6. October 2009 by John Schinnerer.

The video of this 1-year-old dancing to Beyonce’s Single Ladies video cracks me up. He has fantastic moves for a toddler!

Posted in Emotion & learning, Music psychology, Emotional mind, Positive mood music, Happiness | Print | No Comments »

24. September 2009 by John Schinnerer.

A reader turned me onto a blog by J. Henrique Alves in Perth. I found some fantastic writings on Henrique’s experiences with music sparking a connection with his autistic son. It is as I’ve said in the past, there is something quite powerful inherent in music. The perfect note, the right tune, the proper tempo have a way of connecting people in a deep and meaningful way, even those of us who typically are unable to connect.

Here is an excerpt:

‘In the last few years, I’ve discovered still another magical side of music, through the relationship with my 8-year old autistic son. While practicing the bass, I could notice how his attention would shift from whatever he would be doing, drawn by my plucking of the strings, and the simultaneous sound this would produce through the speakers of my little practice amplifier. I’d then lay the bass on the bed, so that he could explore the sounds, plucking gently the strings, showing some surprise with the connection between his touching the strings, and a matching sound being produced. Throughout the years, he has consistently shown a higher level of interest in our musical exploration sessions than he would typically demonstrate in other activities.

[snip]

Based on our experience, it was not surprising to find out that results published this year from a recent study conducted by Dr. Ami Klin, of the Yale Child Study Center, have confirmed that the synchronous nature of sound and movement captures consistently the attention of autistic children, more than any other form of interaction with objects or people (such as eye contact, touch, or movement and sounds in isolation). In a recent interview, Klin said:

“I and colleagues looked at a way […] 2-year-olds with autism would look at adult care givers, […] and those children spend less time looking at people’s eyes and more time looking at people’s mouth […] And that was puzzling because the eyes are really the window for the soul, they are the way that we experience people, their emotions and their intentions. And so we are puzzled by the fact that they showed increased attention to the mouth. With […] the new insights, we raised the hypothesis that the reason why they were looking at mouth is because the mouth is the part of the face that contains the greatest audio-visual synchrony, lip movements and speech sounds co-occurring.”

Our experience with music, which is a generalization of this synchronicity between movement and sound, provides, in our minds, a further confirmation of the results published by Dr. Ami Klin and his colleagues at Yale. His new insights provide further, scientific proof, to why music therapy programs, such as the few we have contacted here in Australia to strengthen the basis of our daily interactions with our son, are so successful, providing not eyes, but music as a window to the souls of autistic children. ‘

The full post is here…

http://beachesfromafar.blogspot.com/2009/05/music-is-magic-for-autistic-children.html

Henrique has other tremendous posts as well about music, autism, science and more. Thanks for sharing, Henrique!

All the best,

John Schinnerer, Ph.D.

Guide To Self, Inc.

Positive Psychology Coach

Posted in Awareness, Hope, Music psychology, Curiosity, Emotion & learning, Science of love, Relationships, The human brain, Positive mood music, Creativity, Parenting, Emotional mind, Consciousness, Emotional management, Dr. John Schinnerer | Print | No Comments »

2. September 2009 by John Schinnerer.

‘(PhysOrg.com) — Music is one of the surest ways to influence human emotions; most people unconsciously recognize and respond to music that is happy, sad, fearful or mellow. But psychologists who have tried to trace the evolutionary roots of these responses usually hit a dead end. Nonhuman primates scarcely respond to human music, and instead prefer silence.

A new report by Charles Snowdon, a professor of psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and musician David Teie of the University of Maryland shows that a monkey called the cotton-top tamarin indeed responds to music. The catch? These South American monkeys are essentially immune to human music, but they respond appropriately to “monkey music,” 30-second clips composed by Teie on the basis of actual monkey calls.

The music was inspired by sounds the tamarins make to convey two opposite emotions: threats and/or fear, and affiliation, a friendly, safe and happy condition.’

For full article and a short clip of what the ‘monkey music’ sounds like, click link below

http://www.physorg.com/news171052183.html

Keep smiling!

John Schinnerer, Ph.D.

Guide To Self, Inc.

Posted in Music psychology, Danville CA, Managing Sadness, Managing Anxiety, Dr. John Schinnerer, Positive mood music, Managing stress | Print | No Comments »

19. August 2009 by John Schinnerer.

As you know, I write occasionally about the effect of music on our mood and emotions. Here is a wonderful, bouncy song by Great Big Sea that has a strong chance of lifting your spirits, buoying your mood and making you smile. It doesn’t get much better. Enjoy!

A Wonderful Wednesday to You All!

John Schinnerer, Ph.D.
Positive Psychology Coach, Entrepreneur, Author, Radio Show Personality, National Keynote Speaker

Posted in Hope, Music psychology, Emotion & learning, Danville CA, Resiliency, Positive mood music, Dr. John Schinnerer, Guide to Self, Emotional IQ, Happiness, Positive Psychology | Print | No Comments »

10. August 2009 by John Schinnerer.

The human brain comes preconfigured for music, specifically the pentatonic scale. Music has a powerful sway over our momentary emotions, our longer-lasting moods and the thoughts that spring forth in unison with them.

This wiring for music appears to exist throughout the world despite the facts that some musical scales vary by culture.

Enjoy!

