Art Magic: Practicing Piano Produces Positivity

My daughter was sad about something after school a couple Wednesdays ago.   In the midst of the tough time, she had to get to her piano lesson.  Her mood was gloomy when she stepped out of the car. There was a big sigh and a slammed door before she lumbered slowly away and into her teacher's house.

Half an hour later, she emerged.  She was a sparkly, new person - relaxed,standing taller,  more confident, lighter in spirit.  It was like the clouds hanging over her had dissipated.   The piano lesson had pulled her away from the negativity, busied her mind in another way, and as a result, her practice had inspired the release of endorphins, oxytocin and other posi-hormones in the brain - making her feel good on a molecular level.  Her participation in the music lesson improved her state of existence.
Yay.

I used to think I wanted her to take piano because it would be good exercise for her brain to work in a motor, auditory, sensory, visual, linear and creative way all at the same time.  She's involved in community theater and I thought it would help with reading and learning the songs for musicals, too. But I hadn't really considered music practice or lessons as a means to a higher level of mental health, and, quite honestly, an almost instant an anti-depressant until that day.

And it is in a way, an anti-depressant.   I witnessed its magic with my own eyes.

My kid often plays music as she passes by the piano in our house.  She'll just hold up and stand there playing a song or two and then be on her way... Before school, she plays through several songs.  Her music fills the house, she's working her skills and at the same time she's magically tweaking our reality in a fun way, all while, on a biological level, she's washing her own brain with feel good hormones - ensuring a more positive lens with which to view the day.   Like she's shining her soul right before school.

Makes me wonder if people who make opportunities for music regularly in their lives are more emotionally light than those who don't.  They just have to be.