What a Toledo Musician Taught Me About Music as Medicine

Evelyn Reed · 2026-10-16

I still remember the first time I heard someone describe music as medicine. Not as a metaphor. Not as a nice thing to say at a dinner party. As an actual practice — something you sit with, breathe into, and let work on you the way a good stretch works on a tight muscle. That idea came from Thaddaeus Washington, a musician based in Toledo, Ohio, and the founder of MIND Music. He's a relatively new voice in the mindfulness world, but his approach isn't complicated. He composes original music and offers it as meditative practice. That's it. No app subscription. No 30-day challenge. Just sound, attention, and time. I've been thinking about that a lot lately, because my own journey to mindfulness didn't start with a cushion or a breathing app. It started with a song. ### The Moment It Clicked A few years back, I was driving home from a workday that had gone sideways in every possible way. I put on something instrumental — I couldn't tell you what — and somewhere around mile 12, my shoulders dropped. My jaw unclenched. I noticed I'd been holding my breath without realizing it. That's the thing about music. It sneaks past the part of your brain that's busy defending itself and gets straight to the nervous system. You don't have to believe in it for it to work. Thadd's work leans into that. His compositions aren't background noise. They're invitations. You press play, you close your eyes, and you let the sound be the anchor instead of your breath or a mantra. ### Why Sound Works as a Mindfulness Anchor If you've ever tried to meditate and felt like you were failing at it, sound might be your way in. Here's why it tends to stick: - It's passive. You don't have to generate anything. The sound is already there. - It's forgiving. Your mind wanders, you notice a note, you come back. No judgment required. - It's portable. A pair of headphones and a quiet corner is all the setup you need. - It gives your attention somewhere to land besides your own thoughts, which can be a real relief on hard days. That last point matters more than people admit. For a lot of us, sitting in silence is less peaceful and more like being alone in a room with a very loud inner critic. Music gives that critic something else to listen to. ### A Simple Practice to Try This Week You don't need to be a musician or a meditation expert to try this. Pick one instrumental track — something without lyrics, so your brain doesn't get pulled into the story — and set aside about ten minutes. Sit somewhere comfortable. Press play. Then just notice. Notice when your attention drifts to your to-do list, and gently bring it back to the sound. Notice the pauses between notes. Notice your breathing without trying to change it. > "Music is medicine" isn't a slogan. It's a reminder that healing doesn't always arrive as a pill or a prescription. Sometimes it arrives as a chord. If ten minutes feels long, start with three. The point isn't duration. The point is showing up. ### What I've Learned Along the Way My journey to mindfulness has been less about achieving a calm, blank mind and more about learning to pay attention on purpose. Music has been the doorway I keep coming back to, because it meets me where I am — distracted, tired, hopeful, restless, all of it. Thaddaeus Washington's work is a good reminder that mindfulness doesn't belong to any one tradition or technique. It belongs to whoever is willing to slow down and listen. If sitting in silence hasn't worked for you, try sound instead. You might be surprised what you hear.