Therapy by Alice 
Jose Feliciano celebrates 50 years of ‘Feliz Navidad’
Posted on December 22, 2020 Leave a Comment
For a half century of “Feliz Navidad,” Jose Feliciano has been wishing the world “A Merry Christmas.” This year, as situations are for so many, it’s a bit different.
“Christmas time is always crazy for everyone,” his wife, Susan Feliciano, said. “Traditionally you add a Christmas carol that people love to hear and love to share with Jose, and he’s usually out there working. It’s very, very busy.
“This year,” she continued, “He’s home, but even though he misses the people out there, he’s been able to work on this lovely project and celebrate 50 years of ‘Feliz Navidad.’ He wouldn’t have been able to do any of this if he had been out there.”
The golden anniversary is taking place across all media.
The song has been reimagined, and performed by 39 musicians from nine countries. The ‘Feliz Navidad 50th Anniversary FN50’ is available on Amazon Music.
Amazon is allowing customers to ask “Alexa, tell me about the song ‘Feliz Navidad’,” or “Alexa, what is José Feliciano’s favorite holiday memory?” and hear a recorded response from Feliciano himself.
New hardcover editions of the illustrated children’s book “José Feliciano’s Feliz Navidad 50th Anniversary” are available in English and Spanish. An animated video by the same title is available exclusively on Prime Video.
The video and book follow the journey of three children — Marie from Paris, Xavier from New York and Camila from Puerto Rico. In anticipation of Christmas Day, the children follow the music of superhero José Feliciano singing Feliz Navidad to people from all over the world gathering to hear the true meaning of Christmas. The video made its debut at the Nashville Film Festival alongside the new documentary “José Feliciano: Behind This Guitar,” which was awarded Best Hispanic Film at the festival.
Feliciano is also marking the anniversary on television. A Dec. 7 appearance on “The Tonight Show” with Jimmy Fallon was recorded at Factory Underground Studio in Norwalk. He was featured on “CBS Sunday Morning” Dec. 13. There’s a Christmas project with Fox, Susan said, and a streaming concert that will go global Dec. 20.
Produced by Rick Jarrard, the song was recorded in October 1970 and released a month later, but did not hit the Billboard Hot 100 until 1998. It hit the Top 100 again in 2017, and again in 2019, and has been named one of the top 25 most played and recorded Christmas songs by ASCAP.
“When Rick suggested to me to write a song for Christmas, I didn’t know if I could write a song that could meet up with ‘White Christmas,’” or similar songs, Feliciano said. “Those songs, when you hear them as a little kid, you say to yourself, ‘How can I compete with songs like that?’ I’ve always been a competitor. I’ve always been an achiever. I’ve always wanted to succeed.”
But when “Feliz Navidad” was finished, Feliciano was not convinvced.
“Rick thought it was going to be a big hit,” Feliciano said. “I wasn’t so sure. But the minute I heard everything arranged — the music with the arrangement, the strings, the brass … I was really excited.”
The lyrics alternate between English and Spanish, “because I didn’t want the stations to find some reason not to play the record.”
It’s resonated with listeners on a personal level. Susan recalls a father and daughter from New Zealand who would race to contact the other the first time each Christmas season they heard “Feliz Navidad.” Then the artist was looped in.
“It’s being part of somebody’s life,” Susan said. “If you can make somebody smile, if you can take someone outside of what they’re dealing with — and we’re all dealing with stuff — this is a blessing.”
Being home this year has also allowed Felicano to play music with his sons, Jonnie on drums and Mikie on bass, including for the Jimmy Fallon segment.
Daughter Melissa Feliciano Erickson is manager of museum services at The Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum in Norwalk.
“It’s a privilege for me to play with my children,” Feliciano said.
“A lot of good things have happened because of ‘Feliz Navidad,’” he said. “The main thing I’m happy about is all the joy it brings to people every Christmas, and all the charities that have been helped by my song.”
