Music the healer Erin Girouard


“One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.”


can invoke memories and inspire feelings of happiness or sadness. But can music actually help to heal us when we are sick? The notion of using music to improve physical,


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mental and spiritual well-being is not a new one. Ac- cording to the American Music Therapy Association, the concept of using music in a healing capacity dates back at least as far as the writings of Aristotle and Plato. Florence Nightingale, widely recognized as the founder of modern nursing, wrote about the value of music in the healing process her 1859 book, Notes on Nursing, stating “The effect of music upon the sick has been scarcely at all noticed. In fact, its expensiveness, as it is now, makes any general application of it quite out of the question. I will only remark here, that wind instruments, including the human voice, and stringed instruments, capable of continuous sound, have gener- ally a beneficent effect…’ In the almost 160 years since these words were writ-


ten, we have come a long way in our understanding of the role of music in healing. This concept has con- tinued to evolve over the years, with the organized clinical profession of music therapy beginning to take shape in the mid 1940s, after World War II. Nurses and doctors found music to be beneficial in treating those who were suffering from physical and emotional trauma. By the 1970s, music therapy had become an established health profession. It is important to note the distinction between clini- cal music therapy and the use of music as a therapeu- tic tool. In clinical music therapy, a credentialed music


ob Marley sang these words back in 1973, and they still ring true today. For many of us, music is a source of comfort during difficult times. It


concerns. Music therapy has been shown to decrease anxiety and agitation, increase motivation, improve self-image, and enhance interpersonal relationships. A study from the University of Helsinki found that listening to music helped to enhance the cognitive re- covery and mood of patients who had experienced a stroke. In a 2015 article published by The Lancet, re- searchers reviewed 73 studies on the effects of adults who listened to music after various surgical proce- dures. They found that music had helped to reduce pain and anxiety and improve patient satisfaction. From chronic pain management to substance abuse


Music has the power to comfort and inspire people.


therapist uses music interventions to work with indi- viduals to accomplish a specific goal. This work may be done one-on-one, in a group setting, or in clinical settings such as hospitals. However, we often see the presence of music in other capacities in a hospital set- ting. It is common to see an instrumentalist playing in a lounge, a patient listening to music on an iPod, or even a choir singing in a hospital lobby during the holiday season. In recent years, researchers have explored the effect


of clinical music therapy and other musical interven- tions in improving our health and well-being. Their findings to date have been promising. A recent study from UBC found that music therapy


can reduce agitation and irritability in patients Al- zheimer’s disease. Music therapy has also been known to help individuals with Parkinson’s disease improve their gait and facilitate body movement. The American Music Therapy Association cites nu-


merous studies demonstrating the benefits of music therapy for individuals experiencing mental health


I’m too high! Now what? Black pepper and other strategies to bring yourself down.


Marshall Posner


that comes with being too high. All five of your senses are in overdrive, your heart is pounding, the vending ma- chine is talking to you, and the arms on the clock are spinning out of control. For those who like talking to vend- ing machines, the above might be okay. For most however,


M it would likely feel


uncomfortable. Maybe you smoked too much too fast. Maybe you overdid it on your friend’s brownies. Maybe you for- got to “start low and go slow.” It hap- pens. The reason won’t matter in the mo-


ost cannabis consumers have experienced it at one time or another, the feeling of paranoia


ment, although you’ll certainly want to remember it in the future. For now, you just need to fix it. But


how? First, try to stay calm, this too shall


pass. Time is your friend. It might take 10 minutes, it might take a few hours, but everything is going to be okay. Take some deep breaths if you can manage it, and don’t panic. Hydrate. With water, not alcohol. Eat something, preferably with at least a little substance to it, but snacks will work too. Try crunching a few black peppercorns if the cupboards are being friendly to you. A sniff of pepper straight from the shaker will work too. People might think you’re weird, but the terpenes in black pepper will argue for a date with the same sweet cannabi-


noid receptors in the brain that the THC wants to marry. Always keep a paper pep- per pack in your pocket just in case (say that three times fast, paper pepper pack, paper pepper pack, paper pepper pack). Try to distract yourself and focus on something that will take your mind off everything else. Maybe a movie, like Cheech and Chong’s Up In Smoke or Alice in Wonderland, just not the Johnny Depp version. Probably not a good idea to watch Fear and Loathing in Las Ve- gas either. Cartoons like Bugs Bunny and Mr. Magoo might work. Anything that will focus your attention on something other than you and the people you think are staring at you (they’re actually not). Take a walk if you can. Just make sure not to go too far, unless you’ve got trust- ed friend with you. A warm bath and a


nap might do the trick too. Everybody’s different, but there’s a good chance you’ll know what will work, for you. Finally, al- though this might not be first on some lists, try some CBD oil, which can pre- vent THC from binding with your plea- sure receptors and tone down the crazi- ness.


