Change Your Brain Every Day - Prescribing Playlists – Part 2 of an Interview with Barry Goldstein

Episode Date: May 17, 2017

In the second installment of our series with Grammy Award winning producer Barry Goldstein, Dr. Daniel Amen and Tana Amen continue the discussion on the benefits of music. Learn how the power of rhythm can decrease inflammation, how pop songs can help people with ADD, and why you should create your own personal playlists to connect to any mood you want.

Welcome to the Brain Warriors Way podcast. I'm Dr. Daniel Amen. And I'm Tana Amen. Here we teach you how to win the fight for your brain to defeat anxiety, depression, memory loss, ADHD, and addictions. The Brain Warriors Way podcast is brought to you by Amen Clinics, where we've transformed lives for three decades using brain spec imaging to better target treatment and natural ways to heal the brain. For more information, visit amenclinics.com.

The Brain Warriors Way podcast is also brought to you by BrainMD, where we produce the highest quality nutraceutical products to support the health of your brain and body. For more information, visit brainmdhealth.com. Welcome to the Brain Warriors Way podcast. So welcome back. We are still here with our friend Barry Goldstein. And I have to tell you, I'm having so much fun. I just learned something really interesting. I always thought that my, especially because of my husband, Dr. Raymond, that my love of rock was because of my ADD. And I just learned that it's because it grounds me. I'm so happy. Often because you have ADD.

So we're just having a blast talking about music, how it affects your brain, what the science is behind it. And so welcome back. Thank you. This is awesome. We're having a blast. So before we get into different strokes for different folks, let's spend more time and talk about how music can help you through your day. So if you're getting ready to film, or you're getting ready for a meeting, what can you do with music ahead of time? Well, again, asking yourself, where am I now?

Where do I want to go? That's going to be my rule of thumb that I keep going back to. And if you're looking to be more motivated or more inspired because you have a leadership meeting, I like to listen to like Vangelis. I like to listen to like Vangelis. I like to listen to music with a lot of impact to it. And for me, that really inspires and kind of starts my flame to go, you wanna tap into that fire energy.

So other examples of that might be? Yeah, I mean, it could be Native American drumming, you know, things with rhythm that we're finding more and more the power of rhythm. We haven't really studied that that much in the past, but we're learning more and more that even in drum circles, which is very similar to like Native American drums, where people are actually hitting a drum or hitting an instrument, that there is decreased inflammation that's going on in the physical body. That's a new study that I just read. Wow.

And so if you think about that, when you're drumming, what's going on? You're releasing a lot of pent up emotions that are going on. It's a lot of that energy. So it's not that different when you're listening to it. So I've just been texting with Tony Robbins. He has been talking about our work at some of his seminars. And so Tan and I are actually going to go to his seminar, which we're really excited about. And I know he uses music a lot throughout his events to get people excited, motivated. Talk about how seminar leaders

or motivational speakers might use it to pump up a crowd, but how then people can use it to pump up themselves. Yeah. And I guarantee you that Anthony Robbins in each section is saying, wow, where's my audience now? and where do I want to take them? Because I've been through his trainings and in each one, when he goes through the relationship training, it's very different. Right, it's going to be like really beautiful music. You want to open the heart up. So you want to induce that emotion where you're feeling more contemplative

so you can go inward. So it creates more safety when you're playing that slower, more beautiful music. But then when people are released, right, and they're on the other side, in other words, they've made their conquest and they've had their breakthrough. Right. Right. Because Anthony Robbins was the first book I ever read that was kind of in the self-help and motivation and I loved it. And then I saw what he was doing at seminars. I go, well, he's really the DJ of these people's experience of what's going on.

So he's gonna have a much more uptempo, a more success driven, we did it, very inspirational to share in that joy of it. So he's really targeting those things. Because that becomes a theme, I think, to become the DJ of your own life, of your own experience. So you can take yourself where you want to go with music. And that's the power of it because normally we leave that to other people to do for us.

And when we basically say, wow, I'm going to become the DJ of my own life. I'm going to make this a program that I'm going to incorporate. Then it moves beyond art and entertainment where we're having these random, powerful experiences. Why? Why do they have to be random? Why do you have to go to a Tony Robbins workshop? Or why do you need to go to a wedding, right? Where you're going from point A to point B, from, you know, cocktail hour where you're relaxed to the emotion of the bride dancing with the father. We're all being taken there by a DJ. And just like the Anthony Robbins event, we can create this in our life after those amazing experiences that we're having, where we're creating transformation

like a Tony Robbins workshop. Okay, great, how do you keep that energy up for the next three weeks? Play Tony Robbins yourself in your own life with music. Well, and it's one of the reasons that they actually give out their playlist because they had so many people requesting it. Right. So they actually create a playlist

of what they, the music they use. Exactly. And my book has different playlists, not for just different genres. Oh, interesting. But it targets different emotions. So let's create a playlist for gratitude. Oh.

