He Calls Music Medicine—Here's What That Really Means

Evelyn Reed · 2026-10-16

I first heard about Thaddaeus Washington through a friend who described his music as "the kind of quiet that makes you listen." That stuck with me. Thadd is a Toledo-based musician and the founder of MIND Music, and he's building something that feels both ancient and refreshingly new: original compositions designed as meditative practices. In other words, he doesn't just play music for you. He invites you to sit inside it. ### What It Means to Treat Music as Medicine We tend to think of medicine as something we swallow or apply. Music doesn't work that way. It works on us slowly, through attention. When you stop treating a song as background noise and start treating it as a practice, something shifts. Your breathing slows. Your shoulders drop. The chatter in your head gets a little quieter. Thadd's approach is built on that idea. His compositions aren't meant to entertain or fill silence. They're meant to be a place you go, the same way you'd go to a quiet room or a familiar trail. The music becomes the container, and you become the practice. ### Why This Matters for Anyone Building a Mindful Life If you've ever tried to start a meditation habit, you know the pattern. You sit down, you get restless, you check the clock, you decide you're "bad at it." Sound familiar? Music can interrupt that loop. It gives your attention something gentle to rest on, which is often all a wandering mind needs. Here's what I've noticed about practices like Thadd's: - They lower the barrier to entry, so you don't need a cushion or a silent room to begin - They work with the mind you have, not the one you wish you had - They make consistency easier, because listening feels less like a chore than sitting still - They fit into ordinary moments, like a commute or a slow morning ### A Small Practice You Can Try Today Pick one song. Not a playlist, not a shuffle. Just one. Sit down, close your eyes if that feels right, and listen the way you'd listen to a friend telling you something important. When your mind drifts, and it will, come back to the sound. That's it. That's the whole practice. As Thadd puts it, the goal isn't to empty your mind. It's to notice it. That reframe alone has helped more people than any app or technique I know. ### The Quiet Takeaway Mindfulness doesn't have to look like a retreat or a five-step morning routine. Sometimes it looks like a musician in Toledo writing a piece of music and asking you to pay attention. If you've been waiting for permission to start small, consider this it. Put on something that makes you breathe a little slower, and let that be enough for today. After all, the journey doesn't need to be dramatic. It just needs to begin.