This workplace wellness programme is based on The Music Diet book by Dr Julia Jones aka Dr Rock.
Dr Rock's tips on remote working, mental wellbeing, brain health and stress have been frequently featured in UK national media including BBC 1 TV, Sky Business News TV, BBC Radio 3, BBC 5 Live, BBC 6 Music, The Telegraph, The Times, The Sun, The Sunday Express and Woman & Home magazine.
We help you use the latest neuroscience led insights to create exceptional wellness impact. We're breaking the sound barrier and helping clients enter the new frontier in wellness science.
MUSIC AS MEDICINE
89% of adults who play an instrument think playing music keeps them mentally balanced
75% use playing music specifically as a way to de-stress
74% said that just picking up their instrument – with no intention to even play it – can make them feel better
(These figures were published by Spotify in July 2020 and we find the same responses on our programme)
THE MUSIC DIET STORY
Dr Julia Jones (aka Dr Rock) has been examining the effects of sound and music on the brain for over 25 years. She promotes the importance of looking after brain health as well as body health and show clients how to harness sound and vision based techniques to boost brain function and wellness. Julia first began prescribing music in the 1990s while working as a psychologist, helping young GB Olympic squads achieve peak performance by controlling anxiety and boosting motivation, focus and confidence. Her MSc, MBA and PhD research further examined the effects of music and has featured in scientific journals, trade publications and across print, TV and radio. She is a leading expert in this field, a member of the Royal Society for Public Health and the British Neuroscience Association. As a lifelong learner (and as part of her own brain plasticity routine) Julia is continuing to examine the neurobiology of mental health at King's College London (Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience) and music analysis at Oxford University. Julia currently sits on the Mayor of London's Music Board, the UK Parliamentary Group for AI, contributed to the UK Parliamentary Group for Longevity, presented at the UN's World Urban Forum, led the Music in Society inquiry at the House of Lords and recently wrote a music strategy for the NHS' first dementia village. She is also a Certified personal trainer, sleep scientist, a DJ, musician and published songwriter.
In 2019, Julia wrote 'The Music Diet' to spread awareness regarding the phenomenal effects of music and sound on the brain and body. The book highlighted decades of neuroscience research and gave simple tips showing how to use music to boost brain and body wellness. The aim was to encourage people to consume a little music every day (through listening, singing, dancing, learning, playing, moving) as part of their daily diet. Following the success of the book, The Music Diet in-office workplace wellness programme was launched in November 2019 to help employers offer their workforces a new approach to health. A virtual version of the programme was launched in April 2020 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic to help home workers maintain mental and physical wellbeing during lockdown.
Julia's latest book - The Brain Rocks - will be published in September 2020 and is designed to act as a mini manual of brain tools showing you how to maximise the power of your brain to boost your wellbeing and performance.
(Photo: "Dr Rock by Rankin" for www.letsreset.com)
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Our brain is utterly amazing but hopelessly out of date and it's not going to catch up during our lifetime. It's running an ancient operating system that evolves very slowly. It's living inside a dark, silent box (our skull) trying to figure out what the heck is going on in the outside world. It does this by interpreting information received by our 5 senses and assessing whether we are in danger or not. Our brain has no idea that we've very recently invented cars, light bulbs, supermarkets, computers, emails etc. So it often gets confused by the data it receives and chooses the wrong response. Sound is a very important data input channel to the brain and produces instant responses. We show you how to harness it for better health.
Our ears and skin are constantly feeding information about our sound environment to our brain. So it forms a key part of our experience of life. Even a hearing impairment doesn't stop the brain receiving data about our sound environment because it can sense the vibrations through touch receptors. Sound and music trigger several key automated brain responses that influence mood brain chemicals, brain performance and general wellbeing. Decades of neuroscience research clearly shows these effects.
Music also triggers strong emotional memories and can produce high levels of engagement and fun. Having fun is also a hugely important aspect of wellness!
Our online programme includes a range of live experiences, talks, learning programmes and streaming soundtracks that are specifically designed to help you harness those brain responses. As an employer you simply select modules from The Music Diet menu based on your requirements and budget.
