One way to understand depression is sorrow brought on by a misplacement of soul. Somewhere along the journey of our life we locked away our true self to keep it safe. And now we no longer remember where we hid it.
The experiences that arise, including tearfulness, exhaustion, and despondency, are purposeful messages from the unconscious. The soft voice of the soul sends up these dark emotions so that we take notice of the pain of being separated from the deep Self. What is needed is a way to facilitate a conversation between our conscious personality and the unconscious (hidden) heart-essence.
This is the work of depth psychotherapy: to help mirror the personal world of the individual psyche in communion with its own depths. In depression this communion takes the form of a turning-inward. By heeding this call the life-giving waters of our long lost soul might be located to nourish us once again. Music is one way to assist this process.
Communion through music can be regressive: we begin to acknowledge the grief of separation between our present self and the part that we hid. Simultaneously, we learn to appreciate the longing itself as a legitimate practice. We develop self-compassion for ourselves as small children, where we learned to create a “false self” in order to protect us from being harmed while ensuring that we receive the love and nurturance we need, and where we learned to bury our souls. Music can help bring awareness to the truth of the pain.
Communion through music can also be progressive: we make contact with the part of ourselves that is already strong, healthy, and full of vitality- the authentic Self that has been hidden all this time. Music can help us excavate the true self underneath the persona, so long repressed from consciousness, and experience its joy and potency directly.
I’m not offering any thoughts here about the theories of music therapy. (If this interests you there are plenty of resources, including www.musictherapy.org). Instead, it is better if you are able to engage in your own experiential learning through listening.
Below are music selections from my own subjective experience as an audiophile, musician, and psychotherapist. Some of the pieces are melancholic. These tracks are designed to foster a regressive experience- the pain of the separation. Some are in direct contrast to the depressive mood, allowing for a progressive experience- to feel the joy of reunification with the Self. And many of the pieces do both.
Suggestions:
- Listen through good stereo speakers or quality ear buds. Do not listen through the speaker on your phone or laptop.
- Close your eyes
- Give each piece of music your utmost attention
- Welcome any images & feelings that arise
- Listen all the way through
- Try to enjoy the process
Pieces (in no particular order)
Morton Lauridsen: Lux Aeterna (album): O Magnum Mysterium (track)
Jose Gonzalez: Veneer (album): Crosses (track)
The Maccabees: Given To The Wild (album): Pelican (track)
Gabby Pahinui: A Place Called Hawaii 2 (album): How D’Ya Do? (track)
Sasha: Involver (album): Talk Amongst Yourself (track)
J.S. Bach: Lute Music (Walter Gerwig): Lauternwerk (album): Praludium in C minor & Fuge in G Minor (tracks)
George Duke: Don’t Let Go (album): Yeah, We Going (track)
Steve Tibbetts & Troying Drolma: Selwa (album): Chendren (track)
Zac Brown Band: Pass The Jar Live (album): Free/Into the Mystic (track)
Weekend Players: Pursuit Of Happiness (album): I’ll Be There (track)
Jeff Beck: Blow By Blow (album): Diamond Dust (track)
Ralphe Vaughan Williams: Symphony No.5/ Andrew Previn, conductor (album): Third Movement (track)
Nick Mulvey: First Mind (album): Fever To The Form (track)
Peter Gabriel: Scratch My Back (album): Mirrorball (track)
Ursula 1000: Kinda’ Kinky (album & track)
Richard Strauss: Renee Fleming: The Beautiful Voice (album): Morgen, Op.27, No.4 (track)
Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays: As Falls Wichita So Falls Wichita Falls (album & track)
Me’Shell Ndegeocello: Peace Beyond Passion (album): The Way (track)
Jean-Luc Ponty: Cosmic Messenger (album): Egocentric Molecules (track)
Death Cab For Cutie: Plans (album): Marching Bands Of Manhattan (track)
Earth, Wind & Fire: Gratitude (album): Can’t Hide Love (track)
Aaron Copland: The Tender Land Suite (album & track)
Darlingside: Birds Say (album): White Horses (track)
Bill Evans: Symbiosis (album): Second Movement- A (track)
Yes: Close To The Edge (album): Siberian Khatru (track)
*Timothy Leary (1967) from his album “Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out” on Mercury Records