Thank you for the music, the songs I’m singing
Thanks for all the joy they’re bringing
Who can live without it? I ask in all honesty
What would life be
Without a song or a dance, what are we?
So I say thank you for the music
For giving it to me
—ABBA
MUSIC, IN ONE form or another, has been around for eons. Experts have found instruments dating back to over 40,000 years. It was used for communication, to start the hunt, bring on the rain, rock the baby to sleep, 
celebrate the occasion, gather the community and yes, for healing. The use of music for healing dates back to Ancient Greek physicians who used flutes, lyres and zithers to help heal their patients. The Sotho of South Africa consider singing an ordinary, everyday activity by everyone, young and old, men and women, not an activity reserved for a special few.
Music is an integral part of ALL Bonnie Prudden’s programs. Whether, floor exercise with groups, exercise with small equipment, baby exercise, aqua-exercise, or corrective exercise music is the key.
Once pointed out to you, which Bonnie was very good at doing, you could SEE why music is a valuable tool whether you are working with a group or one on one. When there is music, everyone, well almost everyone, hears the beat and moves with the rhythm. When everyone moves together the 
group, no matter how large, becomes as one. It looks good, is powerful and it is easier to spot the few who need help. Music gives a beginning and an end to the movement. The body “gives up” its random ways and it becomes more clear and precise. Music tells you whether to march, waltz, skip, slide, gallop, hop, go on tip toe or creep low. It tells you whether to make circles, waves, go straight or zig zag, go fast or go slow. And last but not least, it lifts your spirit.
In This is Your Brain on Music, Daniel Levitin tells us that Americans spend more money on music than on sex or prescription drugs. Music affects our brains, minds, thoughts and spirit and music is distributed throughout the brain. Music listening, performance, and composition engage nearly every area of the brain that has so far been identified and involves nearly every neural subsystem. It is why we can sing when we can’t speak and it is why music therapy was used to restore speech for Senator Gabby Gifford after she was shot in the left side of her brain.
The cerebellum is the part of the brain that is involved closely with timing and with coordinating movements of the body. It is right at the back of your neck. Although it weighs only 10 percent as much as the rest of the brain, it contains 50 to 80 percent of the total number of neurons. It is crucial to music and timing. It is involved in maintaining movement and gait.
One of the hallmarks of Parkinson’s disease is difficulty walking, and we now know that cerebellar degeneration accompanies this disease. Along with medication the two things recommended for those with Parkinson’s are movement and music.
Margaret Bourke White, the famous photographer for Life magazine, came to Bonnie in 1962. She had already had two brain surgeries for Parkinson’s but the results wer e temporary and Margaret wanted to improve her walking. Bonnie put her in exercise clothes, took her to the downstairs gym and gave her the Kraus-Weber test which showed in a matter of two minutes that she was strong but inflexible which is “usually connected with Parkinson’s if for no other reason than the concentration it requires.” The daily workouts were to music and she was soon striding around the track and through 
the woods.
Bonnie developed Hugging and Bed Ballet for working with those who were chair o r bed bound but always with music. If the person was a patient with spasticity the trigger point work was done along with music to a specific muscle group and followed with passive exercise to that area while the muscles were pliable.
We hold on to music until the very end. People in nursing homes who’ve not spoken or hardly moved will start tapping a foot or a hand when the music is turned on. They will hum or sing when they’ve given up talking.
They say that love makes the world go round… but I think music does too.
When you attend a concert: classical, rock, heavy metal, country, blues, jazz… no one at that event cares about your politics, religion, dress, hair, gender, or color. It is all about the music.
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If you have questions or need help, email me at enid@bonnieprudden.com.
For more information about Bonnie Prudden®, Bonnie Prudden Myotherapy®, workshops, books, self-help tools, DVDs, educational videos, and blogs, visit www.bonnieprudden.com. Or call 520-299-8064 if you have questions or need help. Enid Whittaker, Managing Director, Bonnie Prudden Myotherapy®