From http://www.rockandtheology.comOn Saturday morning, I started a busy week of yoga teaching at New York Methodist Hospital. I went to the Geriatric Psychology Unit. Because it is an acute care facility, I always have a different group of patients whom I work with in a small group class. Their cognitive and physical abilities vary widely. This weekend I met a woman, Ruth, who spoke very little and though she could hear me speaking, my questions didn’t register in her mind. Their illnesses are both fascinating and heart breaking to witness. My mind can’t help but go to the thought that some day I and / or the people I know and love may find ourselves in this same situation of loss as the years tick by.
There was a piano in the room where I was teaching the class. Ruth slowly shuffled to it and played a church hymn that she probably learned as a young child. Her shaking that was prevalent throughout the yoga class completely stopped. Color came back to her cheeks and for a moment she seemed aware again as she played the hymn. I was astonished and asked Caroline, the recreational therapist, why Ruth could play the song perfectly but not answer the question, “how are you?” Caroline had a very simple answer, “Music is the very last thing to go from the mind. Cognitive abilities, math skills, and speech can be completely gone but music sticks with us until our very last days.” I had no idea.
I’m certain that there is a very sound, neurological reason for this. Perhaps musical ability is stored in an area of the brain that is not affected by the loss of cognitive ability from aging. The writer and philosopher in me finds this notion to retaining music as a beautiful, powerful justification for making creativity and the arts a very necessary part of our lives at every age. When everything else falls away, and I mean everything, we can take comfort that music will become our final voice to the world.
The short of it:
Writer. Health, education, and art advocate. Theater and film producer. Visual artist. Product geek. Proud alumnae of the University of Pennsylvania (BA) and the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia (MBA). Inspired by ancient wisdom & modern tech. Proliferator of goodness. Opener of doors. Friend to animals. Fan of creative work in all its wondrous forms. I use my business skills to create passion projects that build a better world. I’ve been called the happiest New Yorker, and I try hard to live up to that title every day.
The long of it:
My career has stretched across Capitol Hill, Broadway theatre, education, nonprofit fundraising, health and wellness, and Fortune 500 companies in retail, media, entertainment, technology, and financial services. I’ve been a product developer and product manager, theater manager, strategic consultant, marketer, voice over artist, , teacher, and fundraiser. I use my business and storytelling to support and sustain passion projects that build a better world. In every experience, I’ve used my sense of and respect for elegant design to develop meaningful products, services, programs, and events.
While building a business career, I also built a strong portfolio as a journalist, novelist, freelance writer, interviewer, presenter, and public speaker. My writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The Huffington Post, PBS.org, Boston.com, Royal Media Partners publications, and The Motley Fool on a wide range of topics including business, technology, science, health, education, culture, and lifestyle. I have also been an invited speaker at SXSW, Teach for America, Avon headquarters, Games for Change, NYU, Columbia University, Hunter College, and the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America. The first book in my young adult book series, Emerson Page and Where the Light Enters, was acquired by a publisher and launched in November 2017. I’m currently working on the second book in the series.
A recovering multi-tasker, I’m equally at home in front of my Mac, on my yoga mat, walking my rescue dog, Phineas, traveling with a purpose, or practicing the high-art of people watching. I also cut up small bits of paper and put them back together as a collage artist.
My company:
I’m bringing together all of my business and creative career paths as the Founder of Double or Nothing Media:
• I craft products, programs, and projects that make a difference;
• I build the business plans that make what I craft financially sustainable;
• I tell the stories that matter about the people, places, and products that inspire me.
Follow my adventures on Twitter at https://twitter.com/christanyc and Instagram at https://instagram.com/christarosenyc.
View all posts by Christa Avampato
7 thoughts on “Beginning: The Music Stays With Us to Our Last Days”
In the last days of my father being able to communicate what he wanted, he simply said “Turn on Eric Clapton”. For days the CD played without rest and even as he was unable to speak he would smile at his favorite songs and tap his fingers. I love hearing the song My Father’s Eyes.
I have found that music has been a key to connection, as well as freedom to dance, sing and even relax.
So glad you were able to witness your student connect with music is such a life refreshing way.
Hi Lyndi! Thank you so much for sharing your dad’s beautiful story. How amazing – you should let Eric Clapton know, too. I’m sure he would be so happy to hear that your dad found so much comfort in his music.
Thanks. I love sharing how music can bring people together. It is those moments that someone shy gets up and starts to dance to their favorite beat. Or waking intro a grocery store and singing along to a familiar song. I think music wakes us up and calls for us to connect with one another. Build community, play with instruments and move our bodies. 😉
I totally agree Lyndi! Music does wake us up, even when we didn’t even know we were sleep walking through life. Makes me even more concerned that music is being cut from public schools. It’s such an integral part of our culture and clearly has therapeutic, life-long benefits.
That is a beautiful story! What would happen, I wonder, if you paired music with yoga for such patients – would it reach into that part of the mind and attend to some healing?
Christa Avampato 
In the last days of my father being able to communicate what he wanted, he simply said “Turn on Eric Clapton”. For days the CD played without rest and even as he was unable to speak he would smile at his favorite songs and tap his fingers. I love hearing the song My Father’s Eyes.
I have found that music has been a key to connection, as well as freedom to dance, sing and even relax.
So glad you were able to witness your student connect with music is such a life refreshing way.
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Hi Lyndi! Thank you so much for sharing your dad’s beautiful story. How amazing – you should let Eric Clapton know, too. I’m sure he would be so happy to hear that your dad found so much comfort in his music.
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I should write Eric Clapton. 🙂
Thanks. I love sharing how music can bring people together. It is those moments that someone shy gets up and starts to dance to their favorite beat. Or waking intro a grocery store and singing along to a familiar song. I think music wakes us up and calls for us to connect with one another. Build community, play with instruments and move our bodies. 😉
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I totally agree Lyndi! Music does wake us up, even when we didn’t even know we were sleep walking through life. Makes me even more concerned that music is being cut from public schools. It’s such an integral part of our culture and clearly has therapeutic, life-long benefits.
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That is a beautiful story! What would happen, I wonder, if you paired music with yoga for such patients – would it reach into that part of the mind and attend to some healing?
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Absolutely! Music in yoga is so powerful. And kirtans are another form of how yoga and music closely tie together.
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