The elimination systems of the body include the bowels, bladder, kidneys, urinary tract, lungs, and skin. Elimination is about letting go; letting go of waste from the body and letting go of emotions and thoughts that no longer serve us.
Image by Clker Free Vector Images – Pixabay
Before we eliminate, we need to take in food and then digest it and therefore much of the music helpful for the digestion process can also help with elimination. For example, rhythm is a key factor and waltzes, in particular, can help when we have overeaten.
However, the two types of music that particularly help elimination, are Blues and Spirituals. Blues are a type of slow, sensual jazz which expresses sadness. As a musical form, it originated in the South States of America by black slaves who had lost their liberty and yearned for freedom. Their voices were sorrowful with longing as they sang about the places and people they had lost.
Blues work deep down with our physiological rhythms as do our elimination systems, serving to soothe and ease our pain, especially when performed with brass instruments such as trumpet, saxophone and/or trombone. Because this genre of music is about the emotion of loss, we tend to revere singers rather than pieces of music. Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, Bessie Smith, Ray Charles, Pete Seeger, and Mahalia Jackson can serve as a wonderful starting point when exploring Blues.
Spirituals are a type of hymn based on folk tunes from Britain and Africa. They also grew out of despair and depression and are sung to release hopelessness and thereby turn it into hope. ‘Amazing Grace’ is one of the most famous spirituals. Although they are associated with the despair of the negro slave trade, ‘Wade in the Water’, ‘Swing Low Sweet Chariot’, ‘Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen’, ‘Down by the Riverside’, and ‘Oh Lord, What a Morning’ are deeply bedded into many of our consciousnesses, irrespective of race and gender.
Blues music – Image by Courtney Kenady – Unsplash
It is relatively easy to create our own Blues songs by putting melodies to chosen affirmations. You can even have fun making the affirmations rhyme. For example: I embrace the now and let go of the past; No longer afraid, I’m free at last.
As you sing and improvise, dance as well. After all, elimination is about movement, whether movement of the bowels or movement of the emotions. Dis-eased energy is stuck whereas healthy energy moves freely and so dance as you sing and let your worries go.
There are also some more classical versions of Blues and Spirituals that can be helpful for the elimination system such as the beloved Rhapsody in Blue by Gershwin. Also try listening to Ravel’s Sonata for Violin and Piano, Milhaud’s Le Création du Monde, and Copland’s Four Piano Blues Piano Fantasy to strengthen and heal the elimination system.
Image by John Hain – Pixabay
If you would like to understand more about this subject, then read Ted Andrews’ book Music Therapy for Non-Musicians, Dragonhawk Publishing, 1997.
Also try relaxing to music on Spotify, Amazon Music, iTunes, You Tube, Deezer etc. You might like Grace, Forgiveness and Compassion which can all be found under my name, Laurelle Rond.
Meanwhile, my novel Pearly Eye will be published in October. Look out for my posts on Social Media leading up to the big day.
For now, here’s wishing us all greater wisdom and peace as we let go of the past and move into a freer present moment.
With wishes for a happy June, wherever you are in the world.
Love, peace and kindness, Laurelle
