Holistic Solopreneurs can use Music or Sound for Productivity
Holistic solopreneurs are deeply heart-centered people who have a powerful commitment to serve others. This drive of purpose and passion provides essential healing to so many people in need. This is rewarding soul work for an holistic practitioner.
But in order to build a strong, sustainable business it is necessary to wear many hats. Hats like marketing manager, customer service, scheduling, personal training, creation of products or services, delivering product or service, secretary, bookkeeper, webmaster, blog writer.
This is a lot when you’d rather be just working with your clients. Keeping up with all of these tasks requires focus and productive use of your time in order for you to build your business to its full potential. There is only one of you, after all.
Here are four tips on how to choose music or sounds that can help you accomplish a great deal in the shortest time.
Hormones and Nature Sounds
TIP 1.
Sound or music that you would call noise, actually causes an increase in hormones that produce symptoms of stress. Stress destroys productivity. Playing your favorite music stimulates your brain to produce dopamine, among other mood enhancers, that shifts your mood into a happy one. A happier emotional state leads to a more focused and productive mind.
TIP 2.
Nature sounds are healthiest sounds you can listen to, especially wind, water and birdsong. Birdsong and gently bubbling water is one of your best choices for a highly focused mind AND a relaxed body. Here’s how it works.
The low sounds of the water calms your nervous system, slows down your heartbeat lowering blood pressure, slows down your breathing and creates a shift in brainwave state to the alpha state. A calming relaxation response.
In addition to the relaxation, the birdsong consists of high sounds and you never know when a bird is going to sing – birdsong is totally unpredictable.
Your brain loves patterns and constantly looks for them. But the brain can’t find any patterns in birdsong. The result is the brain becomes alert, focused and productive at the same time your body is relaxed.
This is a great sound to have in the background when you need to stay focused while you remain relaxed.
Rhythm and it’s Two principles
TIP 3.
Rhythm changes your heartbeat, breathing and brainwaves. This is called entrainment. When you walk into the grocery store there is always music playing. It takes only minutes for your heartbeat to match the rhythm of the music. There is no ‘off switch’ for this response. It happens even if you are paying no attention to the music.
Your heartbeat, brainwaves and breathing rhythms are all intimately connected. When you change one of them, you change all three.
This leads us to the Fourth Tip.
TIP 4.
There are two principles to keep in mind when you want to use music or sound for your health or to help you focus and be more productive.
1. Low frequency sounds and slow rhythms tend to discharge the nervous system.
When you have had a really tough day – reach for sounds that discharge that energy and create more relaxation – slow rhythms and deep bass.
2. High frequency sounds and fast rhythms charge the nervous system.
When you need to stay more alert reach for higher frequencies, like flute or clarinet, and faster rhythms.
I trust this gives you a new way to look at your music collection.
Please check my next blog, where I will share with you some of my favorite solutions of recorded music for focus and productivity.
About Sharon Carne:
Sharon Carne, BMus, M.F.A. is an author, speaker, musician, recording artist, sound healer, Reiki master and consultant. Sharon is the founder of Sound Wellness, whose programs are at the forefront of education in how sound and music can be easily applied to your everyday life – to reduce stress, help you concentrate, energize you, inspire you, support your health and so much more.