Medea Gulow

“Let’s celebrate music as a way of keeping calm in times of busyness and stress, and the new beginnings that can come from pushing yourself through.

Everyone experiences stress at some point in their life and everyone has their own way of dealing with and overcoming it. My favourite type of music to put on when I’m stressed or overwhelmed is classical. The beautiful hypnotising sounds help me stay calm and keep my mind on task. There’s been many studies performed on students that have proved playing classical music while taking tests improved overall scores and all students’ mental state. This type of music gets people into the ‘flow’, which is a feeling of happiness and pure contention.

The golden era of classical was between 1790 – 1850 with well-known composers like Mozart, Beethoven and my personal favourite composer, Chopin. Submerging yourself into Chopin’s music and catching a ‘flow’ can engage you in an activity so much you lose yourself in it. The brain releases dopamine to spike pleasure and take over the release of stress hormones. From that release, mood is improved, which therefore simplifies thinking making tasks like essay writing and studying a lot more enjoyable.

I have used classical music throughout my whole life as my dyslexia has made it hard for me to do work that most people have no problem with. Chopin helps me stay on task in a classroom full of people talking and helps me stay calm while doing assessments that would otherwise have me stressed.

The colour green is soothing in mood. Spiritually green is seen as a healing colour and is believed to have a calming effect on our eyes, mind and body.”

Resene Whitecliffe Colour of Fashion clothing - 2023

Photography by Jonathan Kraettli

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