John Schinnerer, Ph.D.
Music and psychology

Posted in Danville CA, Music psychology, Emotional mind, Guide to Self, Dr. John Schinnerer | Print | No Comments »

6. July 2009 by John Schinnerer.

More and more, advances in technology are enabling emotion-sensing technologies with greater sophistication and accuracy. While software has monitored voices for agitation and pacing of voice in call centers for some time, we are nearing an age of gadgets that sense our moods, emotions, degree of agitation, stress, depression, and more.

Imagine your car sensing you are getting highly frustrated in a traffic jam, so the GPS suggests an alternative route with less traffic.

Picture an entertainment center that reads cues of depression and adjusts your entertainment to pick up your mood (e..g, changing the channel from drama to comedy).

Think of an iPhone that measures galvanic skin response (perspiration) and alters your playlist to calm you down when you show sign of stress or anger.

Computer programs are able to correctly identify the six universal emotions (via Ekman) at a rate of 88%. The average human correctly identifies the same emotions at roughly 49% (slightly less than pure chance).

 So how does the thought of emotion-sensing robots or computer gadgets make you feel?

Think about it from a perspective of interest and curiosity.

Then think about it from a feeling of paranoia and fear.

You may arrive at two completely separate conclusions based simply on your emotional starting point.

Here is the complete story from New Scientist

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20327151.400-emotional-robots-will-we-love-them-or-hate-them.html?full=true

Cheers,

Dr. John Schinnerer

Positive Psychology Coach and  Author

www.GuideToSelf.com

Posted in The human brain, Emotional mind, Music psychology, Curiosity, Emotion and technology, Depression, Unique marketing research, Dr. John Schinnerer, Guide to Self, Emotional IQ, Innovative brand research, Measuring emotions | Print | No Comments »

29. June 2009 by John Schinnerer.

Dr. John Schinnerer

Guide To Self, Inc.

June 30, 2009

As I write this article, I am listening to the new Black Eyed Peas song, ‘I Gotta Feeling’, which begins with the lyrics,

‘I gotta feeling that tonight’s gonna be a good night,

tonight’s gonna be a good night,

tonight’s gonna be a good, good night.’

 The song makes me feel optimistic, energizes me, and gives me hope. This begs the question, how do music lyrics prime the mind to receive and interpret information?

Hundreds of studies have shown that words powerfully influence thinking, behavior, and mood, and much of it occurs without conscious awareness. Favorite songs are listened to over and over hundreds or thousands of times so it makes good sense to speculate that music lyrics may have a profound impact on the listener’s perception of the world, other people, and which emotions are experienced as well as the frequency of those emotions.

In psychology, researchers are beginning to grasp the significance of the workings of the mind beyond the conscious experience. Conscious awareness is merely the jumping off point when exploring the mind. There is now considerable agreement among neuroscientists that most cognitive processing takes place outside of conscious awareness. Roughly 90-95% of mental activity occurs outside conscious awareness. Much of this ‘back office’ activity is automatic and emotional. Much of this activity is taking place just below the level of our awareness.

Despite the lack of awareness, subconscious activity has a tremendous impact on how the world is perceived through the senses, day-to-day behaviors, emotions felt and satisfaction with life. For example, numerous studies have been done on the phenomenon known as priming. Priming is when a person is exposed to certain stimulus, such as words, lyrics, or surroundings, and their subconscious mind is activated. Once activated, the person tends to act in ways that are consistent with the stimulus without awareness of why they are behaving in that manner.  Priming has been shown to influence behavior in dramatic ways. Let me explain these types of studies by way of example. Imagine you volunteered for the following experiment:

You are given four jumbled sentences by a researcher who tells you to come get her when you’ve finished unscrambling them (so that the sentences are meaningful).  There is one extra word in each sentence does not need to be used.  For instance, you may be presented with something such as …‘her  interrupt   bother  usually  they’ As the subject, you would translate this mess into something meaningful such as… ‘They usually interrupt her’ or ‘They usually bother her.’ A few minutes later, you finish the task of unscrambling the four sentences and walk down the hallway to find the researcher. You find her but she’s in the midst of a conversation with a stranger and isn’t paying any attention to you. What do you do?

For those people who unscrambled sentences which contained one word per sentence having to do with rude behavior, such as ‘rash,’ ‘aggressive,’ ‘bother,’ and ‘intrude,’ you are far more likely to interrupt the researcher within 2 minutes and say, ‘Hey, I’m done. What’s next?’ On the other hand, if you unscrambled sentences in which the one rude word was swapped with a polite word such as ‘respect,’ ‘nice,’ or ‘courteous,’ the odds are that you will sit there passively for up to 10 minutes until the researcher finishes her conversation.  And you will have no idea what influenced you to be so docile. These experiments have been replicated over and over.

One experiment had a group of people simply read a list of words where some of the words had to do with stereotypes of elderly people, such as ‘retirement,’ ‘Florida,’ and ‘bald.’  Sure enough, participants who were ‘primed’ with elderly-related words instantly began acting consistent with the elderly stereotype. They walked more slowly down the hallway, they walked with their shoulders slightly more hunched over, and their short-term memory became worse than the control group.  Merely reading the list with words related to old age led to forgetfulness and other behavioral changes.

The frightening thing about these experiments is that the group given the words related to elderly stereotypes could not remember any words about the elderly in the original list of words. So they were influenced by the words and then forgot all about what it was that influenced them. All of this groundwork brings me to the latest research, which came out June 25, 2009, demonstrating that song lyrics prime behavior as well. When asked to fill in the missing song lyrics for different songs, participants’ behaviors and attitudes changed in startling ways.

