Could you use a healthy dose of the natural feel good chemicals?
Need some dopamine? How about a blast of endorphins?
Get yours today, right this very second, by singing.
Singing is, “The world’s most accessible stress reliever” according to a BBC article. Click here to read the entire article.
To be effective, you must sing like you mean it. None of this under your breath, mumble singing. And no humming. Stress relieving singing must be whole-hearted, like when you sing in the shower or perform karaoke.
Automobile singing works great. Without passengers, of course. When I had a 60-minute drive to work, I’d often slip in a CD, crank up the volume and pretend I was Jennifer Warnes. (You may not recognized her name, but she and Bill Medley sang “Time of My Life” on the soundtrack to the movie Dirty Dancing.) Her voice is crystal clear and I imagined that sound was actually me.
By the time I arrived at work, I was energized, smiling and in a good mood. Little did I know, it was the product of my enthusiastic and uninhibited vocalizations. I’d gotten an aerobic workout, while engaging my brain and stretching muscles.
Back on the farm, I often sang hymns when I operated the riding lawn mower. When I took the dogs on long walks through the meadows and woods, I belted out Southern gospel songs. Click here for my all-time favorite.
Singing praise and worship music relieves stress, stirs the soul and draws us closer to God.
“Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord,” Paul writes in Ephesians 5:17.
I may never cut a record, or appear in a spotlight, but I certainly can sing to the Lord.
So, what are we waiting for?
I can do that. So can you.
Let’s.
Every day, let’s sing a song to the Lord. Find a favorite on YouTube, pull out a CD or just sing from your memory. If you’d don’t feel better immediately, try again. Put your heart and soul into it.
Are you smiling?
God sure is.
Lord, some of us think we can’t sing, but we can. You put a song in our hearts. Regardless of our musical ability, that which issues from our lips to Your ears is indeed a joyful noise. We praise You and thank You. Amen.
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