He Treats Music as Medicine—Here's What That Taught Me About Mindfulness

Evelyn Reed · 2026-10-16

I still remember the first time I heard someone describe music as medicine. Not as a nice metaphor you toss around at a dinner party, but as an actual practice. That idea came from Thaddaeus Washington, a musician based in Toledo and the founder of something called MIND Music. And honestly, it shifted how I think about paying attention. Thadd doesn't just perform. He offers his original compositions as meditative practices. Think about that for a second. Not background noise. Not a playlist to get you through a workout. Music as a deliberate way to slow down and notice what's happening inside you. ### Why This Idea Stuck With Me Most of us treat mindfulness as a quiet, seated thing. Close your eyes, follow your breath, try not to think about your to-do list. That works for plenty of people. But it never fully worked for me. My mind wanders the second things get too still. What Thadd's approach offers is an alternative doorway. Sound gives your attention something to rest on. A single note, held and then released. A rhythm that rises and falls. You're not forcing your mind blank. You're giving it a place to land. Here's the part that surprised me most: you don't need to be a musician to try this. You just need to listen on purpose. ### How to Turn Everyday Music Into a Practice You can start small. No special equipment, no subscription, no 6 a.m. ritual required. Try this: - Pick one song you love and play it with nothing else going on. No scrolling, no dishes, no half-watching a screen. - Notice where the sound lands in your body. Does your chest loosen? Do your shoulders drop an inch? - When your mind drifts, gently bring it back to the melody. That return is the whole practice. - Try it for five minutes a day for a week and see what shifts. It sounds almost too simple. That's kind of the point. Mindfulness doesn't have to be complicated to be real. ### The Quiet Lesson in All of This What I've come to appreciate about Thadd's work is the honesty behind it. He's not selling a shortcut or promising instant calm. He's sharing something he genuinely lives by, and inviting people to try it for themselves. That's the spirit I try to bring to my own practice too. > "The medicine isn't in the music alone. It's in the attention you bring to it." That line has stayed with me for months. Because it's true of so much more than sound. The walk to your car. The first sip of coffee. The way light moves across a room in the late afternoon. All of it becomes medicine when you actually show up for it. ### Where You Might Start Tomorrow You don't need a formal program or a teacher of the month to begin. You just need one honest moment of listening. Put your phone face down. Choose a piece of music that means something to you. Let it play all the way through. That's it. That's the whole invitation. And if you're anything like me, you'll be surprised by how much you hear when you finally stop rushing past it. Mindfulness was never about emptying your mind. It's about filling your attention with what's already there. Music just happens to be one of the gentlest ways in.