Written By John Kovach
Paul McCartney on the breakup of the Beatles
Posted on December 22, 2020 Leave a Comment
Paul McCartney in Rolling Stone Magazine on CBS Sunday Morning Sunday 12/20/20
Paul McCartney discussed his new album, the Lennon/McCartney partnership, the Beatles’ breakup and his Covid-19 “rockdown” during an interview with CBS Sunday Morning.
As correspondent Seth Doane noted at the onset of the conversation, while people in quarantine were learning how to bake bread, McCartney was recording McCartney III.
“The other thing people have been doing has been cleaning out their closets. So that’s a bit what [McCartney III] was,” McCartney said. “I just started cleaning out my cupboards. Like, ‘What about that song last year that I started but never got to finish. ‘Let’s have a look at that, let’s finish this.”
McCartney — who performs all the instruments on his latest LP, like the namesake McCartney albums before it — said of working on a completely solo album, “It’s not like working with the band, because I know what I want to hear, and I don’t even have to tell anyone,” McCartney said. “I just said, ‘Let’s do some drums.’ I’ll sit on the drums and I’ll think, ‘OK, I wanted doo doo doo…’ So, it’s all in my head.”
McCartney added, “One of the songs on the new album, it’s called ‘Kiss of Venus,’ and I wrote it one summer’s day and I got the beginning of it… I thought, ‘I’ll record it, I’ll finish it someday.’ But then I said to myself, ‘No! What have you got? You haven’t got anything on. Sit here and finish that bloody song.’”
The singer was also reluctant to record with anyone else, other than a few engineers at his home studio, due to the ongoing pandemic. “I don’t want to give [Covid-19] to anyone, and I don’t want to get it,” McCartney said. “When people sort of say, ‘Wearing masks is infringing on my civil liberties,’ I say, ‘No. That is stupid.’”
McCartney also talked at length about his songwriting partnership with John Lennon and, over 50 years after the Beatles breakup, whether the band would have ever reunited.
“[Lennon] was showing no signs of slowing up. You know, he was still making great music,” McCartney said of Lennon at the time of his 1980 murder. “The question is: Would we have ever got back together again? I don’t know. We don’t know.”
When asked what he does when he’s driving in a car and a Beatles song comes on the radio, McCartney responded, “Turn it up. Turn it up and sing along with it. It always brings me back to the session.”
Overcoming Obstacles
Posted on December 18, 2020 Leave a Comment
I try to be upbeat and write about my business in terms of what is half full and not half empty but today was one of those days. One client canceled at the beginning I’d the day but after I left home. I took it in stride and did some Christmas shopping so no harm no foul.
At the end of the day I waited an hour to see my last client since I had to wait till she got out of school. They were expecting me as I had been there for massage on Tuesday and several times reminded them I’d be there Thursday for music therapy. so after waiting that hour I went inside and the attendant says to foster mom, where do you want client to do her music. Without batting an eye foster mom looks at me and says oh we don’t want music therapy anymore, I called and someone should have told you. I was speechless. I had just talked to them two days before and it appears that they are discontinuing music because they don’t want us to do music in her room and now that there is more than one foster kid there isn’t a private place to so music and mom doesn’t want to hear us.
Of course, I could speculate all day about what is happening and there is no way to know. I know that a once friendly environment become hostile over the last few months. I have ideas about why this has happened but again, I have no real idea. I feel like it’s tied to the general unrest and division in our world. Though I have made a real effort to never speak of politics or religion I think assumptions have been made about my leanings and this has caused hard feelings. I also know that my expectation of how a therapeutic environment should be managed have not been met. I am pretty sure today was my last visit to this household.
These situations are difficult for me. I always want closure and a positive resolution and I don’t see that happening here. I could hang in until I’m tools not to come back but I feel like maybe it’s better to make my own exit. I have become so nervous about going over there that I am looking for. Ways to avoid it and that’s never a good sign. communication has broken down too the point where I never get a confirmation if they will even be there when I arrive and I hate waiting that hour to find out they aren’t available.
I realize that I need to have a written policy to give clients when I take them on so that we all know what is expected. I’ll be working on that over the next month.
I am also working on my plans to expand my telehealth business with a subscription based service. My main focus will be hime kind adults, not necessarily elderly, but they could be. I also want to continue serving the hospice community in this time of isolation. All the plans help me feel better about the failures. I know that I make plenty of mistakes and I find myself wishing we could all learn to talk to each other.