Donald Saucier at Kansas State University found that when people filled in the lyrics for patriotic songs, such as ‘The Star-Spangled Banner,’ they became more close-minded, prejudiced and less empathetic. They did not put themselves in the shoes of another person to view the world through different eyes.

What’s more, when folks filled in lyrics to songs such as ‘The Itsy Bitsy Spider’, they became more pro-social, reporting more accepting attitudes towards other people and more empathy. The hypothesis is that this is due to the strong association most people have with such childhood songs to happiness or contentment in their own childhood.

In conclusion, musical lyrics have an impact on attitudes towards others, emotions felt and how frequently they are experienced, and how the world is perceived. Given the research, it makes sense to closely look at the lyrics of the songs you listen to frequently. They may be impacting you more than you ever realized.  To this end, I have created a list of over 600 songs which support and augment pro-social behaviors based on the latest findings of positive psychology. If you’d like a complimentary copy, pick it up at  http://tinyurl.com/n2dtsn.

About the Author

Dr. John Schinnerer

Dr. John Schinnerer is in private practice helping clients learn anger management, stress management, the latest ways to deal with destructive negative emotions and ways to cultivate positive emotions such as love, curiosity and contentment. His practice is located in the Danville-San Ramon Medical Center at 913 San Ramon Valley Blvd., #280, Danville, California 94526. He graduated summa cum laude from U.C. Berkeley with a Ph.D. in psychology. Dr. Schinnerer has been an executive and psychologist for over 12 years. Dr. John Schinnerer is President and Founder of Guide To Self, a company that coaches clients to achieve optimal human functioning using the latest in positive psychology, mindfulness and attentional control. Dr. John Schinnerer hosted over 200 episodes of Guide To Self Radio, a prime time radio show, in the San Francisco Bay Area.  Dr. John Schinnerer sits on the Advisory Board of Positive Music Imperative as well as consults with Resonance Technologies around the latest ways to measure and quantify human emotions for commercial application. Dr. Schinnerer is President of Infinet Assessment, a psychological testing company to help firms select the best applicants. Dr. Schinnerer’s areas of expertise range from positive psychology, to emotional awareness, to moral development, to sports psychology. Dr. Schinnerer wrote the award-winning, “Guide To Self: The Beginner’s Guide To Managing Emotion and Thought,” which is available at Amazon.com, BarnesAndNoble.com and AuthorHouse.com.  

Posted in Hope, Resiliency, Awareness, Music psychology, Curiosity, The human brain, Subconscious mind, Dr. John Schinnerer, Guide to Self, Happiness, Positive mood music, Positive Psychology | Print | No Comments »

23. June 2009 by John Schinnerer.

“The Music Instinct: Science & Song.” Show time is 9 PM on June 24th.

From PBS…

While listening to music, neuroscientist Daniel Levitin, asks the questions “where do goose bumps come from?” and “what’s going on in my brain that allows the goosebumps to happen?” Levitin leads a group of researchers as they investigate music’s fundamental physical structure; its biological, emotional and psychological impact; its brain altering and healing powers and its role in human evolution. The Music Instinct: Science and Song, a fascinating two-hour documentary on the science of music, premieres Wednesday, June 24, 2009 at 9 p.m. (ET) on PBS (check local listings).

The Music Instinct: Science and Song is a production of THIRTEEN in association with WNET.ORG – one of America’s most prolific and respected public media providers.

Researchers and scientists from a variety of fields are using groundbreaking techniques that reveal startling new connections between music and the human mind, the body and the universe. Together with an array of musicians from rock and rap to jazz and classical, they are putting music under the microscope.

“The brain is teaching us about music and music is teaching us about the brain,” says Levitin.” Music allows us to understand better how the brain organizes information in the world. There are a lot of different factors that go into our emotional appreciation of music [like] the memories we have of a particular song that we heard at a particular time in our lives.”

Internationally renowned performers Bobby McFerrin and cellist Yo-Yo Ma describe the way musical intervals are used or combined to create melody and harmony. McFerrin, together with the “World Singers,” sing a cappella to demonstrate that basic elements of music; pitch, tempo, rhythm and melody create specific reactions in our brains. Yo-Yo Ma plays two notes and then five more notes and then plays different combinations that demonstrate the way musical intervals are combined to create a melody or harmony.

More info below at PBS

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/musicinstinct/about/

Posted in Emotional management, Music psychology, Positive mood music, Happiness, Dr. John Schinnerer, Creativity, Positive Psychology | Print | No Comments »

9. June 2009 by John Schinnerer.

Positive Psychology Music Mix - List of Over 600 Songs to Increase Happiness, Contentment and Joy

I just updated my Positive Psychology song list (now over 600 songs!). The list has been flying around the internet (my thanks to those who’ve seen fit to pass it along). 

 I’ve been working on adding to and updating the list. It’s now 11 pages of songs from which you can pick and choose to add to your own station or library or playlist.

The new link is http://www.guidetoself.com/articles/Positive_Psychology_Happiness_song_compilation_June-09.pdf .

While music influences each of us differently, the list is a great start for building your own customized playlist to boost your mood.

Hope you enjoy!

