Music to color the mind

When, I was in India, the first time I heard their national anthem, something felt… off, in the most intriguing way. Fortunately my music-trained ear caught it: the melody ends unresolved. It doesn’t return “home” like Western music tends to do — intentional, dissonant, poetic. This event cracked open a rabbit hole I had no intention of avoiding.

Thanks to generous friends (hi Shubbham, Jacob, Emílio), way too many browser tabs, and a mildly concerning obsession, I dove into the world of Indian classical music — and discovered the incredible power of ragas. These aren’t your average “chill beats to study to.” Ragas are melodic frameworks rooted in ancient texts like the Gandharva Veda, designed not just to entertain, but to alter consciousness.

They don’t follow Western scales. They bend pitch, stretch time, and lean into emotion. And now, neuroscience is starting to confirm what sages knew long ago: ragas rewire the brain.

Here’s what we know:

🧠 They stimulate the brain in weirdly brilliant ways

Irregular rhythms + microtones = a full-body workout for your auditory cortex, memory, and limbic system. Basically, your neurons are doing yoga.

🌱 They support neuroplasticity

Because of their complexity and subtlety, ragas help the brain form new synaptic connections. Translation: they literally help you change your mind by creating new pathways and connections in your brain.

🔁 They break mental loops and patterns

Especially the kind fueled by anxiety and overthinking. Instead of numbing you out, ragas guide the mind toward new patterns of perception, opening you up to new ways of thinking and behaving. No effort required.

💧 They move emotional energy

Some ragas feel like therapy with a soundtrack. They reach emotional layers where language fails, unlocking release and clarity without needing a journal or a breakthrough cry. (Though, honestly, cry if you want. Ragas will hold you.)

🧘🏽 They induce meditative states — without forcing it

Listening to ragas attentively brings the brain into alpha and theta waves — the same rhythms associated with meditation, creativity, and deep rest. You don’t have to sit cross-legged under a tree. You just have to press play and be present.

🌌 They connect you to a quieter, wiser intelligence

Yes, we’re going there. Cosmic intelligence. Ragas bypass the rational mind and speak directly to your inner circuitry. No translation needed.

Sound is not background. It’s medicine. It’s memory. It’s a rewiring tool hiding in plain sound vibration.

🎶🧠✨

Read: Nourish your brain: tips for memory and cognition and focus

Interested? Here's a couple of links to get you started: Relaxing Ragas for beginners and Healing Ragas for more adventurous listeners. If it doesn’t click at first, pick a few that bother you the least — and let them bloom inside you. Your brain will thank you in mysterious ways.

To a balanced life!

Grazie Prokopetz,

Doctor of Ayurveda

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