Many kudos to Laurie Berkner
Posted on December 14, 2020 Leave a Comment
Though my target audience tends to be people older than myself I love children’s music as well. One of my favorite children’s musicians is Laurie Berkner.
I was introduced to her by a client in the past who loved her. Even though my own child has grown out of this stage, I would still love to go see one of her concerts. I have always joked that when I grow up I would like to be Laurie Berkner.
Here is one of her YouTube videos. Share it freely she is awesome
What is Music Therapy and How Does it Work? Part 3
Posted on December 13, 2020 Leave a Comment
reprinted from Medical News Today
How it helps with depression
Studies suggest that music therapy can improve symptoms of depression, with those undergoing music therapy along with standard treatments for depression — such as talking therapy — improving more than people who only received standard therapy.
Listening to music can also release dopamine, which is a hormone that makes people feel good, and endorphins, which are hormones that can induce happy moods and relieve pain.
Although music therapy is not a cure for depression, it can offer short-term benefits by improving mood and encouraging connection and self-expression.
In children
Some of the benefits of music therapy for children include:
- offering fun ways of expressing thoughts and feelings
- practicing social interaction and communication skills
- encouraging creative play
- improving concentration and coordination
- increasing self-awareness
- increasing awareness of other people, particularly in group music sessions
- building self-esteem and resilience
- building language and listening skills
- strengthening family relationships
Summary
Although music therapy is not a cure for any mental health condition, it can be an effective and enjoyable tool for reducing the symptoms of numerous conditions, including depression and anxiety.
Music therapy offers people a creative and accessible way of expressing their feelings and processing their experiences. People have used music for its powerful effects on mood and emotions for a long time.
Aside from helping with mental health conditions, music therapy also has numerous other benefits, such as providing a creative outlet, expanding knowledge and cultural awareness, and improving cognitive skills such as memory.
What Does Music Therapy Do and how does it work? Part 2
Posted on December 11, 2020 Leave a Comment
Reprinted from Medical News today
Music therapy vs. other forms of therapy
Music therapy does not rely on verbal communication, so it can be better for people who struggle to communicate verbally. This could be due to a disability, a neurodegenerative condition such as dementia, an acquired brain injury, or a mental health condition.
As CBT and counseling are both talking therapies, they may not be suitable for people who find verbal communication difficult. This is where music therapy can be beneficial.
Additionally, mental health practitioners can bring music therapy directly to a person, such as if they cannot get out of bed or are unable to get to a therapist’s office. Enjoying music therapy at home can also benefit children who want to be in a familiar environment during their sessions.
This is not specific to music therapy, though, as many other types of psychotherapy can take place in the home.
The skills a person learns in music therapy can be useful in their everyday life, too. They may even take up learning an instrument as a new hobby, which they can use as a tool for improving their mental health and coping with difficult situations throughout their life.
Benefits
There are extra benefits to listening or creating music that talking therapies may not be able to offer.
For instance, learning and practicing a piece of music can improve memory skills, coordination, reading, comprehension, and math skills, and it can also give lessons in responsibility and perseverance.
People can also enjoy a great sense of achievement from creating a piece of music, which can help improve their mood and self-esteem.
Music therapy can also introduce people to many different cultures, as clients can explore any type and genre of music during therapy. Understanding the history behind a piece of music can help people connect with the music they are hearing or playing.
Although self-expression is a part of talking therapy, music therapy allows people to express themselves in a creative way, which can be a more enjoyable way of exploring difficult emotions.
Lyric analysis is another accessible way for people to explore and process difficult emotions, experiences, or memories through music.
For example, a person can find themes and meanings within lyrics and offer alternative lyrics that apply to their life and experiences, which can help them find the words that represent how they are feeling if they are finding it hard to express this themselves.