Dr. John Schinnerer

Guide To Self, Inc.

www.GuideToSelf.com

Positive Psychology Coaching and Speaking

Posted in Managing Sadness, Managing Anxiety, Emotional management, Resiliency, Hope, Science of love, Curiosity, Music psychology, Emotional mind, Guide To Self Beginners Guide To Managing Emotion, Creativity, Dr. John Schinnerer, Managing stress, Life coach, Guide to Self, Positive mood music, Happiness, Emotional IQ, Positive Psychology | Print | No Comments »

2. June 2009 by John Schinnerer.

 Just when I thought I’d seen it all, the researchers at University of Granada come up with a program to create music that “responds to” the feelings of listeners. I’m not quite clear how this is done, but I am certainly intrigued to find out more.

 http://www.physorg.com/news163076031.html

Using artificial intelligence, the program apparently allows users to create their own music even in the absence of any musical training or knowledge. Stay tuned!

Miguel Delgado; Waldo Fajardo; Miguel Molina-Solana. “Inmamusys: Intelligent multiagent music system”. Expert Systems with Applications. 36, 4574-4580, 2009.

Posted in Emotional mind, Emotional management, Music psychology, Positive mood music, Happiness, Dr. John Schinnerer, Customer Engagement, Positive Psychology | Print | No Comments »

27. March 2009 by John Schinnerer.

Here are some more positive tunes to keep you bouncing into the weekend. You can check any of these out for free at www.blip.fm.

JohnSchinnerer ‘Dancing in the street’ Jagger and Bowie. Smile. Recent studies showing that happiness is contagious even through people you don’t know.
♫ David Bowie & Mick Jagger – Dancing In The Street | play

    JohnSchinnerer Great pick! ‘The Logical Song’ We spend too much time in the rational mind. Need to get more familiar with the emotional mind. (reblip)
♫ Supertramp – The Logical Song | play

    JohnSchinnerer ‘We must never let our fears rob of us our dreams’ G. Stein. ‘Bravery is not the absence of fear, rather it’s overcoming fear.’ J. Schinnerer
♫ www.mp3ex.net - Jennifer Lopez – Brave | play

    JohnSchinnerer An incredible collage of sound, mesmerizing. Muse - ‘Invincible’ We are resilient. We bounce.
♫ Muse – Invincible | play

    JohnSchinnerer Happy, happy - positive emotions - awe, inspiration, elevation, curiosity, interest, joy, and more
♫ Simple Plan – Happy Together | play

    JohnSchinnerer ‘Come Dancing’ Get moving! Exercise gets the blood (carrying oxygen and glucose) to your brain. Dance, dance, dance (Isn’t that Fallout Boys?)
♫ The Kinks – Come Dancing | play

    JohnSchinnerer Kinks ‘Rock N Roll Fantasy’ Get out of the fantasy. Live life. Realistic optimism, positive psychology, self-compassion - tools to help engage in life
♫ The Kinks – A Rock ‘N’ Roll Fantasy | play

    JohnSchinnerer ‘Always Look on the Bright Side of Life’ by Monty Python. It doesn’t get any cheesier - but it does bring a smile to my face!
♫ Monty Python – Always Look on the Bright Side of Life | play
 
    JohnSchinnerer [Peter Gabriel – Sledgehammer] @patita @adbert Way to go! Terrific song by PG! (reblip)
♫ Peter Gabriel – Sledgehammer | play

    JohnSchinnerer Great song covered by one of the best guitarists out there. ‘Hawaii Five-O’ Sign up to listen if you want positive, uplifting music coming your way
♫ Gary Hoey – Hawaii Five-O | play
    JohnSchinnerer Excellent pick @KingofP! This was one of my favorites from the past too! ‘Fly like an eagle…’ (reblip)
♫ Steve Miller Band – Fly Like An Eagle | play
    JohnSchinnerer Here is some Herbie Hancock to get you movin’ (’Rockit’). Gets your blood pumpin’
♫ Herbie Hancock – Rockit | play
    JohnSchinnerer @gsmeck - ran out of props, here’s my favorite R.E.M. song. Fantastic pick me up song! Props to you @gsmeck, @annadynamite! You rock! (reblip)
♫ R.E.M. – Orange Crush | play
    JohnSchinnerer Argent – ‘Hold Your Head Up’ #music. Great pick! Thanks thehillers for reminding me of this song. Great timing to put this one out! (reblip)
♫ Argent – Hold Your Head Up | play
    JohnSchinnerer Check out this list of over 300 positive tunes (uplifting songs) I’ve got http://www.guidetoself.com/publications.htm John Schinnerer, Ph.D.
♫ Roger Miller – King Of The Road | play

    JohnSchinnerer Brain scans show listening to pleasant music activated areas linked to positive emotions which was linked 2 better performance on tasks
♫ Mama Cass Elliot – Make Your Own Kind Of Music | play
 
    JohnSchinnerer Positive music ‘restores vision’ in stroke victims in UK study (From BBC News) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7959732.stm
♫ BIG_BAD_VOODOO_DADDY_King_of_Swing | play
 
    JohnSchinnerer Great song. Just hang on. You’re in the middle of the ride. ‘The Middle’
♫ Jimmy Eat World – The Middle | play
    JohnSchinnerer We can be heroes. ManaJunkie, you are your own hero. We’re all heroes everyday. ‘We can be there forever and ever.’ (reblip)
♫ The Wallflowers – Heroes | play
    JohnSchinnerer ‘Seasons of Love’ from Rent. Nice pick! (reblip)
♫ rent – Seasons of Love | play
    JohnSchinnerer ‘Father & Daughter’ Dads - cherish your daughters. Daughters - be grateful for your fathers. BTW, gratitude is one necessary tool for a happy life!
♫ Paul Simon – Father And Daughter | play
    JohnSchinnerer Iz doing ‘Somewhere over the rainbow’ is one of the most relaxing, gentle songs I’ve heard. Great for bringing it down a notch.
♫ Israel Kamakawiwo’ole – Somewhere Over The Rainbow / What A Wonderful World | play