We'll show you when and how to appropriately harness sound as a highly effective tool for wellness and performance (through the human voice, natural sounds, music and the sound of silence).
1. BOOST BRAIN FUNCTION
Your brain tissue changes constantly throughout life and in fact decreases if you don't look after it. This decline is known as negative plasticity and it happens to all of us throughout adulthood if we let it. Learning an instrument is known to be one of the most effective way to combat this decline and maintain brain health and function by creating new connections between brain cells (this effect is known as positive plasticity). It also boosts key mood chemicals. Our fast-track "Music Zero to Music Hero" instrument tuition courses are designed to challenge your brain and teach you to play songs in 8 short sessions.
2. CONTROL STRESS
Your autonomic nervous system is constantly switching between the built in "fight or flight" alert mode (sympathetic nervous system) and "rest and digest" relaxed mode (parasympathetic nervous system). We need a certain level of arousal and alertness but our modern world confuses the living daylights our of our autonomic nervous system because it struggles to distinguish between a true stressor (e.g. a predator running towards us!) or a modern non life threatening stressor (e.g. an overload of emails or a poor relationship with our boss). Stress results in the sympathetic mode dominating far too often than it should. This leads to a constant drip of stress chemicals and serious damage to your brain and body. We show you how to regain control of this system and ensure your parasympathetic mode is dominant and switched on for most of the day. We also show you how to improve your attentional control so you can block out distractions that interfere with your ability to focus and lead to workload becoming overwhelming.
3. MAINTAIN GOOD BRAIN HEALTH THROUGH LIFE
Based on general population data it's likely that you're probably not doing enough to look after your brain. The health and functionality of your brain tissue underpin your mental health and mood. Be aware that dementia begins decades before the visible symptoms appear and is caused by a build up of toxins that accumulate due to an ongoing neglect of brain health. So don't leave it too late to start properly looking after your brain. Your first step to good health is understanding how the brain works and how to look after it. This vital organ needs particular foods (being overweight also accelerates brain shrinkage during adulthood), lots of water, proper sleep cycles and regular brain exercises to prevent damage occurring and to reverse the invisible damage you've already done. We'll teach you how to achieve this every day and live the best life possible. Music and sound are your flexible health tools to support you in this journey.
We use music and sound to teach you how to stay firmly behind the wheel in the driving seat of your brain and in control of your health.
We show you how to programme techniques into your mental radio so you can switch them on whenever you need to.
A third of current degenerative brain disease cases could have been prevented
The Lancet
The significant role that music can play in health and wellbeing is not being sufficiently recognised and harnessed
World Health Organisation, 2019
The powerful effects of music and sound on the brain are well documented in neuroscience and psychology journals but this valuable knowledge is not yet sufficiently understood by employers
Dr Julia Jones, Founder of The Music Diet
Poor mental health now costs UK employers £45bn per year (up from £37bn in 2016), but they now reap £5 of cost savings for every £1 invested on interventions
Deloitte, 2020
"Dr Rock is spot on. Her book The Music Diet demonstrates how what we listen to can influence our physical and mental health. That's why employers should listen up and take note - they may be surprised by the results.”
Ian King, Sky News Business
GET IN TOUCH
If you're an employer who would like to know more details about our wellness programme or would like to book some private sessions or talks for your teams please email Flossie on the email below for more info
We've made some example content accessible for free on this website during Covid-19 lockdown, so feel free to browse and taste the Music Diet menu
WE ARE SOCIAL......(but).....
You can now find us on the usual social channels below. However, as social media use is known to contribute to poor mental health we only pop there on Fridays to say a quick hello and share any useful wellness articles. We believe social media should be consumed in small portions and as infrequently as possible. The Royal Society for Public Health describes social media as more addictive than smoking or alcohol. It steals your time and is linked to increased anxiety, depression and poor sleep.
We prefer to be social with you in real-time in our virtual sessions or even in person once we're allowed to meet again.