Right, with all- So you actually have those playlists? Yes, it's in the book. Oh, I love that. There's 10 different playlists. The Secret Language of the Heart. That's right. Barry's bestselling book.

So Barry Goldstein, The Secret Language of the Heart, available everywhere, Amazon, barnesandnoble.com, and so on. I like that you did that yeah because people always say well how do i do it so let's give them a starting point and say well here's one for joy right interesting i have joy to the world in there by three dog night which you probably won't like because we're from the 70s you're probably right but you know and each one has 10 songs and then i plug it into my my day. Because I know, I think we focus so much on things to do in our day. And we start checking off things to do.

Okay, I did that. But we very rarely look at how we want to do that. And emotion. That's right. I want to do it in a state of joy. We have to shift a little bit. Although this will relate. I wrote a book once called Sex on the Brain.

And actually got re-released as The Brain in Love. And one of the things I wrote about is if you're going to be really loving, you have to know about the brain of your partner. And so if we just think about making love that the ADD brain, it needs to be surprised, wound up, excited, you know, because we use stimulants to treat it. We're going there on this podcast. But if you're with a partner that's a little OCD and things need to be a certain way, ritual becomes critically important for them to be a certain way, ritual becomes critically important for them to be able to relax. Or if they're really anxious,

that heavy metal probably is not the right thing to play to get your person in the mood. So it's targeting the music to the brain that we see. So at amenclinics.com where you can take your brain health assessment, you know, there are some people that are spontaneous, they need newness, excitement, stimulation. There are other people that are cautious and they need things to sort of settle down that anxiety. There are other people that are sensitive and can be sad easily, others that are persistent.

And so creating playlists, if you will, to help your partner get in the mood is really important. It's important because I noticed this in our own lives. So it's really funny. There's clearly music we both love. And so I'm always telling him there's clearly music we both love and so i literally like well i'm always telling him like find the music we both love because he'll put on music he he's very mellow and he's very just relaxed most of the time and happy all the time right and i'll listen to the same song a thousand times right so happy about that like the soundtrack from la la land

i just love the soundtrack makes me crazy um so but he'll put i'm just laughing because donnie's my wife uh and i are very similar i'm very like this and she has her music that she just loves right and yeah you're absolutely right we have to find a balance somewhat agitating so like agitated is not the right word but he'll play certain music that believe it or not it's too calm for me. It bothers me. Right. Like I'll find myself getting a little bit agitated.

And then when I, like the only music, because he loves music, we'll be in the car and the only music he doesn't seem to love is my playlist. Like I'll notice him

suddenly going, turn that down, turn that down. Like, you know, I'm trying to talk to you. Right, and I have a hearing problem. Right, so it's the only time that we actually don't sort of you know connect on that is his music's a

little too calm for me and mine's probably a little too wound up for him sure so i think you that's a great idea to create a playlist where you have mutual things that you like and also i think there's probably songs that bridge the two right you know so hit daniels might be a little bit like a doll is great or right Like those in between songs. Right. That are kind of their mid tempo songs. Right. You know, so for someone who has ADD and you're just stuck on this classic ADD where they really want more energy so they can focus.

What are good things for them to think about? Well, actually for ADD and they're showing this in classrooms too, that for arithmetic and ADD students, that they're finding that actually popular music works pretty well. And if you think about it, it makes sense because they're more structured, right? So that disorder, you need more structure, you need more foundation. They know the verse is going to come here,

the bridge is going to come here, the bridge is going to come here, and they can sing along to the chorus. See, I blasted rock music all the way through school. Yeah, so that gives you a foundation and you know what to come back to. There's a safe place to land. Examples might be Katy Perry's music. Katy Perry's music or, again, preferred music

for each one of those. And I think that's an important thing with kids today and parents is exactly what you're talking about. You don't want to be judged on the type of music that you're listening to. Kids, that's how they also become to form their own personalities is through music. I could tell you the first album that I bought was Elton John's Greatest Hits. And again, they pride themselves on their music, so to speak. So if the parents don't love that music, it actually creates the space for them to have a great conversation with their child. Oh, we have the best conversations.

What do you like about this? Oh, it's hilarious. The conversations my daughter and I have. But parents should be listening to the music. That's the point, yes. Because words matter. Words matter. Words matter.

