Science Says So
The other day, the little red “you’ve got a message” icon was lit on my Facebook page. My immediate reaction was that I was about to be invited to some kind of left leaning version of political chain mail. Some totally well intended invitation to vote or to invite my friends to vote (we are the day before the midterm elections right now!). These are, of course, important messages. But not exactly fun ones.
But not at all. Anders O’Keefe, a friend from long ago, one I have not seen face to face since perhaps I was fifteen, sent me a link to an article that says (in far more based-in-research-sciencey terms) that…
SCIENCE SUGGESTS THAT A DRIVING KARAOKE SESSION CAN MASSIVELY IMPROVE YOUR WELL-BEING
Two thoughts right away:
1. THANK YOU ANDERS O’KEEFE!!! And,
2. DUHHHHHHHHH. THANK YOU, SCIENCE!!! Don’t you just love when science and research confirm what you intuitively already know??!!
Because here’s the thing. I am an addict. I NEED endorphins. I will spend all of my days on earth hunting them down. All of them. I chase them up hills. I have hoofed 26.2 miles on more than one occasion to find them. I put on the loudest, live version of favorite songs and blast them, getting emotional every time. I have been spooning my kids for years and years feeling these feelings. I have been dancing to, running to, hugging to, loving to healthy endorphins for all of my twenty-one sober years.. The ones that won’t send me to rehab. My body craves oxytocin and endorphins. This is one of the reasons I work out so hard, or take long runs, or blast the music in the car and sing at the top of my lungs.
And more than that, my soul needs to feel this way. Beyond the science. Beyond the asana, as I teach in my classes. It’s why we hug, snuggle, linger in “I love you soooooooo much.” It’s why I have been driving out of my way for just a few minutes at home hugging my dogs, declaring my love for them, asking them over and over again, “Do you know how much I love you?”
It’s one of the reasons I went to so much live music way back when. Literally hundreds and hundreds of shows, lost in music. It is why I curate playlists for my yoga classes. The music I play in my classes is an integral component part of what I am teaching and creating space to experience. That is my truth. Music, often times, really loud music, takes me places.
It is why every Tuesday my very awesome Best Carpool in the World plays loud music and sings. So now I knowwe are not just the BESTcarpool ever, but the SMARTESTcarpool ever.
Because, you guys, SCIENCE SAYS SO. Listen…
“Music produces the feel-good hormones you get when you hug a loved one.”
“…blasting music releases oxytocin, a chemical sometimes called ‘the love hormone.’”
So science says, TURN OFF THE NEWS AND TURN UP THE MUSIC!!!!
And, p.s., this whole blog is also a giant PSA for random acts of kindness (which I often go on about how they are not random at all; they are entirely purposeful).
What took Anders O’Keefe, high school friend from 1986, probably just a few moments to realize I would appreciate that article (no doubt due to my incessant posting of Best Carpool Ever), copy the link and send my way, has now become the theme of my classes this week, the theme of this blog, and just an overall HELL YES TO LOUD MUSIC AND FEELING GOOD.
And, p.p.s., we don’t want to be the only BEST CARPOOL EVER. We want everyone to be in their own Best Carpool Ever. So crank it up!
