How has metal music saved my mental health? “How do I love thee let me count the ways…” The lyrics combined with the power of guitar and drums, and the energy you feel at shows, in your earbuds at the kitchen sink, at your desk screaming it out, or jumping around: these are the ultimate of states to pull back on in times of need in the future. Warm up your voices with a few scales or whatever. Take a deep breath. Now, use your diaphragm and push out a scream. I call that scream singing! Have you ever done that?! The breathing and excitement usually puts me into an altered state of consciousness, like meditation. Lyrics during that time can be invigorating and powerfully anchored. But, you may feel one of any range of emotions depending on the lyrics and the musical feel of a song. Ammi right?!
Think about Slipknot’s “Snuff” lyrics. Can you feel the last time your heart was broken and you cried to “if you still care don’t ever let me know.” What about Black Label Society’s “In This River” lyrics and your emotions remembering the loss of Zakk’s best friend and such a cherished musician? Now, think about the last time you listened to “I Will Be Heard” by Hatebreed. When I hear, “I’ve got to have my voice be heard and bring meaning to this life,” I just feel pumped and in a state of outward expression and creative excitement because it invokes the state I anchored while reading Viktor Frankl’s book, “Man’s Search For Meaning.”
Metal music runs the range of emotions and can help you create your own emotional state management or resource state anchors. I love to use metal music in my anchors. It helps to feel the music, jump around getting the body involved, combined with the focused breathing it takes to sing or growl, and also hearing the lyrics. Then, any music video or memory you’ve had around that song, you can see that picture and it makes for a very strong anchor.
I’ve had song lyric anchors come up when I really needed them. I just heard them in my head and then I went into the anchored state and dealt with the situation. Marching to a meeting of 100+ peers? No big deal with In This Moment’s “The Fighter” playing in my head. I went to the stairwell for privacy and physical motion. I checked in with my nerves, breathed deep and started down the stairs hearing “I will not hide my face, I will not fall from grace, I’ll walk into the fire, baby, all my life I was afraid to die, but now I’ve come alive inside this place.” Thank you beyond words, Mother Maria.
Metal helps me when I need a good release. If you scream along with "The Bleeding" during your divorce, you might just be better for it. And, "Lift Me Up" with Rob Halford, are you kidding me, come on! That’s such an uplifting song. “ I'm gonna shake history, enlighten the world, teach ‘em how to see through my eyes.” I just love the fast tempo, too.
My friend affirmed that her kids benefit from jumping and headbanging to heavy stuff before school. It gets their energy out and reduces her anxiety, too. Metal hits the right tempo for releasing anxiety. I have it playing while driving on the interstate and it’s like someone with ADHD taking Adderall. It binds with the anxiety and my brain processes the newly formed molecules in a loving and accepting way instead of the exploding cortisol and adrenaline floods or something.
Physical motion with the music makes for stronger anchors and stronger requiems, at least for me. I teach my clients to use these in powerful ways and to creatively overcome obstacles. The lyrics are motivating. The music gets me pumped. The depth of emotion in the lyrics makes me feel not alone! I can throw on some 5FDP and endure bumper to bumper traffic because I have an outlet for my anxiety, preventing road rage! Also, if you’ve never jumped around your house to “Burn MF” or live you are missing out! Five Finger Death Punch live are amazing. I have that one anchored and mapped across making my kids tantrums as pleasurable as “Burn MF” live in concert, my front row!!
I use the power of my voice. Nothing in this world compares to standing at the sink washing dishes and screaming out either profanity or encouraging words depending on the song. Death metal got me through so much just screaming it out. I’ve used the metal lyrics as a way to replace some of the bad repetitive words that I’ve said to myself. That inner critic blasts positive lyrics, and there’s a whole list of songs that I’ve used just pieces of lyrics from, maybe I’ll do a list of them in another post.
Suffice it to say, my song for 2016 was “Burn MF” by Five Finger Death Punch. 2017 was Disturbed’s “The Light” I got those lyrics tattooed. Hatebreed helped me through 2018! My WOTY (word of the year) was Perseverance, so Hatebreed’s song fit phenomenally for my year of 2018. “Your world is coming apart, remain steadfast, ahhhhh perseverance, against all opposition, crushing all limitations, pure strength through solitude, discipline and determination.” That song is a strong one for anchoring. My song for 2019 was Arch Enemy “The World Is Yours”. I’m not certain what the song for 2020 is, but with my goal of clear vision, I’m sure I’ll hear it soon enough! Go out there and create your own anchored songs and see how it feels! If you'd like some help anchoring songs with emotional resource states, feel free to email me at selfcare4zombies@gmail.com for a consultation! ~Liberty Cairde, NLP Master Practitioner and Certified Life Coach
