Building your self-care toolbox
January is national hobby month! While hobbies are often not prioritized, having a toolbox of activities you can do just for fun can really booster your overall wellness. At Wildwood Music Therapy, building leisure skills is both a therapeutic goal and a goal we address in music lessons.
Playing an instrument or engaging in music in some way as a leisure skill can serve many roles. Firstly, simply the joy of making music can’t be discounted as a worthy goal in itself. Making space for joy and fun is sometimes harder than it seems like it should be. As a music therapist and in teaching music lessons, one of my favorite things to do is facilitating successful music making experiences that increase confidence, self-efficacy, and which are internally motivating. When music makers feel confidence and enjoy making music, they are more likely to choose music as a leisure activity at home. This might be particularly useful when processing unwanted emotions, when feeling down, when feeling especially stressed or anxious, or when dealing with anger.
Engaging in music activates the reward centers in your brain, but in a less immediate way than screen-based leisure activities. Adding music making or music listening to your “dopamine menu” and choosing it when you need a boost can provide a longer lasting positive effect on your mood. (If you haven’t heard of a dopamine menu, I recommend you check it out, especially if you have ADHD.)
Playing an instrument can also open up opportunities to make music with other people. Making music with others is a unique experience and studies have shown that making music in a group increasing feelings of group cohesion and strengthens social bonds.
Regardless of what level of skill you reach, learning an instrument is also good for your brain; it challenges your executive functioning, motor planning, and strengthens the connection between the two brain hemispheres. It’s also good for your mental flexibility - making mistakes, trying again, trying to match with another person; these are all things that can be frustrating in every day life that you can practice coping with through learning an instrument.
It is never too late or too early to start enjoying music making. We currently have spots for piano lessons, ukulele lessons, guitar lessons, drum-set lessons, voice lessons, and bass guitar lessons, and music exploration lessons for all ages and abilities. We especially welcome individuals who are looking for an approach that focuses on strengths and preferences, and an environment that hopes to foster a life-long intrinsic enjoyment of music making. Learn more about the lessons we offer here.
