Music is Life and How Soundtracks Shape Our Heartbeats and Hijack Our Moods
- Brainz Magazine
- Jun 29
- 5 min read
Written by Lorraine Kenlock, Holistic Psychotherapist
Lorraine Kenlock is a Turks & Caicos-based psychotherapist specializing in trauma, ADHD, and mind-body nutrition. With advanced training in EMDR and somatic therapies, she helps clients across the Caribbean heal through culturally-attuned online and in-person sessions."
Forget background noise – music is the invisible electricity humming through human existence. It's the pulse in our headphones on a dull commute, the shared anthem at a stadium roaring as one, the lullaby that instantly soothes a crying child. MUSIC IS LIFE isn't just a poetic phrase; it's a biological truth. It reaches past our thoughts, plugs directly into our nervous system, and unconsciously conducts our moods, movements, and connections in ways that prove sound is woven into the very fabric of being alive.
The body's built-in rhythm section
Think about it:
Your heart on beat: A pounding dance track doesn't just make you want to move – it speeds up your heartbeat and breathing. A slow, soulful ballad? It can gently slow your pulse, easing tension without you even realising it. Music syncs with our most basic life rhythms.
Chills down your spine: That sudden wave of emotion when a chorus swells? That's not just "feeling it" – it's a dopamine flood in your brain's reward centre, a literal chemical rush of pleasure. Your nervous system is celebrating.
Feet tapping, hips swaying: Have you ever tried not moving to a killer groove? Music activates the brain's motor cortex – the part planning movement – priming your body to dance, nod, or tap long before you consciously decide to. MUSIC IS LIFE, which means it makes your body want to live in motion.
Instant time machine: A few notes of a song from your teens can instantly transport you back, not just remembering, but feeling those old emotions vividly. That's music bypassing logic and directly lighting up memory and emotion centres.
Music is life: The unconscious mood manager
We use music instinctively to navigate our days, proving its deep neural connection:
The playlist prescription: Need energy? Crank up the uptempo beats. Stressed? Slide into calming ambient sounds. Focused? Instrumental flows. We know music alters our state, curating soundtracks as mood medicine. It's self-therapy via Spotify.
The connection catalyst: Singing around a campfire, dancing at a wedding, swaying at a concert, when we share musical moments, something magical happens. Heartbeats and breathing subtly synchronize in the crowd. MUSIC IS LIFE becomes MUSIC IS US, forging bonds and belonging on a primal level. It's the ultimate social glue.
Identity's signature tune: The music we claim, whether it's hometown pride, a favourite band, or a cultural tradition, becomes part of our neural self-portrait. Hearing it activates brain networks linked to "me" and "my tribe," reinforcing our sense of identity, often unconsciously.
Life amplified: From lullabies to revolutions
This deep wiring makes music a powerful cultural force:
Ritual & reverence: From hymns that lift spirits to drum circles that induce trance, music has always been central to spiritual experience because it alters consciousness from the inside out.
Unity & uprising: National anthems stir pride, protest songs fuel courage, and sports chants ignite collective passion. Music synchronises groups, builds solidarity, and embeds messages deep in our emotional core, making movements powerful. Songs can change history.
The everyday magic: That coffee shop playlist is making you linger? Is the carefully chosen track in a movie scene making you cry? Is the workout mix pushing you harder? This is music's subtle power at work in commerce, art, and our daily routines. It sets the scene and steers our feelings, making us feel understood and connected in our shared experiences. Healing Harmonies: Recognising this power, music therapy helps manage pain, ease anxiety, unlock memories in individuals with dementia, and aid in physical rehabilitation. It speaks a language the nervous system understands when words fail to express. MUSIC IS LIFE, literally restoring it.
The play button on your existence
MUSIC IS LIFE because it mirrors life's rhythms and directly influences its flow within us. It's not just something we hear; it's something we feel in our pulse, our breath, our goosebumps, and our urge to move. It connects us to our past, to each other, and the raw current of our own emotions.
So next time you press play, remember: you're not just starting a song. You're activating a biological superpower. You're syncing your heartbeat to a beat, tuning your mood to a melody, and connecting to the shared, pulsing truth that MUSIC IS LIFE, note by incredible note. Let the soundtrack play on, and let's continue to explore the profound impact of music on our lives.
Ah, and that personal touch at the end, 'witness daily', makes it authentic. The exclamation 'Truly, MUSIC IS LIFE!' bookends the theme perfectly while validating the transformative power of music in our lives. It's not just a passive experience; it's an active force that shapes our existence.
Harnessing the rhythm for healing: A therapist's tool
Understanding this profound neural connection isn't just fascinating, it's transformative. As a therapist, I witness the incredible power of intentionally harnessing music's ability to regulate the nervous system daily. This isn't about passive listening; it's about targeted intervention.
In my practice, I incorporate cutting-edge auditory tools, such as the Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) and Rhythmic Regulation Protocols (RRP). These aren't playlists; they're carefully designed auditory workouts:
The Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP): This uses specially filtered music, often based on the human voice, to gently 'exercise' the middle ear muscles and vagus nerve, the key neural highway for safety, calm, and social connection. Think of it as returning the nervous system's antenna to detect safety cues in the world better, reducing chronic anxiety and hypervigilance, and opening the door for deeper emotional engagement and healing. MUSIC IS LIFE becomes MUSIC IS SAFETY. Rhythmic Regulation Protocols (RRP): These are carefully designed auditory workouts that use rhythmic patterns and musical elements to regulate the nervous system's arousal levels. They can be used to manage stress, improve focus, and enhance emotional regulation. MUSIC IS LIFE becomes MUSIC IS REGULATION.
Rest and Restore Protocols (RRP): Here, we leverage rhythm as a fundamental biological regulator. Using carefully selected rhythmic patterns, sometimes through listening, sometimes through active drumming or movement, we directly target the brainstem and autonomic nervous system. This helps clients struggling with dysregulation (from trauma, ADHD, anxiety, or depression) find their internal rhythm again. Rhythmic entrainment can stabilise heart rate variability, improve focus, release trapped physical tension, and foster a profound sense of embodied presence. MUSIC IS LIFE becomes MUSIC IS RHYTHM, the steady beat anchoring us back to ourselves.
Seeing a client shift from a state of fragmented overwhelm to one of grounded calm or watching their capacity for connection blossom after SSP is a testament to music's biological power. These protocols provide concrete pathways, using the very essence of sound and rhythm, to help individuals rewrite their nervous system's story, moving from survival back towards safety, connection, and vitality.
The final note
So next time you press play, remember: you're not just starting a song. You're activating a biological superpower. You're syncing your heartbeat to a beat, tuning your mood to a melody, and connecting to the shared, pulsing truth that MUSIC IS LIFE, note by incredible note. And as we're discovering through science and practice, this isn't just poetry, it's a profound truth we can now actively harness to heal, regulate, and thrive. From the dance floor to the therapy room, the soundtrack of our nervous system plays on, a powerful, ever-present reminder of life's deepest rhythms. Truly, MUSIC IS LIFE.
Read more from Lorraine Kenlock
Lorraine Kenlock, Holistic Psychotherapist
Lorraine Kenlock is a psychotherapist specializing in trauma, ADHD, and the mind-body connection, with a unique focus on Caribbean mental health. Blending EMDR, nutritional psychology, and culturally attuned therapy, she helps clients heal from chronic pain, grief, and shame—both in Turks & Caicos and online. Her groundbreaking work bridges island traditions with modern neuroscience, offering a fresh perspective on resilience.
