April is stress awareness month. We are all under some sort of stress. Maybe we’re students and we’re trying to learn new concepts, make good grades, play sports, make friends and things like that. Maybe we’re adults and have stress at work, stress with relationships, financial stress and more. How do we deal with the stress we’re facing?
There’s plenty of unhealthy ways to handle stress. But making music can be a huge healthy stress reliever. Back when I was in middle school and high school, I had plenty of stress, and when I sat down at the piano, I could feel that stress go away as I played on the keys. Some times, I even played as hard and as loud as I possibly could…and it didn’t break the piano! It’s the piano that I teach lessons on!
Yes, some might say that practicing music creates stress. I’m not talking about practicing. I’m talking about sitting down with music you already know and love, or music that you want to play for fun. This goes such a long way in relieving stress. It isn’t adding more by working on practicing things, but it’s just letting that stress flow from your fingers or out of you mouth when you sing.
Have you found music to be a stress reliever? How has it helped you?