Music For Self Improvement

Would you like to pop in a CD and have a better quality of life, and even self improvement? There are three ways you can use music to accomplish this.

Music For Motivation

Put on energetic music, and even doing housework seems less like work. Using music to motivate yourself or change your mood is an area where you can trust your experience and experimentation. When you find the msic that energizes you, relaxes you, or makes you happy, keep it ready for when you need it.

Music For Intelligence

Music creates neural pathways in your brain that stimulate creativity. Studies show that music trains the brain for higher forms of thinking. In one study, three-year-olds were split into two groups. The first had no special training in, or exposure to music. The second group studied piano and sang daily in chorus.

Eight months later the musical three-year-olds were much better at solving puzzles. They also scored 80% higher in spatial intelligence than the other group. There's also anectdotal evidence that listening to music, especially from Mozart's era, can help you study and learn better.

Hopefully there will be more research. In the meantime there's no reason not to do your own experimentation. I've heard that Stephen King writes with loud rock music playing, so the benefits of music may be according to your own tastes or brain-organization.

Music For Brainwave Entrainment

Want to listen to some music, and get smarter, or have instant easy meditation? There are products now that "entrain" your brainwaves, in order to put you in a meditative state. Music is embedded with beats and pulses that entrain your brain waves to a specific frequency. Put in the right CD or MP3 for your activity, and you get better brain function. Science? Partly.

Brain wave frequencies vary with mental state. Daydreaming and light meditation take place in the "Alpha" range of frequencies, for example. So if you listen to music containing beats at a frequency of 10 Hz you will generate more brainwaves at a 10 Hz frequency and enter a relaxed Alpha mental state. Do these things really work?

Yes. I've found two products that put me in a peaceful state unlike any other music or meditative practice. Studies will prove the effects (some have already), and disprove the wilder claims. Given my results, however, I wouldn't wait for more research. Many things work long before the scientific proof arrives.

If you are skeptical, you can wait for more evidence of the benefits of brainwave entrainment. Meanwhile, why not try classical music when you study, just to see if it helps? Experiment with music - Mozart isn't dangerous.

Steve Gillman writes on many self help topics including boosting brainpower, losing weight, meditation, habits of mind, creative problem solving, learning gratitude, generating luck and anything related to self improvement. You'll find more at http://www.SelfImprovementNow.com

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Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga.,  gestures as he speaks during  an election-night party Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2008 in Atlanta. Chambliss defeated Democrat Jim Martin in a run off. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)AP - Georgia Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss handed the GOP a firewall against Democrats eager to flex their newfound political muscle in Washington, winning a bruising runoff battle Tuesday night that had captured the national limelight.



Gujarat state police inspector Subhash Raval, center, inspects the documents and identity cards of fishermen at a coast in Porbander, 412 kilometers (255 miles) west of Ahmadabad, India, Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2008. Security has been beefed up in coastal towns and ports in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat state after terrorists are suspected to have used the Porbandar port to reach Mumbai. The Indian navy is investigating whether a trawler found drifting off the coast of Mumbai, with a bound corpse on board, was used to ferry militants to the 60-hour rampage through India's financial capital by suspected Islamic militants that killed 172 people and rocked the nation. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)AP - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in New Delhi on Wednesday as part of a U.S. effort to ease tensions in the region after a three-day terrorist attack killed 171 people in India's financial capital.



Defense Secretary Robert Gates holds a press briefing at the Pentagon in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2008. Gates said that U.S. and British citizens were the targets of the violent siege in Mumbai, although most of those killed in the city, the nation's financial capital, were Indians. He also said Tuesday that the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, had gone to the region to meet with officials.  (AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson)AP - Defense Secretary Robert Gates signaled a willingness Tuesday to forge ahead with two key priorities for the incoming Obama administration: accelerating the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq and shutting down the Guantanamo Bay detention center.



Trader David O'Day works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2008. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)AP - The government must toughen its monitoring of the $700 billion financial bailout to ensure that banking institutions limit their top executives' pay and comply with other restrictions, federal auditors said Tuesday in the first comprehensive review of the rescue package.



In this handout photo provided by the Tracy Police Department, the booking mug for Michael Schumacher, 34, is shown. Schumacher, and wife Kelly Layne Lau, 30, were arrested late Monday, charged with torture and other counts after a bruised, terrified 17-year-old showed up at a gym with a chain locked to his ankle, claiming he had just fled his captors, authorities said Tuesday. (AP Photo/Tracy Police Department)AP - A Girl Scout leader and her husband were arrested after an emaciated, terrified and nearly naked 17-year-old showed up at a gym with a chain locked to his ankle, saying he had just fled his captors, authorities said Tuesday.



Chart compares the percentage of military service members getting divorced this year and last; 1 c x 2 7/8 in; 46.5 mm x 73.025 mmAP - The divorce rate among soldiers and Marines increased last year as military marriages suffered continuing stress from America's two ongoing wars. There were an estimated 10,200 failed marriages in the active duty Army and 3,077 among Marines, according to figures obtained by The Associated Press for the budget year ended Sept. 30.