    JohnSchinnerer Dirty Vegas..Days go By… Thanks to DJGhostGirl for this one! You are the best! ‘Still I think of you…’ (reblip)
♫ Dirty Vegas – Days Go By (Full Vocal Mix) | play

    JohnSchinnerer A little Calypso beat to get your hips swayin’ courtesy of Harry Belafonte ‘Jump In Line’. Use the music to keep your emotions and moods positive!
♫ Harry Belafonte – Jump in The Line | play

Posted in Emotional mind, Music psychology, Positive mood music, Guide to Self, Dr. John Schinnerer, Positive Psychology | Print | No Comments »

19. March 2009 by John Schinnerer.

If you are looking for a way to share your favorite tunes with the world, or just with your followers on Twitter, you may want to take a look at www.blip.fm. Great concept. Make yourself a DJ, share songs with others.  

Here is a sampling of my playlist which focuses on songs which support the basic tenets of positive psychology (at least, as far as I understand them!)…enjoy… 

JohnSchinnerer ‘My One True Friend’ Happiness is largely a result of supportive, positive relationships. Cherish your friends! ♫ Bette Midler – My One True Friend 

JohnSchinnerer “Wind Beneath My Wings” What a world it would be if we could tell our loved ones just how heroic they are to us. ♫ Bette Midler – Did You Ever Know That Your My Hero  

JohnSchinnerer ‘You’re Never Fully Dressed W/out a Smile’ from the musical Annie. I’m speaking on realistic optimism to help the opera company kick off Annie. ♫ Chris Vettel, Natalie Backman, Kelly Cosme, Liz Power – You’re Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile (album)  

JohnSchinnerer John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ - a great tune to inspire creativity and off-the-grid thinking! Imagine your best possible self… ♫ John Lenon – Imagine  

JohnSchinnerer ‘One Love’ by Bob Marley - a spiritual prophet - helped us focus on positive emotions. Thanks, Bob! ♫ Bob Marley And The Wailers – One Love/People Get Ready  

JohnSchinnerer Ahh, love, that combination of awe, happiness, curiosity, interest and passion in a safe relationship. ‘It Must Be Love’ by Madness ♫ Madness – It Must Be Love  

JohnSchinnerer Here is another great resiliency song “Break My Stride” by Matt Wilder. Don’t roll - bounce! http://drjohnblog.guidetoself.com/ ♫ Matthew Wilder – Break My Stride  

JohnSchinnerer ‘Runnin’ Down a Dream’ oozes optimism. Feels like anything’s possible… ♫ Tom Petty - Running Down a Dream  

JohnSchinnerer ‘Fall Back Down’ by Rancid - another fantastic song to boost resiliency (the quick recovery from difficulties). Don’t just roll - bounce! ♫ Rancid – Fall Back Down 

JohnSchinnerer You, me, everybody, everybody needs somebody to love! ♫ The Blues Brothers – Everybody Needs Somebody to Love  

JohnSchinnerer ‘Heroes’ We can be heroes. Right here, right now. You are your own champion. You are the hero of your own story. ♫ David Bowie – Heroes (live in Paris, 2000)  

JohnSchinnerer India.Arie has some great positive psych songs - Better People, I Am Not My Hair, There’s Hope. Gotta keep it all in perspective! ♫ India.Arie – Better People  

JohnSchinnerer Great song from my childhood ‘Last Train to Clarksville’. I loved the Monkees show. ♫ The Monkees – Last Train to Clarksville  

JohnSchinnerer ‘Blessed’ by Elton. Little known song. Great message to hear over and over again. Let it create a new neural network in your mind. You’ll be blessed! ♫ Elton John - Blessed  

JohnSchinnerer Brian Setzer has an amazing ability to tap into up beats. “Rock this town” is a classic tune which makes me feel joyous and alive. ♫ Brian Setzer Orchestra – Rock This Town  

JohnSchinnerer “Jump, Jive & Wail” Nothing like a little swing to put the skip in your step. Joy makes you playful; makes you want to get involved, draws you in. ♫ Brian Setzer/Louis Prima – Jump Jive & Wail 

JohnSchinnerer The emotion “Hope” is just as likely as despair during difficult times. Chose hope. It energizes & is based on belief that things can improve. ♫ Shaggy_-_Hope   

JohnSchinnerer “99 Red Balloons” Bouncy, uptempo song for positive feelings. The visual image of 99 red balloons floating through the sky is most uplifting also! ♫ Happy Hardcore Anthems – 99 Red Balloons (remix)   

JohnSchinnerer “Think of happiness today” Slow tempo, good messages to send through your head. Feel happiness too! ♫ Soft Charisma – Think Of Happiness Today  

JohnSchinnerer “Do Wah Diddy” - Happiness depends partly on the ability to savor moments of beauty, taste, touch, etc. - sensory experiences. Slow down, smell roses ♫ Simply the Best of the 60’s – Manfred Mann - Do Wah Diddy   

JohnSchinnerer “Better together” - one of the proven keys to happiness - supportive relationships with people who are truly happy when you get good news. ♫ Jack Johnson – Better Together  

JohnSchinnerer Appropriate optimism is one of the keys to a happy, meaningful life. Surround yourself with positivity (or ‘accentuate the positive’) ♫ Johnny Mercer – Ac-cent-tchu-ate The Positive  

