Acoustic Expressions: Music for Relaxation Meditation and Massage

Album Description

Introspective songs performed on acoustic guitar. Some tracks feature multiple soothing layers of guitar while others highlight the beauty of a solo performance. This CD is intentionally formatted for use as a tool for relaxation, meditation, and massage. Sit back, relax and enjoy an hour of uninterrupted musical stress-relief.

About the Artist

Michael Smith first found his love for the guitar in 1978. After spending several years playing in a variety of rock and roll bands he studied music theory and improvisation with a private instructor. This experience brought out the songwriter in Michael. He began to explore the endlessly beautiful palette of sounds and emotions that could be produced by one solitary guitar. During this time he also discovered artists like Michael Hedges and Larry Carlton. These artists reinforced Michael's desire and motivated his spirit to create acoustic music. Since this discovery, Michael has written many acoustic pieces as a way of expressing his emotions and healing his soul.

Listen to samples

The Awakening

Only One

Time and Again

Music as Healer

Since the dawn of civilization music has been employed to communicate, enhance rituals and celebrations, entertain, and produce altered states of consciousness. In ancient Greece, Apollo was the God of medicine and music, and in the mystery schools of Egypt both sound and healing were considered to be sacred sciences. During the rein of Queen Elizabeth the First, physician, poet, and composer, Thomas Campion treated depression and similar psychological issues through the use of his songs in the early years of the sixteenth century.

Today a substantial body of research exists that validates what man has known since before the time of recorded history - music is a powerful ally in healing, impacting both our psychology and physiology. Soothing, repetitive, and complex rhythms alter our heart and respiratory rates, as well as our circulatory, endocrine, and immune systems. In the fourth century Plato asserted that music heals our souls, in the twenty first century modern man has firmly established the role that music plays in facilitating the healing of our minds and bodies.

To achieve maximum benefits from listening to music, it is recommended that you prepare the physical setting first. Find a quiet place where you are unlikely to be interrupted, dim the lights or light a candle, and make sure that the thermostat is set at a comfortable temperature. You may also want to have writing implements close by in the event that you choose to journal during or after your music session as music stimulates the spontaneous flow of thoughts, feelings, memories, and creative energy. Next, take off your shoes and make yourself physically comfortable, either lying down or sitting in a reclining chair that completely supports your weight and ideally includes arm and leg support. When you're settled comfortably, spend a few moments relaxing the muscles in your body, from the top of your head to the tips of your toes. Take a few deep breaths, inhaling through your nose, and exhaling through your mouth. We recommend that whenever possible, play the CD from beginning to end, listening actively rather than passively by allowing the music to both touch and lead you. As the music plays you may begin to experience visual images, movement, memories, drowsiness, physical sensations, and or an intensification of your emotions. There is no perfect or correct response to the music, just allow yourself to experience and respond to what ever comes up for you. When the music stops, it is suggested that you stay still for a few moments, simply absorbing the silence and allowing yourself the opportunity to integrate the experience.

As a therapist, I've learned that there are so very many experiences that language cannot begin to convey and feelings that there simply are no words for. During those times, I have often found myself playing a piece of beautiful music while sitting with a client in respectful and humble silence, hoping to touch those places where only a loving heart or music might reach. And so my fellow traveler, I invite you now to relax, breathe deeply, and allow the music of Michael Smith to touch your own sacred and secret places.

Many Blessings to you on your musical journey...

Dr. Tammie Byram Fowles, LCSW, Ph.D.

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