Music, the language of the soul, is as old as humanity. It's no secret that people love music.

While taste in music differs from person to person, almost everyone enjoys some type of music. But by common observation, professional medical practitioners have linked music to our wellbeing and general health. A recent study concludes that listening to music has positive health effects on people of all ages. The therapeutic benefits of music can be traced back in time to ancient shamanistic rituals. Music, as tool of healing was recognized in the writings of Pythagoras, Aristotle and Plato. They believed that it can influence physical, emotional, cognitive and social well-being and improve quality of life. Below are music's health benefits explained in detail: Pain Killer: Music has the ability to reduce pain through release of endorphins which act as natural pain killers. It can also divert attention away from the pain and encouraging relaxation. According to a study published in the Journal of Advanced Nursing, listening to music daily can reduce chronic pain by up to 21 percent. The study also found that listening to music made people feel more in control of their pain, reduced depression, and made people feel less disabled by their condition. Reduces Stress: Stress has been associated with many illnesses, including several mental illnesses that seem to occur only in people with exceedingly high stress levels. In a study conducted, subjects were made listen to a half-hour of soothing music twice daily for two weeks. It showed significantly greater reductions in stress and anxiety levels in the subjects. Cardiovascular benefits: Listening to soothing music also helps reduce your heart rate and blood pressure. As a result of a lower blood pressure, it also reduces the risk of stroke and other health problems over time. In a new Italian study, researchers found that people with mild hypertension (high blood pressure) who listened to classical, Celtic or Indian (raga) music for just 30 minutes a day for one month had significant reductions in their blood pressure. Good music helps to calm down the cells and tissues that make up the lungs thereby bringing down the patient's breathing and heart rate to normal. Stimulate brains cells: Research has shown that music with a strong beat can stimulate brainwaves to resonate in sync with the beat, with faster beats bringing sharper concentration and more alert thinking. On the other hand, listening to soothing classical music improves ability to focus for longer time and promotes a calm, meditative state. It brings about a sense of well-being and creativity, a change which lasts long after the music has ceased to play. Boosts exercise performance: Listening to music while you exercise may have a considerable impact on your exercise performance and commitment. Music diverts your attention in repetitive exercises thus the feeling of fatigue, exhaustion and boredom are evaded. Music can also act as a stimulant which can increase your performance. Respiration and cardiac rate is increased from music which can help you intensify your workout. According to a study conducted in 2005, listening to music while exercising boosted participants' weight loss and helped exercisers stay consistent. Promotes a sound sleep: Listening to music as we drift off to sleep ensures that we get the rest that we need from our sleep. Sleep puts your body in a healthy condition as it takes away the effects of stress, depression and anxiety from a person. Increase optimism: Depression leads to weakness, headache, confusion, and loss of concentration. Music can also be used to bring a more positive state of mind, helping to keep depression at bay. Good music also makes one to remember happy moments or good days. It also increases self-esteem and self-confidence. Helps in Cancer: Research suggests that music may offer a number of benefits for people coping with cancer. It reduces anxiety in patients receiving radiation therapy, as well as eases nausea and vomiting resulting from high-dose chemotherapy. Helps socialize: Music is a great way to get together with people who share a similar passion. It helps you to meet new people, socialize and give you a sense of belonging. Helps in spiritual health: There is a unique connection between music and spirituality. Chanting or some kind of music helps people worship in a meaningful way, and makes them feel closer to God. Music performs unimaginable wonders and is fundamental to a human's well-being. So make music a part of your lifestyle and feel the difference. Read more: http://www.lifemojo.com/lifestyle/10-benefits-of-listening-to-music-19402577#ixzz24laD2HXr

Northwestern University scientists have pulled together a review of research into what music -- specifically, learning to play music -- does to humans. The result shows music training does far more than allow us to entertain ourselves and others by playing an instrument or singing. Instead, it actually changes our brains. The paper, just published in Nature Reviews Neuroscience, is a compilation of research findings from scientists all over the world who used all kinds of research methods. The bottom line to all these studies: musical training has a profound impact on other skills including speech and language, memory and attention, and even the ability to convey emotions vocally. So what is it that musical training does? According to the Northwestern scientists, the findings strongly indicate it adds new neural connections -- and that primes the brain for other forms of human communication. In fact, actively working with musical sounds enhances neuroplasticity, the brain's ability to adapt and change. "A musician's brain selectively enhances information-bearing elements in sound. In a beautiful interrelationship between sensory and cognitive processes, the nervous system makes associations between complex sounds and what they mean," Nina Kraus, lead author of the Nature paper and director of Northwestern's Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory, explained in a statement to the media. "The efficient sound-to-meaning connections are important not only for music but for other aspects of communication." For example, researchers have found that musicians are better than non-musicians in learning to incorporate sound patterns for a new language into words. Their brains also appear to be primed to comprehend speech in a noisy background. What's more, children who have had music lessons tend to have a larger vocabulary and better reading ability than youngsters who haven't had any musical training. And children with learning disabilities, who often have a hard time focusing when there's a lot of background noise, may be especially helped by music lessons. "Music training seems to strengthen the same neural processes that often are deficient in individuals with developmental dyslexia or who have difficulty hearing speech in noise," Dr. Kraus stated. The Northwestern researchers concluded their findings make a case for including music in school curriculums. "The effect of music training suggests that, akin to physical exercise and its impact on body fitness, music is a resource that tones the brain for auditory fitness and thus requires society to re-examine the role of music in shaping individual development," they wrote. In addition to musical training, listening to music has also been shown to have some remarkable beneficial effects on the body. For example, as NaturalNews has previously reported, Tel Aviv University scientists found that premature infants exposed to thirty minutes of Mozart's music daily grew far more rapidly than premature babies not exposed to classical music (http://www.naturalnews.com/028011_music_premature_babies.html) and researchers at the University of Florence in Italy documented that listening to classical, Celtic or Indian (raga) music once a day for four weeks significantly reduced the blood pressure in people suffering from hypertension (http://www.naturalnews.com/023479_blood_pressure_hypertension.html). Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/029324_music_brain.html#ixzz24lbUpNeY

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS PICK RANDOMLY: Can you think of examples of music calming people or increasing their efficiency? Do you think music can heal sick people? Do you think that animals can enjoy music? How do you know? Do you think that music can help make world peace? How? Can you concentrate on other things when you are listening to music? Do you listen to music while doing your homework? Do you think there is a relationship between drugs and music? How about violence and music? Which do you prefer, songs in English or songs in your own language? Why? Is the image of the group or singer more important than the music? What do you think the next piece of music technology will be, after digital technology? If you could invent a new instrument, what would it sound like? Do you think the use of drugs by some musicians increases their artistic creativity? What makes a song popular for you, the lyrics of the song or the melody? Do you ever download MP3 files from the Internet? Do you ever create (mix) CD's for your friends? Does your country have laws against copying CD's? Do you think it is wrong to download music for free? Does music affect unborn children? Do you think that people from different cultures react to music in different ways? If you could be any musician in the world, who would you be and why? Should music lyrics be rated similar to the way movies are rated? What do you think the world would be like without music? What do you think of manufactured bands? Can you name any?

If you were a song, what song would you be and why?