Once you’re back on earth, think about what happened to cause the situation. You still have to remember to “start low and go slow,” but maybe you can try a lower percentage THC strain the next time, or a higher percentage CBD strain. The latter could provide a more balanced high, while the former might give you that perfectly pleasurable feeling you’ve been looking for all along. Marshall Posner is VP, Sales & Market- ing, Delta 9 Cannabis Inc.


u Exploring Highway 7, a great place for family adventure Continued from page 1


family photo. If you have brought young ones with you on this journey, stop to see the largest mosquito in Manitoba, and possibly Canada. Just off this highway at Komarno on PR #229, it is worth the detour to see this huge metal replica and discover what the name Komarno means. Continuing north you’ll see fields of


waving grain, hay fields filled with bales along with cattle hiding in the bushes to grab some shade or cozying up to a smoky fire to help keep away the mos- quitoes and black flies. Next stop, Meleb! You can’t make a trip north on Hwy # 7 and not stop to see the mushrooms that celebrate the food that is picked in se- cret. You are met with stone silence when asked, “Where do you pick them?” There are competitions between some family members and nobody is letting those se- crets out. Three huge replicas honour the most common mushrooms found in the area. There are also miniatures of former


August 2019


schools from the Rural Municipality of Armstrong. Off you go farther north, turning right


on Hwy #68 to the east side of Arborg, where more surprises await you at the Arborg and District Multicultural Heri- tage Village, the newest regional Star Attraction. This is a circa-1930s village with buildings moved in from around the region celebrating Icelandic, Polish, Ukrainian, and Indigenous cultures. Even with young ones in tow, there are so many buildings to explore, artifacts that will flood you with memories and an opportunity to bring the past alive for you or your children and grandchildren. Paintings of every church in the Interlake decorate the walls of the old hall, a mem- ory in the making itself. Snap a photo of those kids up on the old fashioned full size stage or aboard the caboose! We know that seeing “old stuff ” is only good for so long. How about stopping


for lunch, or ordering take-out and going to the outdoor Aquatic Centre to enjoy your picnic and a cooling off time? A pic- nic area along with the pool, slides, and a spray pad make this a wonderful place to spend some time. Then catch a family shot in front of Manitoba’s largest curl- ing rock... you really can’t miss it! After some cooling down, head out


of town and turn left on Hwy #68 to Hwy #8, or continue to PR #222 and take a slower cruise south along Lake Winnipeg. You’ll travel past Hnausa, one of the older and less well known Icelan- dic settlements. In this area you can find Betsy Ramsey’s grave – this story is one told at the Arborg Heritage Village. Keep moving south, eventually catch- ing the scent of grains brewing at Dia- geo, the makers of famed Crown Royal as the massive brewing facility comes into sight. You are just north of Gimli now. Do you have time for fish and chips


Gail McDonald showing off Interlake churches.


perhaps, or a selfie at the Viking statue on 2nd Ave? You can always leave exploring Gimli and


the lakeside communities for another day. If so head west on PR #231 to Hwy #8 and straight south to Winnipeg. It’s about a 60 minute drive and you’ll take with it tired smiles and joyous memories. Gail McDonald is the Interlake Tourism manager. www.interlaketourism.com.


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treatment, it seems like the potential to use musical interventions to improve our health and well-being is limitless. While more research is needed to fully ex- plore the relationship between music and its impact on our health, this important work will help us har- ness the healing power of music and use it to its full potential. With summer now in full swing, be sure to take


some time for you to enjoy music. Put on some calm- ing music while meditating, dance to your favourite playlist, or pick up that old guitar collecting dust in the corner – no matter how you enjoy music, make a point of taking a break from your daily routine to make some time for it. At the Vic Foundation, we are excited to bring the therapeutic benefits of music to our hospital next month with CJNU 93.7 FM. On Tuesday and Thurs- day afternoons for the entire month of September, we are presenting The Vic Foundation by Request: a special afternoon segment featuring requests from patients at The Vic and our clients at Victoria Life- line. Best of all, patients will have the opportunity to listen live to their requests and enjoy an afternoon of nostalgia radio. Erin Girouard is the Communications & Public Rela- tions Manager at Victoria General Hospital Foundation. This article is meant to be informational in nature and should not replace the advice of a trained healthcare pro- fessional.


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