Are you a fan of music? Yeah me too. Its estimated that just about everyone loves music of some sort (except for weirdos 😆 #JOKE). Seriously though, music does something to us whether its setting up the mood in a big movie hit, preparing us for our favorite podcast, helping us workout a little harder in the gym, or helping us to chill with some zen time. Music is such a powerful tool to help improve our mindset. The research has been conducted for centuries. In Bible times there was this famous Battle of Jericho. The troops actually played their instruments and the walls came tumbling down. If you grew up in the church, you might have heard the song growing up “Joshua fought the battle of Jericho, Jericho, Jericho, Joshua fought the battle of Jericho and the walls came tumbling down.” Music rocks!
The following blog is all about music and mindset from a research perspective in addition to fun personal and professional stories from yours truly to help sink the information even deeper into your soul. My hope is that you’ll take this information, transfer it to your life and your situation and apply some of the information to help move you towards your own happiness. If you’re a group therapist or fitness instructor, I want to help empower and equip you with more tools to be an even better facilitator. If you read to the end, you’ll find out about a neat program I designed and see where our standings are for the fun VIP Private Concert Invitation.
Healing Agent #1: 
Know what it looks like to have music that empowers us to have a positive mindset.
UC Berkeley released a great blog that outlines “Five Ways Music Can Make You a Better Person.” They talk about how listening to uplifting music can make you happier and possibly more generous. I know personally I have seen the positive impact music has on my mindset and on the mindsets around me.
When I was a kid I used to argue with mom about what music I could listen to (my parents were super strict with good reasoning). I would tell mom my Snoop Dogg CD, Montel Jordan, and DMX CDs were just music and nothing to worry about 
“Be careful what you put in your mind Erin” she’d say
“Oh that trick doesn’t work on me. My mind is strong” I’d respond..
After making a spreadsheet of all the curse words she heard, sexual innuendo I was listening to as an 10-11 year old and showing me, I was grounded for what felt like eternity…
It also didn’t help that I had signed up for one of those 12 CDs for a penny scams through the mail (oops)! Although I was so ticked at my mom for being so invasive, I’m glad she was because I was still growing and needed that lecture and visual of what was going into my mind.
From that day forward I was a lot more cautious of what I listened to for fear of being lectured and also because I didn’t want to end up in jail or pregnant as a teen like a lot of my neighbors were that listened to that kind of music. I didn’t know why they went to jail or why so many teen pregnancies were happening but I knew I didn’t want to be in either of those categories.
Was the music to blame? Or was it just coincidence?
I find it interesting that Snoop, Cardi B (a recent artist) and a lot of those musicians from back then are featured in Gospel music recently. It’s almost like they’ve had a revival of some sort. I am happy they’ve made a shift and I hope that more artists pay attention to the lyrics they use in their music because children are listening and they are our future. Whether you want to be a role model or not as a performer, people pay attention to you and are influenced by your leadership. I choose to write music that brings light and love. I desire to be known for helping people feel loved, included and helping improve your mindset. Make sure to stay tuned this year for some new music releases.
What are some of your favorite songs or artists that uplift your mindset? Tweet me @MoveHappyTeam and if I LOVE it too I’ll retweet it. If I don’t love it, I still love you! We all are allowed to like the kinds of music we like and respect each others differences in interest 💜
Healing Agent #2: Know what science says about music’s ability to empower us to have positive mindsets.
I found a really interesting study conducted by 3 universities: Stanford University, University of Nevada, Reno Las Vegas and The University of Washington in Seattle, WA. The study’s title is: “Armed in ARMY: A Case Study of How BTS Fans Successfully Collaborated to #MatchAMillion for Black Lives Matter.” When reading the introduction section just after the abstract, you’ll read about how popular musicians encourage their superfans to do charitable works in the community on their birthdays and what not.
What I found extremely interesting is the BTS group based in South Korea, never specifically asked their fans to ban together to do the million dollar fundraising for a cause as largely publicised as BLM. What is it about the BTS group that caused their fans to collaborate together without their request to raise such a large amount of money on behalf of the BLM organization? Was it their lyrics? Was it their upbeat tracks? Was it the leaders that are influenced by BTS and BLM respectively?
I know for me personally, I love all people regardless of their race, belief system, sexual orientation, gender identity, or even if they love me back. I believe music is a great way to bring people together and help with our mindsets also. When our minds are in positive spaces, we’re able to trust others more deeply.
What is your favorite aspect of music’s power over our mindset? What insights do you have from the study above? Tag me in your Facebook post @TheRealMoveHappy and I’ll share the most insightful thoughts and wisdom on all my social media and give you credit!
Healing Agent #3: 
Know what the global impact of music has on mindsets.
I found this really interesting article that summarizes 23 studies. It’s titled: “Features of the Social and Built Environment That Contribute to the Well-Being of People With Dementia Who Live At Home: A Scoping Review.” The article summarizes how social and built environments can help contribute to the well-being of people that have dementia.