JohnSchinnerer Mindfulness reminder - stay in the present moment, focus on your breathing. Live for today. Live in the moment. ♫ The Grass Roots – Let’s Live For Today JohnSchinnerer Love = combo of joy, interest, peacefulness, happiness, awe, inspiration, attraction, all the positive emotions in a safe, comfortable relationship. ♫ Al Green, Annie Lennox – Put A Little Love In Your Heart  

JohnSchinnerer This song will uplift your spirits, put you in a better mood and bring back some pleasant memories. www.GuideToSelf.com ♫ Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah    

JohnSchinnerer Minimize negative emotions. Maximize the positive emotions - love, awe, interest, hope, gratitude, serenity, joy, inspiration. 3:1 ratio. ♫ Jimmy Cliff  – The World Is Yours (Positive mind) feat. TASSANE CHIN  

JohnSchinnerer Just move your body to the music - you will feel better! A little James Brown, anyone? ♫ James Brown – Get Up Offa That Thing  

JohnSchinnerer Please lemmee know if you have suggestions for positive uplifting tunes. I’m pulling together a list. I have 350 songs so far! www.GuideToSelf.com ♫ The Beach Boys – Good Vibrations  

JohnSchinnerer Nothing like a little music from Rocky to inspire and uplift. Works really well as background music for exercise and workouts. ♫ Rocky – Gonna Fly Now 

JohnSchinnerer Research shows relationships are a large component of happiness. Be happy together! ♫ The Turtles – Happy Together  

Posted in Emotional mind, Emotional management, Consciousness, Music psychology, Positive mood music, Happiness, Dr. John Schinnerer, Creativity, Guide to Self, Emotional IQ, Positive Psychology | Print | No Comments »

5. March 2009 by John Schinnerer.

The Beginnings of Neuroscience, Music and the Mind

“Rhythm and harmony find their way into the inward places of the soul…”

Plato (circa 400 BC)

Music engages many brain functions…

Emotion

Memory

Learning & Plasticity (the ability of the brain to change, grow and develop over time)

Attention

Motor Control

Pattern perception

Imagery

And more…

Check out this groundbreaking presentation by Aniruddh Patel, Ph.D., of the Neurosciences Institute on how music shares some common neural ground with language.

What’s more, music may even enable us to construct the bridge to connect

1)      the mind (our subjective experience of the world around us, our thoughts, feelings and perceptions, that which emerges from the brain) and

2)      the brain (the physical organ made up of neurons and synapses inside the skull).

It is available free on youtube at http://tinyurl.com/6z4g7c

Just bounce to the music!

Dr. John Schinnerer

Guide To Self, Inc.

“Where Meaning Thrives”

www.GuideToSelf.com

Emotional Management Coaching for Executives, Men, Athletes, Teens and more. For greater performance in all areas of life, learn how to dump out anger, fear and sadness and replace them with happiness, inspiration and joy.

Posted in Subconscious mind, The human brain, Mindfulness, Music psychology, Consciousness, Emotional management, Guide to Self, Emotional IQ, Positive mood music, Emotional mind, Dr. John Schinnerer | Print | No Comments »

3. February 2009 by John Schinnerer.

Research has shown that music strongly affects our mood and our emotions, our thoughts and even our perceptions. Barb Fredrickson’s work demonstrates the positivity ratio is 3:1, that is we need three times as much positive emotions as negative emotions in our lives. 

Positive, constructive emotions are fleeting, ephemeral and quick. They can be easily outmuscled by negative or destructive emotions.

 We need to plant the seeds of positivity in the mind frequently and constantly. To that end. I have compiled a list of positive, upbeat, elevating songs so you can create your own playlist of positive psych songs.

 I would love to do a research study where only positive music is piped in to one team in an organization (as background music) compared to a no music condition as well as a popular radio station and track productivity, work engagement, creativity (innovation), sales, teamwork and so on.

I’ve had this positive playlist on for a couple weeks now and it works wonders for myself, my clients and my family. Try it for yourself.

The Official Positive Psychology Music Compilation is available free of charge at http://tinyurl.com/avafyy. Please send your suggestions for more positive songs to me at Info AT GuideToSelf.com! If I add your song to the list, I will email you a free pdf version of my award-winning book, Guide To Self: The Beginner’s Guide To Managing Emotion and Thought.

Thanks and enjoy!

Dr. John Schinnerer

Posted in Altruism, Resiliency, Men's emotions, Emotional management, Mindfulness, Hope, Music psychology, Energy psychology, Awareness, Emotional mind, Guide To Self Beginners Guide To Managing Emotion, Guide to Self, Life coach, Creativity, Dr. John Schinnerer, Emotional IQ, Staying calm, Morals and values, Positive mood music, Happiness, Positive Psychology | Print | No Comments »

31. January 2009 by John Schinnerer.

John L. Schinnerer, Ph.D.

Positive psychology is the science behind the pursuit of a happy, meaningful, thriving life.

Positive psychology has emerged at the beginning of a new millennium as a movement within psychology and other social sciences targeted at augmenting human strengths and optimizing human functioning. In other words, how we move from simply surviving to truly thriving. It is influencing how we live, how we work, and how we teach our children.  Research is taking off at top universities throughout the world - University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (Barbara Fredrickson), Claremont Graduate School (Jeanne Nakamura, Mike Csikszentmihalyi), University of Michigan (Chris Peterson, Kim Cameron, Center for Positive Organizational Scholarship), Case Western University (Richard Boyatzis, David Cooperrider), University of Illinois (Ed Diener), University of Pennsylvania (Marty Seligman), and UCLA (Shelley Taylor).

