healing your heart 87
you enjoy, and be ready to jot down some songs or genres that you
may want to add to your music library. Songs that go from your
head to your heart will stimulate all of the forms of positivity that
Dr. Barbara Fredrickson, a professor of psychology and the prin-
cipal investigator of the Positive Emotions and Psychophysiology
Laboratory at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill,
described in her recent book Positivity: Groundbreaking Research
Reveals How to Embrace the Hidden Strength of Positive Emotions,
Overcome Negativity, and Thrive : joy, gratitude, serenity, interest,
hope, pride, amusement, inspiration, awe, and love. So feed your
soul what it most desires; a heartfelt song, played or belted out pas-
sionately, can truly satisfy your emotional hunger.
The University of Frankfurt in Germany found that singing
enhanced the immune systems of singers. On completion of per-
forming Mozart ’ s Requiem , members of the choir had higher levels
of immunoglobulin A; listeners experienced lower levels of cortisol, a
classic relaxation response. Choir singing was also found to promote
improved lung capacity, higher energy levels, relief from asthma,
better posture, a positive mood, and enhanced feelings of relaxation
and confi dence. Gene D. Cohen, the director of the Center on
Aging, Health, and Humanities at George Washington University,
led research on creativity and aging among a choral group of senior
citizens. The results surprised even the researchers. Because the
average age of the seniors was eighty, some decline in health was
expected, rather than the actual improvement in health that directly
related to their participation in the arts. The groups involved in
the arts reported fewer doctor visits, eyesight problems, and falls,
as well as less depression and need for medication. Researcher
Robert Beck, at the University of California–Irvine, administered
a saliva test to choir members and found increased levels of immu-
nity - building proteins. These proteins increased 150 percent during
a rehearsal and 240 percent during a performance, and increases
occurred over a two - to three - hour period.
Dr. Diane Austin, a vocal psychotherapist in private practice,
wrote about the benefi ts of singing: “ Singing facilitates deep
breathing.... Deep breathing slows the heart rate and calms the