Some of the documented benefits of music therapy include:
- improved self-esteem
- decreased anxiety
- increased motivation
- successful and safe emotional release
- increased verbalization
- stronger connections with other people
How it helps with anxiety
Many studies suggest that music therapy can reduce feelings of anxiety, including in people with cancer, those undergoing surgery, and individuals going into intensive care units. Some studies also suggest that music can reduce blood pressure and the heartbeat, which can have a direct impact on how stressed a person feels.
There is also evidence to suggest that those undergoing music therapy experience reduced anxiety immediately after the session, which indicates that music therapy could be a convenient way to reduce symptoms quickly.
Music affects the amount of stress hormones, such as adrenaline and cortisol, that the body releases, and reducing these hormones can help relieve symptoms of anxiety.
What is Music Therapy and How Does It Work? (part 1)
Posted on December 10, 2020 Leave a Comment
Reprinted from Medical News Today
Music therapy involves using a person’s responses and connections to music to encourage positive changes in mood and overall well-being. Music therapy can include creating music with instruments of all types, singing, moving to music, or just listening to it.
Music has powerful effects on the mind. Different styles of music can have a significant effect on a person’s mood very quickly, and it can help them experience and process a wide range of emotions, from happiness to excitement, as well as sadness, calmness, and thoughtfulness.
Making music can also be as beneficial as listening to music, and music therapy encourages people to actively create the music they find helpful to them.
This article explains what music therapy is, how it can help improve mental health, and its effects on different mental health conditions.
What is music therapy?
Music therapy uses the powerful abilities of music to improve a person’s well-being. It is an alternative to other types of therapy, such as counseling or cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).
Music therapists use a person’s responses and connections to music to encourage positive changes in mood and overall mental mindset. Music therapy can include listening to music or creating music with instruments of all types. It may also involve singing or moving to music.
It can help improve confidence, communication skills, independence, self-awareness and awareness of others, and concentration and attention skills.
Live musical interaction between a person and their therapist is important during music therapy.
Improvisation can also be a key part of music therapy. This involves making music up on the spot in response to a mood or a theme, such as making the sound of a storm using drums and a rainstick.
How does music therapy work?
The way that music affects the brain is very complex. All aspects of music — including pitch, tempo, and melody — are processed by different areas of the brain.
For instance, the cerebellum processes rhythm, the frontal lobes decode the emotional signals created by the music, and a small portion of the right temporal lobe helps understand pitch.
The reward center of the brain, called the nucleus accumbens, can even produce strong physical signs of pleasure, such as goosebumps, when it hears powerful music.
Music therapy can use these deep physical reactions the body has to music to help people with mental health conditions.
History and origins
Music has been a part of human life for thousands of years. Specifically, experts have found instruments dating back to over 40,000 years ago, suggesting that humans’ desire to express themselves or communicate through music is deep rooted.
The use of music for therapy and healing dates back to Ancient Greece, but its therapeutic use today began in the 20th century, after World War II had ended. The earliest reference to music therapy comes from a 1789 article called “Music physically considered.”
The 1800s saw medical research into the therapeutic nature of music grow, and by the 1940s, universities were offering music therapy programs. E. Thayer Gaston, one of three men who pioneered the use of music as a therapeutic tool, had organized and promoted the practice so that it would become an accepted type of therapy.
Now, there are many music therapy associations around the world, and music therapists work in private care, education, and social care.
Gift Cards Available
Posted on December 9, 2020 Leave a Comment
This Christmas we are offering gift cards to anyone who wants to prepay for future massage, both Human and Equine, as well as Music Therapy Services. Click the photo below to go to the website.
Many Music therapy services are available virtually so we can work via zoom, google meet or Doxy.me
Doula’s and the power of touch
Posted on October 21, 2020 Leave a Comment
reprinted from Massage and Bodywork.
http://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/1299745-november-december-2020/74?
What Happened to Best Friends Forever
Posted on October 2, 2020 Leave a Comment
This is a reprint from an article from a website called What’s your grief. It is something that has happened over the last few months to many people, losing friends they thought were theirs forever. Grief comes in all packages and expresses itself in many different ways. Music Therapy sessions can help with grief processing of all kinds and can be done virtually to stay safe during the period of corona virus. Please contact me for more information.
Therapy by Alice 