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The didgeridoo (also known as yidaki in some Aboriginal languages) is one of the world’s oldest instruments, originating in Indigenous Australian culture and steeped in spiritual tradition. For at least 1,500 years – and likely longer – it has been central to Aboriginal ceremonies, celebrations, and healing practices. Traditionally made from termite-hollowed eucalyptus, the didgeridoo produces a deep, droning tone rich in harmonics. Its sound has long been believed to promote wellbeing and meditative states. Today, neuroscience and clinical studies are confirming what Indigenous players have instinctively known: the didgeridoo’s low-frequency vibrations have unique effects on the brain and body....

Stress is a normal biological reaction that kicks in when we feel overwhelmed or threatened. In modern life, however, stress often becomes chronic and harmful to our health. Many people turn to exercise, meditation, or even comfort food to cope, but they often overlook a powerful tool hiding in plain sight: sound. Whether it’s the music you choose to play or the background hum of your environment, what you hear can strongly influence how your body and brain recover from stress. Neuroscience and psychology research now show that sound is not just for entertainment—it can actually be therapeutic, capable of...

There’s a familiar moment when a song does more than play in the room. Your breathing slows, posture unknots, and the jittery background noise of the day falls into line. Daniel Levitin’s new book, Music as Medicine: How We Can Harness Its Therapeutic Power, is a 300-page argument that this feeling is not a party trick. It is physiology. It is psychology. And, more and more, it is becoming clinical practice. Published last month to wide attention, the book stakes out a practical, evidence-first case for sound medicine as a companion to traditional care, while inviting ordinary listeners to use...

Have you ever wondered what is really happening in your brain when you sit down to meditate? You might think of meditation as simply “quieting the mind,” but beneath the surface, your brain is staging an intricate performance. Electrical rhythms shift, networks reorganize, and regions that normally chatter away begin to fall silent. You close your eyes. The world narrows. At first, the echoes of the day are still alive—thoughts of unanswered emails, conversations replayed, tasks half-finished. In these opening moments of meditation, your brain is still humming with beta brain waves (13–30 Hz). These frequencies are the signature of...