One thing that stood out to me in the article was the fact that traffic noise, pop music or screaming children can cause stress on an individual with dementia. An individual that is in a high stress state will have a more difficult time behaving calmly, thinking clearly and formulating words, plans, and actions for their day.
I remember when I worked in the psych hospital one of my Negative Nelson patients, we’ll call “Steven” had a screaming problem. If he didn’t get the attention he felt he deserved during group therapy he would stand and yell at the top of his lungs and everyone would come running to make sure we were all safe. One day he yelled when I was facilitating vocal performance because he wanted a chance to play the piano.
I told Steven in front of the group, “Steven you scared me. Are you okay?” He yelled some more but this time a little calmer saying “I want a turn on the keyboard.” I didn’t want to reward the yelling behavior in front of the rest of the 18-+ group members because I didn’t want them all to start yelling to get what they wanted.
So I said, “how about a cool down walk in the hall for 10 minutes then when you’re ready you can come back and play the keyboard?”
He agreed and when he came back it was almost time to pack up because he spent longer than 10 minutes in the hall. As the bell rang to go to next groups he came up to me and apologized for yelling. He told me he didn’t mean to frighten me and he’s been working on not screaming. I told him I appreciated him apologizing and if there was anything I could do to help him to let me know. He left and lined up to have lunch break and my boss pulled me aside.
She was observing me that day and was impressed how I handled the situation being so new. This was my 2nd group I designed after Move Happy
alongside 2 other group facilitators.
She asked me, “Erin is there anything you can’t do?!”
I laughed and told her “I appreciate people recognizing my talents and a space to use my gifts. Don’t ask me to cook for the patients” HA!
What is the global impact music has made on you and your mindset? I’d love to hear from you in the comments and what continent/country you’re from ⬇️ The neatest story will be shared on all my social media and you’ll be tagged and recognized ❤️
Healing Agent #4: Know what some simple solutions are to incorporating music that will empower you to have a positive mindset.
I know it may sound silly and obvious but how about choosing music that has an upbeat tempo and great lyrics? If you aren’t sure where to start there is a great podcast episode from the Live Happy show where they speak about songs that can boost your mood. Check out the show here.
I know for me personally I’ve been listening to a lot of Kirk Franklin and Koryn Hawthorne lately. Their upbeat music is awesome and its what I have been listening to on repeat in the mornings when I get my dance on! I don’t check any notifications until I’ve had at least 60 minutes of dance 3-4 days a week. On the other days I am using meditation sounds on a run outside to bring the creativity out and help me prepare mentally for my day or stretching alongside Yoga With Adriene. I treated myself to a YouTube Music Subscription because it also helps me with my business, removes the ads and because I don’t buy anything for myself 😂.
What’s your favorite song or artist that makes you smile? Thanks Ramona Patterson for your fun recommendation of the song “Happy” by Pharrell! Everyone else feel free to comment with your favorite song or link to it if its an Indie artist ⬇️ so we can cheer them on!
Move Happy®️ Updates:
The Move Happy Movement Podcast©️ is going strong. Check it out on iTunes , podbean Spotify (1st 40 or so episodes- they stopped converting and don’t have the most current episodes sawwy), and someone added it to Listen Notes #NotMe 😂. We are going strong thanks to YOU! No ads, no bots creating fake downloads. You are spreading the word! I hope to help at least 1 person a day with the guests I bring or when I talk about important leadership topics by myself. Thank you for helping spread the mission of empowering depressed people globally to find their own happiness through mindset, community and fitness!
This coming Monday I’ll be releasing an interview with a new connection! I was introduced to him from a LinkedIn connection A.D. Jonsun. We had an awesome networking call and he told me he’s a Veteran for not 1 branch of the military, 2! I asked him how I could help him and he said I’d like to introduce you to one of my musical artists that is recording his EP right now. Would you be open to doing a feature in your blog? I said, how about that and have him as a guest this week on my podcast? I felt it perfect to have him around the same week as Music and Mindset topic! His artist’s name is Add.am.
Here is a little about Add.am is a man with many dreams, whose goals and aspirations have always been in performance whether it was a talent show when he was a child at 6 or, now as a man of 27 years. Add.am is also a Persian/Spanish R&B artist, who wants to bring smooth urban soul back to listeners. Some of the artists who have influenced his vocals would include Jon B, Lyfe Jennings and Donell Jones. You are going to LOVE what he shares. Make sure to follow me on Twitter @MoveHappyTeam as my distribution platform has an AI setting that releases it there first 😃.