And if they're toxic, hateful, that really, it becomes part of the neuronal networks in that child's brain. And when I, because I'm a child psychiatrist as well, and we work at residential treatment facilities, the music they would come into listening was just awful. Right. And we would go, not okay here, because words matter. Right, and that's the whole point. They should be listening to that so they can create guidance

and find out the why behind it. Yeah, just shutting it down is never going to work in the history of the universe. I think understanding them and talking to them. I know I do that with my daughter, and we've had the funniest conversations Shutting it down is never going to work in the history of the universe. I think understanding them and talking to them. I know I do that with my daughter and we've had the funniest conversations about why she listens to what she listens to. She thinks the music today is so much worse than it was when I was growing up. And I'm like, yeah, not so much.

Have you ever heard ACDC and some of these songs? And so we have these amazing conversations because she thinks she had to hide it from me. But me opening that door, then she thinks she had to hide it from me. But me opening that door, then she doesn't have to hide it. And then she's like, wow, I had no idea. And then we have that conversation and I'm able to tell her, you know, honey, I actually have faith that if we talk about this and you are the kind of person I know you are, that hearing the song at a certain time isn't going to change who you are, but you have to be aware. You need to know.

You need to be aware. And parents need to supervise children until their brains develop. I mean that's why God gave us parents. But my daughter doesn't listen to dark music. Yeah, and there's also common ground there. You know, when they have something that you love that you love as well, it doesn't always have to be,

this is your music, this is my music. I think there's a lot of kids who are now appreciating older music and a lot of parents who are appreciating newer music. And often it's a symptom of the relationship. And so if you spend time with your kids, if you listen, if you have a good relationship, they tend to pick your values and unless your music's

awful like the 70s um you know they'll enjoy that i love 70s sorry time yeah me too what about people who struggle with anxiety or depression? Well, anxiety and depression, it's usually fear turned inward in terms of the experience of that. And so they don't get a large opportunity to always work with the energy of it. And I was reading something that you guys said in one of your blogs about working with fear and anxiety

that we have to feel the emotion in order to release it right or to work with it and It's the same thing sleep is such an important part of all of these things because people who are not getting enough sleep very often and manifest into depression or anxiety and What we're seeing with that is that because we're so busy with internet, right, and we're so active before sleep that we're not giving ourselves a chance to process or to wind down before sleep. So we wake up and we haven't had enough sleep. We move into states

where we're more anxious. And also it works against us in terms of keeping our moods up. So sleeping challenges and music for sleep are very important in terms of working with both anxiety and depression. And music for that, it's similar to what we're talking about within our program that we created, is we have a wind down piece on there called Alpha Evenings. That's perfect for that because you want to bridge your brain wave states. You want to go from beta, right? You don't want to just crash into delta. So this gives you the opportunity to bridge those states. Interesting. And also, I feel it's an important process to look at our day. So my book isn't just about music. It's about sound and vibration as well. So sound is, again, our voice. When you're voicing yourself and you're able to release or talk about what

your day incurred. So today I experienced this anxiety or this challenge in my life. Before we go to sleep, then we're able to process it and we don't wake up with as much of it. So it's all about recognizing what you're anxious about. What did you learn from your day? And to actually speak it out loud before you're going to sleep to bring in the essence of releasing some of those fears. So you can get the Brain Warriors Way music album at iTunes, at Amazon.com, at CD Baby. We're really proud of it. You can also listen to Barry's music on Brain Fit Life. So if you sign up for Brain Fit Life, go to mybrainfitlife.com.

And we have so many great tools from hypnosis audios, mindfulness meditation. But my favorite part, I have an LPGA golfer that has Brain Fed Life on her phone. And she loves the music because it helps her relax before she goes out and plays. Another great tool for anxiousness is this is what I call the internal symphony as well. Because we tend to view music that happens as something outside of us, but it's also something that's happening in us as well. So when I'm anxious or I move into a state where I'm not feeling great, I actually place my hands on my heart and I just breathe into my heart and I breathe out of my heart. I close my eyes and I just connect because each one of us

has a unique sound, a unique breath that we combine this with. So when we reconnect with our internal music, it brings in the appreciation for the music that we listen to as well, because we're beginning to listen to our own bodies as music. And it's an excellent tool when you start to wander in the middle of your day. You can do it anywhere. You can do it for five minutes. Just place your hands on your heart, close your eyes, breathe, take a breath in through your heart. And when you release that sigh and you're releasing sound through your body as well, that sound actually helps us in dealing with tension and stress that we're experiencing. So many good things for the brain. When we come back, we are going to talk about music as healer. Stay with us. We're here with Barry Goldstein, author of The Secret Language of the

Heart, available everywhere. Also, the creator and producer with me of the Brain Warriors Way music album. Stay with us. Thank you for listening to the Brain Warriors Way podcast. We have a special gift for you. It's an opportunity to win an evaluation at the Amen Clinics. All you have to do is subscribe to this podcast, leave a review and rate us on iTunes. To learn more about Amen Clinics and the work we do, go to amenclinics.com. You can also learn about our nutraceutical products at brainmdhealth.com. Thanks for listening.