When my mom was in early dementia, my friend Conrad, who taught yoga, suggested breathing practices - but I didn't live near enough to help her implement something new ...
In the 90s, I took 'How Music Heals' as part of Laurie Riley's Music for Healing and Transition certification program. We learned how music can reduce pain, lower blood pressure, reduce anxiety, stabilize the heart rate, promote well being and enhance the memory.
I was intrigued by studies showing familiar music, esp. from our younger years, helps place folks in time and aids memory. In contrast, less familiar and arrhythmic music is best when playing for someone in their last days (Thanatology), and that with a steady rhythm can stabilize the heart.
I remembered that my dad played piano and sang old favorites most evenings, and we often played and sang together throughout my youth and childhood. We noticed a decline in my mom's memory after his passing. She enjoyed music, but didn't sing or play herself, so lost the benefit of those daily tunes.
At a folk harp retreat in the mid 90s, harper Ron Price, who had a debilitating neurological disorder, told us that his symptoms abated when he played an hour each day, but began to return when he skipped several days - the harp sits against the chest and stimulates the thymus gland. Ron had begin taking small therapy harps into care facilities, so patients could play themselves, and receive more benefits.
Sound healer Jonathan Goldman suggests humming for ~ 5 minutes each day, while Jim Donovan besteaks studies showing meditation or chanting a mantra (Sa Ta Na Ma) with accompanying mudra (hand positions) benefits the brain and slows the onsert of degeneration.
If you sing, play an instrument, or have a mindfulness practice, you're already ahead of the game! If your practice is more sporadic, consider adding 15-30 minutes a day for a week, and see how you feel!
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