I expanded a nonprofit arm specifically for Veterans and First Responders called “Erin Nicole Ministries.” If you are a Veteran or First Responder that enjoys music, please email me (erin@themovehappy.com) and I’ll update you specifically on what’s happening. If you are a rich $$$ fan of my content and you love Veterans and First Responders, please email me your interest about being a sponsor. I have 1 sponsor so far and looking for 9 more depending on your budget. Considering the Director of Outreach for the United States House of Representatives and the Director of Operations for the Veterans Affairs both reached out to me personally this week in support of my efforts, you do not want to miss out on being a part of this 💜. Lastly, I’ve never ran or started a non profit before but am doing a lot of praying on it. If you have a lot of expertise and you’ve been a fan of Move Happy®️ for a while, email me if you’re interested in being on my Board of Directors. I do all things with excellence and I also recognize that I’ll be needing some support from others who have been there done that 👊.
Once we hit 10,000 downloads I’ll be hosting a Private VIP Concert 🎵 For Those Consistently Sharing Move Happy®️Content and writing reviews on iTunes! 💃 Check out where our downloads are at now as of Saturday Feb 27th 2021 ⬇️⬇️⬇️
Healing Agent #5: Know how can Move Happy can help empower you through music to have a more positive mindset.
I’m really proud of a program I designed in one of the most sensitive populations in the world; a locked psychiatric hospital. We had $100 budget to split between 15 staff (that’s $6.66 per staff member per month). So we couldn’t even buy a set of dumbbells for the patients. I knew how important music was in regards to motivating my students to work out harder when I taught in K-12 & in graduate school with my undergraduates and the Faculty/Staff Fitness class I co-facilitated with my supervisor.
However there was this financial barrier to overcome. I couldn’t even buy a CD for $6.66 without spending my own money and I was just getting over the finalizing of my divorce (lawyer fees 🤮), working full time at the psych hospital and driving for Uber/Lyft before and after work, in addition to running a side hustle direct sales biz. I didn’t have extra funds even if I wanted to buy music myself.
So I brought my 2nd gen IPod with my power cord and we stayed in the room for the exercise portion (otherwise the ipod would die not joking). At the conclusion of the 1st round one of my patients, we’ll call him “Samuel,” suggested we use YouTube and stream music in from a smart phone. There was a very strict policy against smart phones, cameras and the like for HIPPA compliance. I asked my boss, Sue, if we could use it strictly for music to help motivate the patients to workout harder as per patients’ request.
She said, “as long as you don’t let the patients have access to your phone and you don’t take their pictures or video it’s fine.”
So I used my personal Apple iphone 6s and we streamed youtube music with the ads every once in a while. It was better than my older music because the patients got to choose what songs they wanted to workout to. The only issue was technical (cement walls and no wifi). At the time my phone carrier wasn’t the fastest stream and since the hospital did not have wifi it was challenging to have the music play without buffering. Let’s just say we didn’t exercise to the beat of the music like I wanted to but it was still recognized by the patients as treating them with care.
They started spreading word around the hall and some even shared to other patients and staff in other halls. The patient “Steven” I shared about in healing agent #3 that was working on his screaming was “voluntold” to join my Move Happy group by our 3rd round by his treatment team .
I incorporated some of the patients’ favorite music in a playlist along with an informal Facebook Survey to my dance/fitness facilitator friends and added the playlist to the finalized Move Happy Facilitator Program
. You can order the program here and 30% will go back to a mental health organization of your choice and 10% will be donated to your local chapter of Big Brothers and Big Sisters. If you represent an entire school district or medical hospital email me (erin@themovehappy.com) for modified pricing based on the size of your needs as the program is based on 1 facilitator’s purchase. I love you all and look forward to empowering you to be the best leader for your audience
So that’s a wrap folks. Music is an incredible tool to help us improve our mindsets. It can also harm our mindsets if we are elderly and dealing with dementia (say no to Pop 🎶). Music is read in the same way across all continents in regards to the lines on the page. No matter what country you are in or language you speak, the notes remain the same. I believe music was designed to bring us together but like many things, it’s how we choose to use it that is the deciding factor. Whether you are facilitating group therapy, teaching little kindergartners, a keynote speaker for the biggest conference, or trying to reset your day from the madness of the world; music can help prepare your mind. Heck I even use music as a tool to tie in my motto “Don’t forget to tell someone you love them today” as a jingle on my podcast. My goal is to use every ounce of my being to help you live a life that you’re proud to live and spread kindness to others. You won’t catch me getting in drama over music or anything of that nature. I choose to use music as a tool to bring more love to the world. If anyone is confused about that, or assuming different things of me from their perspective, I encourage them to check their hearts first. We are not guaranteed tomorrow and when we do pass away, there will be music played at our funeral. I hope to touch as many lives in positive ways through music, love and my genius skill of building community before the music 🎶 is played at my funeral (I am shooting for 100 years or more so I can make it on the Smuckers Jar 😂 and win a marathon for my age category).
I love you all 💜. If I added any value to you today, I would be honored if you’d share this blog with someone you really care about.
PS: Don’t forget to tell someone you love them today (or sing it to them if you’re so inclined 😊)
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