U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, archivist Ira Pemstein listens online to the newly released tape recordings from the Nixon White House, on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2008 at the Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda, Calif. Documents shed new light on just how much the government struggled with growing public unrest over the protracted war in Vietnam. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)AP - In Richard Nixon's time, all the president's men fretted about threats on every front: disquiet out on the streets, disloyalty inside the administration and trouble from political opponents who had to be discredited at any cost.



AP - An independent report on American higher education flunks all but one state when it comes to affordability — an embarrassing verdict that is unlikely to improve as the economy contracts.

Actress Beyonce Knowles attends the premiere of 'Cadillac Records' in New York on Monday, Dec. 1, 2008.  (AP Photo/Peter Kramer)AP - Beyonce is the first artist lined up for next year's Essence Music Festival in New Orleans.



Indiana Pacers forward Danny Granger, left, puts up a shot in front of Los Angeles Lakers forward Vladimir Radmanovic (10), of Serbia, during the fourth quarter of an NBA basketball game in Indianapolis, Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2008. The Pacers won 118-117. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)AP - Danny Granger scored 32 points and led Indiana back from a 15-point fourth-quarter deficit, and Troy Murphy tipped in a missed shot at the buzzer to complete an improbable 118-117 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night.



U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, left, waves to media as she arrives at Palam technical airport in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2008. Rice arrived in New Delhi on Wednesday in Washington's effort to ease tensions in the region after a three-day terrorist attack that left 171 people dead in Mumbai. U.S. Ambassador to India David Mulford, center, and his wife Jeannie Mulford are also seen in the picture. (AP Photo/Gurinder Osan)Reuters - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in New Delhi on Wednesday as part of urgent U.S. efforts to ease tension between India and Pakistan that has surged over the Mumbai attacks.



A foreign currency dealer stands in front of a screen displaying the exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and the Korean won at the Korea Exchange Bank in Seoul November 24, 2008. (Jo Yong-Hak/Reuters)Reuters - South Korea moved on Wednesday to help local banks through a cash crunch gripping the global financial system as central banks around the world were expected to cut interest rates again to support their fast flagging economies.



New trucks are displayed for sale at a Ford dealership in Encinitas, California in this November 11, 2008 file photo. (Mike Blake/Reuters)Reuters - A top lawmaker predicted Washington would approve a bailout for U.S. automakers after they submitted survival plans, and General Motors Corp and Chrysler LLC said they needed an immediate infusion of cash to avoid failures.



President-elect Barack Obama meets with governors during a bipartisan meeting with members of the National Governors Association at Congress Hall in Independence Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania December 2, 2008. (Jeff Haynes/Reuters)Reuters - President-elect Barack Obama moved swiftly toward wrapping up his cabinet appointments on Wednesday with the selection of rival-turned-supporter Bill Richardson as secretary of commerce.



Incumbent Senator Saxby Chambliss (C) smiles after hugging his grandson John Baker and his mother Emma Chambliss after he had been told he was ahead in the run-off at his election night party in Atlanta, Georgia December 2, 2008. Chambliss won a run-off election in Georgia on Tuesday, CNN said, denying Democrats the chance for a 60-seat 'super majority' in the Senate that would have enabled them to pass legislation virtually at will. (Tami Chappell/Reuters)Reuters - Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss easily won a run-off election in Georgia on Tuesday, denying Democrats the chance for a 60-seat "super majority" in the Senate that would have enabled them to pass legislation virtually at will.



Defense Secretary Robert Gates points during a news conference at the Pentagon in Washington December 2, 2008. (Larry Downing/Reuters)Reuters - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who will stay on under Barack Obama, said on Tuesday he supported the president-elect's Iraq policy but declined to back his proposed timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. forces.



A station attendant fills up a bus at a gas station in Shanghai November 25, 2008. (Aly Song/Reuters)Reuters - Oil rose toward $48 a barrel on Wednesday, recovering from a tumble of more than $100 off July peaks, but the upside could be limited, with further signs of weakening oil demand expected in upcoming weekly U.S. oil data.



Senator Hillary Clinton along with daughter Chelsea (L) and husband former President Bill Clinton (C) speaks to supporters at her North Carolina and Indiana primary election night rally in Indianapolis, Indiana, May 6, 2008. (John Gress/Reuters)Reuters - New York Gov. David Paterson has famous names to choose from in picking a replacement for Sen. Hillary Clinton, including a Kennedy, a Cuomo and even another Clinton, as in the former president of the United States.



An anti-government protester waits for transport as demonstrators prepare to leave the Suvarnabhumi international airport in Bangkok on December 3. Hundreds of anti-government protesters have packed up and left Bangkok's airports after a crippling siege, as authorities assured angry tourists that flights would resume within 24 hours.(AFP/Hoang Dinh Nam)AFP - Hundreds of anti-government protesters packed up and left Bangkok's airports on Wednesday after a crippling siege, as authorities assured angry tourists that flights would resume within 24 hours.



Indians rest on the sea front promenade outside the Oberoi Trident hotel in Mumbai. Pakistan offered Tuesday to work hand-in-hand with India to track down those responsible for the Mumbai attacks but declined to respond immediately to a demand that it hand over 20 terrorist suspects.(AFP/Indranil Mukherjee)AFP - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in New Delhi Wednesday to try and ease India-Pakistan tensions over the Mumbai attacks, as US intelligence blamed a Pakistan-based militant group.




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