Music and Wellness
65 Minutes
Resource Review(minus 15 minutes if completed before class)
"LETTERS: transformations ""Shawn's Ode to Music"""
Guided Discussion
Continue to Live
Guided Discussion
Closing Thoughts and Evaluations
You will be able to:
Describe music's positive impacts on mental health
Compare different ways in which music supports the wellness of different people
Create a plan to take concrete steps to integrate music into your wellness practice
"Music and Wellness" invites students to consider how music can be a vehicle for wellness and empowerment. Students are invited to read and reflect on information about the specific impacts music can have on our mental health and how to use it to feel better, and then use that knowledge to help them understand the experiences of the films' protagonists. Then, students will consider the role of music in two films, the first about a guitarist's mental health struggles and creative practice, and the second about a man's acceptance of his own story in part through his love of music. After each, the students participate in guided reflections about the relationship between music and the film's protagonist, and the impact it has on their mental health. To conclude, students are invited to set an intention for including music as part of their toolbox of personal wellness strategies.
Note: This class includes supplementary materials that can be completed at the start of class or assigned as homework. If assigned as homework, the class duration may be approximately 15 minutes shorter.
topics covered
Creativity
aom nutrients
Empathy, Creativity, Respect for Practical Constraints, Honest Self Reflection
casel sel
Self-awareness, Self-management
wellness wheel
Creative, Emotional
identities
White, Man / male, Trans, Adult, Musician
film style
Documentary
Films Included
Continue to Live
Continue to Live tells the story of a majestic trans masculine being surviving and thriving in Los Angeles, California. The individual journey of Gabriel highlights the physical and personal challenges that make it difficult to exist. Through music and buddhism Gabriel heals his soul and energy. While carrying emotional trauma, he finds ways to continue to live.
film style
Documentary
identities
Man / male, Trans, Adult
LETTERS: transformations "Shawn's Ode to Music"
Shawn Tallet is a talented guitarist from Austin, Texas. This is a quick exploration of his creativity and his battle with Anxiety and Major Depressive Disorder, a part of a poetic documentary about the powerful transformations of mental illness into creative joy. Content heads up: Mention of substance abuse, pill use, depression, and anxiety
film style
Documentary
identities
White, Man / male, Adult, Musician