Christmas songs therapy is real. See a balancing list below good for your Ayurvedic moods. Plus a healthy Christmas tree cardamom recipe to balance out the holiday eating celebration.
You can get in holiday merry cheer with music that brings you back to the warm-and-fuzzy under-the-mistletoe feelings. Ed Sheeran & Elton John have a “Merry Christmas” special duet and happy video to watch along to give you just that…
Peppy Christmas music can wake you up and help restore your mind and body’s anxious moods. If you have anxiety, brain fog, or need some joy, you can year-round get instant healing through the power of sounds, to calm and balance.
Below are 30 selected soothing Christmas songs therapy savers to help you relax your worried Vata, soothe Pitta, and wake up your Kapha sides.
So often we think listening to music is nice entertainment, but it’s so much more as it’s used to heal the mind, body, and soul.
Music will do that faster through the ears to the mind, than food that can take the long route from the digestive body to mind.
And if you have setbacks, looming worry, or stress, know that it starts in your mind and shows up on your body in the mind-body connections.
If you have stress, the first warning signs can be a stress pimple, wrinkles, early gray hair, or other visible signs. And if you’re feeling depressed or the blues, you could hold onto extra pounds.
This is common around the holidays and winter months when seasonal affective disorder (SAD) can kick in.
You hear many stories of heart-related diseases around the holidays. The body usually gives earlier warning signs, but the holidays present a stressful time to many hearts.
So, using Christmas songs therapy and instrumental sounds is one totally healthy and often overlooked preventative way to keep your holidays happy and bright (from the start of the Advent to the end of the year).
Just a few minutes listening can be all you need to restoratively calm an anxious mind or soothe an irritated soul that needs rest and peaceful healing. And on then on the mend you can restore all your anxious, irritated and tired symptoms this season. Take the quick body balance quiz to see what you can do about these sour moods.
Christmas Songs Therapy For Calming Relaxation
Christmas songs therapy includes soothing songs, instrumental, classical music, and calm sounds.
1. Choral Classics (ethereal music) has a way of bringing peace-filled feelings, like the deep sound of a bell ringing that resonates.
When you hear classic Christmas songs in general, like “Noel,” sung by a melodic chorus in synchrony, they provide harmony to your mind. Even in a world of chaos, they can bring a feeling of peace and order, especially when feelings of uncertainty permeate.
2. “Noel” – Lauren Daigle has a modern twist to this classic Christmas song
3. “Happy Xmas (War is Over)” – Sarah Mclachlan (Wintersong Album)
Soothing Pitta From Irritation/Angry Feelings
4. Christmas Canon – Trans-Siberian Orchestra
5. Christmas Jazz – Kenny G Winter Wonderland
6. Dr. SaxLove – Snazzy instrumental saxophone
7. Kenny G saxophone – if you’re irritated, his instrumental music is known to hold the high notes longer that reach and impact your mind in a healing/soothing way
8. Ocean sounds – in real life, ocean waves are moving year-round (something for us to be grateful for as they affect the world climate). I have fond memories of going to the local beach in the winter when it’s off-season (and maybe you do also where you are). The waves are calm, and the beach uninhabited when everyone is indoors in hibernation
9. Tibetan Singing Bowls – these are used to start and end meditation sessions. Yoga instructors use these bowls for intentional yoga sessions. You can feel like you’re in a place of solitude (like monks).
Christmas Songs Therapy For Anxiety
Find indie music and off-beat music and chants.
Get out of the common everyday music and go into worldly music… in America, it’s easy to stick with the popular music bands that are advertised and played over and over again on television, radio, and half-time shows. You’ll get better mind-body satisfaction if you step out and explore other music. For a Vata especially, discovering fresh variety is going to be a breath of fresh air that awakens the mind if there’s a little Kapha going on.