One area that has been scarcely looked at is the point of intersection between positive psychology and music. What music can we listen to that enables us to thrive, to be more resilient, to be relaxed, to learn best, to be most productive at work?

As music affects each individual slightly differently, there may be no hard and fast answers. Or perhaps there are some generalizations that can be made. In either case, it’s worth pursuing.

Posted in Emotional mind, Guide To Self Beginners Guide To Managing Emotion, Emotional management, Organizational psychology, Music psychology, Resiliency, Positive mood music, Happiness, Dr. John Schinnerer, Realistic optimism, Creativity, Life coach, Guide to Self, Positive Psychology | Print | 1 Comment »

31. January 2009 by John Schinnerer.

John L. Schinnerer, Ph.D.

Positive psychologist

Amateur musicologist

Music heavily influences how we feel.

The mood of a song can influence emotion in a constructive or a destructive direction.Joyful, energetic songs elicit happiness.

Sad, slow tempo songs elicit sadness.

Emotion influences how we perceive people and things.

Destructive emotions, such as sadness, anger and fear, greatly narrow attention to a sharp point.

Constructive emotions, such as happiness, surprise and curiosity, broaden attention.

When attention is broadened, we take in new information more effectively.

Positive, uplifting music helps to create constructive emotions which aid the learning of new information.

Here are a few positive psychology songs to keep your spirits elevated throughout the day…

Feel free to add your own suggestions!

Sun Is Shining                                                 Bob Marley

Peace Love and Happiness                            Bob Marley

Don’t Worry, Be Happy                                  Bobby McFerrin

Hallelujah (Your Love Is Amazing)                Brenton Brown

Darlin` Do Not Fear                                        Brett Dennen

Jump Jive An’ Wail                                         Brian Setzer Orchestra

Rock This Town                                              Brian Setzer Orchestra

Child Of Mine                                                 Carole King

Peace Train                                                     Cat Stevens

Love Can Move Mountains                           Celine Dion

I’m Every Woman                                           Chaka Kahn or Whitney Houston

Zoot Suit Riot                                                 Cherry Poppin’ Daddies

Dreamer                                                          Chris Brown

Remember, happiness is contagious! Smile!

About the Author

Dr. John Schinnerer is in private practice helping individuals learn happiness by mitigating destructive emotions and fostering constructive emotions. His practice is located in the Danville San Ramon Medical Center at 913 San Ramon Valley Blvd., #280, Danville, California 94526. He graduated summa cum laude from U.C. Berkeley with a Ph.D. in psychology. Dr. Schinnerer has been an executive and psychologist for over 12 years. Dr. John Schinnerer is President and Founder of Guide To Self, a company that coaches clients to their potential using the latest in positive psychology, mindfulness and attentional control. Dr. John Schinnerer hosted over 200 episodes of Guide To Self Radio, a prime time radio show, in the San Francisco Bay Area.  Dr. Schinnerer’s areas of expertise range from positive psychology, to emotional awareness, to ethical development, to marketing and psychology. Dr. Schinnerer wrote the award-winning, “Guide To Self: The Beginner’s Guide To Managing Emotion and Thought,” which is available at Amazon.com, BarnesAndNoble.com and AuthorHouse.com.  

Posted in Men's emotions, Subconscious mind, Emotional management, The human brain, Resiliency, Music psychology, Energy psychology, Mindfulness, Emotional mind, Positive mood music, Life coach, Creativity, Dr. John Schinnerer, Guide to Self, Emotional IQ, Happiness, Customer Engagement, Staying calm, Positive Psychology | Print | No Comments »

30. January 2009 by John Schinnerer.

John L. Schinnerer, Ph.D.

Guide To Self, Inc.

Music has an undeniable power to evoke emotion. Music is present at every important social gathering – weddings, funerals, birthdays, inaugurations and more. Every ‘normal’ human being responds to music’s mysterious ability to tap into the boundless ocean that is human emotion.

Why does music evoke emotion?

How does music affect emotion?

Is music a basic human need like shelter, food and meaningful work?

Such questions cut to the very core of human nature. Answers to these questions would help to clarify the unique role of music in our lives.

It has been shown in research that different types of music evoke different emotional reactions (in most people). For example, Lewis, Dember, Schefft and Radenhausen determined the effects of music versus videos on several assessments of mood - the Optimism/Pessimism Questionnaire, the Multiple Affect Adjective Check List, and the Wessman-Ricks Elation and Depression Scale (1). Experts rated a number of songs and videos as either positive or negative. The study found that songs had a major impact on mood, yet the videos did not. Not surprisingly, music that was  rated positively increased participants’ positive moods. It was exactly the oppositve for negative (i.e., sad) music. As you may have guessed, the mood of a piece of music tends to induce the same mood in the listener.

Chastain, Seibert, and Ferraro (2) backed up these findings and found that certain music narrowed particpants’ attention. It was found that participants attended to and recalled words that matched the mood of the music. In and of itself, this is not surprising.

More surprising are the results reported by Stratton and Zalanowski (3) where the mood of the music influenced how participants perceived paintings. The music influenced mood and mood influenced perception. In the study, paintings were paired together with music. Each piece of music was either depressing or positive in the emotion it evoked per the experts. Particpants rated the emotions evoked by the paintings as well as the songs.  Participants categorized the paintings by the type of music to which the listened, but not vice versa. In other words, paintings rated as sad by the experts were perceived as sad by participants when paired with sad music. Yet those same paintings were perceived as positive when paired with happy music; the same findings were reported when positive paintings were paired with happy or sad music, respectively.

