Harmony: The neuroscience of singing

[Anamarija]

It is those days when my birthday arrives when I'm each year little bit depressed. I have tried to find something inspirational on Sott.net (what I usually always found) which will bring some joy and energy to move my self and I did. I hope that this will give others, with same conditions, feeling of hope, joy and make them sing all day long ;).

The neuroscience of singing

Singing Together Brings Heartbeats Into Harmony
The neuroscience of singing shows that when we sing our neurotransmitters connect in new and different ways. It fires up the right temporal lobe of our brain, releasing endorphins that make us smarter, healthier, happier and more creative. When we sing with other people this effect is amplified.
The science is in. Singing is really, really good for you and the most recent research suggests that group singing is the most exhilarating and transformative of all.

What has not been understood until recently is that singing in groups triggers the communal release of serotonin and oxytocin, the bonding hormone, and even synchronises our heart beats.

Group singing literally incentivised community over an "each cave dweller for themselves" approach. Those who sang together were strongly bonded and survived.

Singing helps people with depression and reduces feelings of loneliness, leaving people feeling relaxed, happy and connected. What's more, the benefits of singing regularly are cumulative. People who sing have reduced levels of cortisol, indicating lower stress.

In article they mention UK singer, singing teacher and choir leader Sophia Efthimiou which describes singing as a process of consciously controlling our breath and larynx to create and sustain certain pitches and we blend that with rhythm and poetry to create songs. She has very beautiful energy, you can check her discourse https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_MItUaHk3o.

Article also mention Tania de Jong, singer and founder of Creativity Australia and I found very peaceful performance of her: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5xNw9aHiUY if you wanna check out.

People usually have many reason to not sing, my self also, but I cannot dispute the benefits from it.

And the most favourite part of this article, for me, is this:

One of the great things about singing is that is connects you to the right side of your brain. This is the side responsible for intuition, imagination and all our creative functions. It connects us to a world of possibilities. In modern life we are constantly bombarded with so much information that we process and analyze. We tend to get stuck in the left, processing side of our brain. So it becomes fundamentally important to nurture the attributes of human beings that set us apart from machines. The best way to do that is singing.