Music is an emotional language that elicits imagery and feelings. The composer paints an acoustic picture, a soundscape of beauty, brutality, tension, release, soaring upliftment, and devasting grief. But what about music that doesn’t seem to speak at all?

Chronic stress can affect your sleep, making you tired. Stress-induced neural activity can contribute to wakefulness during the night, a problem because sleep is critical for cognitive and physical health (Morrison et al., 2022). Beyond serving as a period of rest, sleep is a complex process during which the brain performs critical and restorative functions.

Developing new habits requires a lot of energy. And because energy is an exhaustible resource, the brain was designed to conserve it. Trying and failing to develop new, healthier habits is stressful, but it doesn’t need to be.

Have you noticed that illness interrupts life at the most inconvenient times, like when you are at your busiest, right before a big event, or while navigating a challenging situation or circumstance?

Health factors correlate to stressors. When chronically stressed, the body reserves its resources to combat the stressor. The problem is that the body does not distinguish between a physical threat to your life and exhaustion, emotional stress, and repercussions from traumatic events. 

Pain can be a stress reaction caused by muscle tension that perpetuates when the muscle should be resting. Often, a person is unaware of muscle tension. Stress-induced muscle tension in the head, neck, or shoulders can result in tension headaches. A lack of awareness can make it challenging to tackle tension-induced pain. To further exacerbate the problem, even a low level of chronic pain can increase stress, resulting in increased muscle tension.