Isn't it amazing how music can take us to places and times. I remember my motivational music to get psyched up for wrestling matches in high school listening to Stxy (mostly Renegade, Blue Collar Man, Grand Illusion). This many years later, turned into healing music as I worked through trauma and other issues. Alan Roubik. one of my favorite musicians, designed music specifically designed for healing. I spent months waking up to "Keys to my heart", and going to sleep to "7 Chakras" during a particularly rough portion of my life journey. 7 Chakras is one of my favorites, very cool relaxing music for meditation and sleep. If you play it on decent speakers, you can actually feel it vibrating the various chakra areas throughout your body as it goes through the different songs, each designed to resonate through the body at different frequencies, from lower to higher. I still use the "Keys to my heart" as one of my favorites when getting on airplanes (which I hate), before settling in to a nice "Shaman's Heart" by Byron Mitchell which is designed around "Hemi-Sync" binaural stimulation techniques (but that is a whole additional post).
There are entire studies and disciplines related to sound and it's effects on the body. All the way from Tibetan "singing" bowls to ultrasound baby graphics, to sonic kidney stone disintegration. To say that sound and music has no effect on us physically or mentally would be foolish.
The link between association of a particular mood, memory or feeling is or has been trained in us as part of our history and learning. The affect of particular frequencies or vibration patterns, well now that is a whole different level of understanding we have not yet fully identified and cateqorized.
Enjoy!
K
Clearly music has meant a great deal to you throughout certain times in your life and I'm not unsurprised the benefits have been immeasurable. Music is such an important aspect of life and I'd say that whilst many, like myself, cannot define or clarify why, most would agree in some way. It's funny, I sometimes run into someone that doesn't listen to music other than what they may hear generically when going about their life and my brain has trouble computing how they get by in life.
I have so much mood music and rely on all of it at some stage, depending on what mood I'm in or want to be in. I listen to all genres also with each providing an element of value depending on the situation.
It's interesting about the effects of sound on the body. I saw how music (and animals for that matter) had such a profound effect upon the old folks and dementia-sufferers at my dad's nursing home so I'm not surprised the concept goes much deeper. Those Tibetan singing bowls...I saw a thing about meditation based around that and it's pretty interesting the state they cold get themselves into just through sound. So interesting.
I have some music I listen to at night and one track in particular that makes me feel so relaxed and soothed...I've not been sleeping well lately for reasons I am understanding of, and its helped. This is a remix version but you'll get the idea...I rely heavily on this track, as you do with those you mention.