Amazingly, the way in which we perceive a seemingly static object is not as objective as first thought. The emotions invoked by music influence not only our ears, but our eyes as well. Emotions likely influence every one of our senses (i.e., smell, touch, taste, mind). 

If emotions and music can influence our senses and how we perceive objects around us, what about other people?  Do music and emotion exert an influence on how we perceive other people?  They do.

The effects of music on emotion influence how we perceive the facial expressions of others. extends to interpersonal interactions. In a fascinating study, Bouhuys, Bloem and Groothuis looked at the extent to which music influences how participants read the facial expression of emotions of others (5).  Music had a considerable effect. After hearing sad music, participants rated neutral faces as showing more rejection and sadness and less openness and happiness, despite the absense of any such emotions in the faces.

Although it is not clear why music has such an influence on our emotions, mood and behaviors, it seems clear that music does alter how we perceive the world around us. Temporary emotions caused by music change what we pay attention to, what we perceive, and how we interact with others. It brings into question the notion that there is one objective reality that can ultimately be accurately perceived.  

References

(1) Lewis, L.M., Dember, W. N., Scheff, B. K. and Radenhausen, R. A. (1995) Can experimentally induced mood affect optimism and pessimism scores? Curr. Psychol.: Devel., Learn., Person., Social., 14, 29-41.

(2) Chastain, G., Seibert, P.S., and Ferraro, F. R. (1995) Mood and lexical access of positive, negative, and neutral words. J. General Psychol., 122, 137-157.

Posted in Men's emotions, Emotional management, Mindfulness, Energy psychology, Music psychology, Emotional mind, Positive mood music, Life coach, Dr. John Schinnerer, Guide to Self, Emotional IQ, Happiness, Positive Psychology | Print | No Comments »

30. January 2009 by John Schinnerer.

John L. Schinnerer, Ph.D.

Music strongly influences the mind on a number of levels. Music engages both verbal and auditory skills and can even involve visual skills. Recent research (2008) by Dr. Michael S. Gazzaniga of the University of California at Santa Barbara found that an interest in music leads to a high state of motivation that produces the sustained attention necessary to improve performance and the training of attention that leads to improvement in other domains such as math and writing.   

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30. January 2009 by John Schinnerer.

John Schinnerer, Ph.D.

Music may be good for the heart, suggests a 2005 study published in Heart, which shows that it is tempo, rather than type of music, that relieves stress and slows the heart.

While it was a small study (n=24), the findings show that up tempo music with more intricate rhythms, sped up breathing and blood circulation, regardless of style. Fast-paced classical and techno music had the greatest impact. Interestingly, it was the silence between notes and songs that had the largest effect. Quick tempo music increased the degree of physiological arousal. Similarly, slower tempo music had an opposite effect, lowering arousal and slowing the heart rate.

However, during the pauses, during the silence, all physiological indicators relaxed (i.e., heart and breathing rates fell below those which were recorded at the beginning of the experiment prior to participants listening to any music). This effect occurred, regardless of the musical style or the participants’ musical tastes.

The Positive Psychology Music Project

I have compiled a list of over 200 songs which have been vetted for positivity. In other words, there is something about each of the songs that promotes happiness, hope, optimism, interest, joy, contentment, serenity, energy, excitement, gratitude and/or playfulness. I  listen to these songs daily in a conscious effort to experience greater frequency of positive emotions (to inch closer towards Barb Fredrickson’s positivity ration of 3:1!).

So here are a few songs that I like to use to keep my mood and emotions positive and upbeat…

Gnarls Barkley  - Crazy  (2006)

Gladiator soundtrack – Hans Zimmer - The Battle

Finley Quaye – Your love gets sweeter (Reggae)

Elvis Costello - (What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding

Dirty Vegas – Days Go By (Techno/dance)

Rascal Flatts – Life is a Highway (Modern country)

The Chords – Sh-Boom (50s)

Carrie Underwood – Jesus, Take the Wheel (country)

Bob Marley – Three Little Birds (reggae)

Beethoven - Adagio Molto E Cantabile – Symphony No. 9 Choral

Beethoven – Molto Vivace – Symphony No. 9 Choral

10,000 Maniacs or Cat Stevens – Peace Train

High School Musical - Get’cha Head in the Game (Disney - childrens)

Jack Johnson – With my own two hands (From Curious George movie soundtrack)

Jack Johnson – We’re going to be friends (Cover of White Stripes song)

Rihanna – Pon de replay (Dance)

KT Tunstall – Black Horse and the Cherry Tree

Los Lonely Boys – Heaven

Lord of the Rings: Return of the King Soundtrack – The Return of the King (w/James

Mary J. Blige – Family Affair

Black Eyed Peas – Where is the love?

Johnny Nash – I can see clearly now

Paul Simon – Father and daughter

Pirates of the Caribbean Soundtrack – Black Pearl, Will and Elizabeth, and more (modern classical)

Rancid – Fall back down (punk)

Simon and Garfunkel – The Only Living Boy in

Uncle Tupelo – No Depression (Alt Country)

Peter Tosh – Johnny B. Goode (reggae)

Richard Wagner - Die Walkure - The Ride Of The Valkyries (Classical)

The Who – Love Reign O’er Me

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