequently Asked Questions About Music and Healing
Can music really heal the nervous system?
Music can influence the nervous system by helping the body relax. Slow rhythms, harmony, and sustained tones can activate the parasympathetic nervous system, which is associated with calmness, emotional processing, and recovery.
Why do certain songs trigger strong emotions?
Music is closely linked to memory and emotion in the brain. When we hear a melody connected to a meaningful experience, it can activate emotional centres in the brain and bring memories or feelings back to the surface.
What is sound meditation?
Sound meditation is the practice of using sound — such as singing bowls, instruments, voice, or music — as a focus for awareness. By listening deeply to sound, the mind becomes quieter and the body often relaxes.
What does “Music Is Medicine” mean?
The phrase reflects the idea that music can support emotional expression, relaxation, and self-awareness. While music is not a medical treatment, it can be a powerful tool for emotional wellbeing.
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