10. “One Toy Solider” song And Winter Came Album – Enya
11. Amaratine Album (Special Christmas Edition)- Enya
12. The Reindeer Room – A Christmas Chillout Album – Most of the artists you won’t recognize but the instrument twists are not your usual beats. They have a futuristic vibe that you may detect. They are remakes of classic songs such as Sleigh Ride, White Christmas, and Little Drummer Boy
13. Gregorian chants that can make you feel like you’ve been whisked back in time
14. Chamber music (Saint-Saens Chamber music) – You feel like you’re listening from inside a music chamber
15. Crystal singing bowls. These sounds are so light and airy and can make you feel enlightened. They’re good to use while meditating or journaling and can be restorative for panic attacks
16. Waterfall or rain instrumental sounds that have varying tempos. Those light background sounds (including fire crackling) can restore stubborn moods
17. Christmas blues songs – unlike jazz, there are greater varied ranges and moods
18. Dee Yan Key – snazzy, upbeat instrumental that you can find in Music Archives to help you create or compose your own music
Waking Up the Tired Kapha or Depressed Mind
Find inspiration and music with heavier beats.
19. “Little Drummer Boy” – Pentatonix
20. “Do They Know It’s Christmas” (1984) – this is an oldie but goodie with a couple of George’s… Boy George, George Michael, Duran Duran, and a bunch of the famous rock singers of the past. So nostalgic (when the Brat Pack on film were popular…I digress), but you just can’t recreate the same 80’s happy music and the time period it represented
…if you start singing along to your favorite songs, you’re doing double good. You can’t be depressed and joyful at the same time. Singing no matter what you sound like, off-key or not, will make you feel better and open up your throat.
Another one…
21. “So This Is Christmas” – John Lennon (if you’re a Beatles fan)
22. Andrea Bocelli – “The Prayer” duet will wake up your heart and soul with the opera-esque components. Andrea’s amazing singing quality holds onto long high notes. Return to Love is a beautiful video where Andrea Bocelli serenades with a chorus, to his wife, that can remind you of fleeting moments. As a blind musician, Bocelli started his young career as an attorney. But he could sense the happiness and smiles that his singing brought to crowds and that’s what tipped his decision to become a professional musician
23. Vivaldi’s Four Seasons is a classical classic, that’s good for balance. The violin in the spring concerto is going to be light and help wake up your senses. Summer is going to be fast and dramatic. Fall is light. Winter is best for Kapha imbalances, as it’s a faster tempo.
24. Another classic is listening to the music from The Nutcracker. You’ve probably seen the dreamy fairy tale performance before and can watch it online. The varying instruments piped into the drama is good for getting your mind out of routine.
25. Bret Eldridge – a cross between a big band, country, and Harry Connick, Jr.-esque. His fresh, modern take on class Christmas songs can awaken your senses
26. “Amazing Grace” – The Il Divo tenors are captivating to watch as they sing their parts of the same song
27. “Hallelujah” – Pentatonix has a chorus that’s refreshing to listen to especially if you’re in a mood funk. It’s like throwing a splash of warm water on your face as the singers echo melodies and imitate sounds
28. “Christmas Tree Farm” – Taylor Swift jingles can be a reminder of a jolly and hopeful time that Christmas is.
29. “Christmas Valentine” – Ingrid Michaelson and Jason Mraz (maybe he can add a Dancing with the Stars dance to his video?)
30. “Please Come Home For Christmas” – The John Mayer modern version with high guitar riffs, Jon Bon Jovi sultry version, or original Charles Brown oldie blues version can bring different moods. See if you can find the version that makes your day a couple minutes happier.
Just remember if you’re fatigued in any way, Christmas-y songs lift up your spirit. They will stay classic, as long as you want to remember them that way. We all grew up hearing the classic songs sung by different artists and repurposing an old song to a new version. Or are sung in collaboration with other artists. New re-made versions and meditative healing music are good for restoring different imbalances that your body is quietly thanking you for.
May your Advent season be happy and bright!
Healthy Christmas Tree Cardamom Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup flour (coconut flour or almond flour and AP blend recommended for healthy)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup cardamom
- 1/2 cup softened butter or coconut oil
- cinnamon and orange zest (optional for sweetness)
Instructions
- Mix ingredients together to prepare cookie dough.
- Form a disc and wrap in plastic. Let rest in refrigerator.
- Roll out to about 1/4 inch thick.
- Cut out tree shape or desired cookie shape.
- Bake on cookie sheet on 350°F for about 12 minutes.