How a Toledo Musician Turned Sound Into Medicine

Evelyn Reed · 2026-10-16

What if the thing you needed to feel calmer wasn't an app, a retreat, or a $200 meditation cushion? What if it was something you already had access to — a melody, a rhythm, a few quiet minutes with your headphones on? That's the question at the heart of Thaddaeus Washington's story. He's a musician based in Toledo, Ohio, and the founder of MIND Music. This October, he's stepping into the spotlight as a fresh voice in the mindfulness space, and his take on the practice is worth a closer look. ### Music as Medicine, Not Background Noise Thadd doesn't treat his compositions like the ambient playlists we throw on while folding laundry. For him, music is medicine. His original pieces are built to be used as meditative practices — something you sit with, breathe into, and let do its work. It's a simple idea with real weight behind it. Think about how a song can shift your mood in seconds. A certain chord can loosen your shoulders. A slow tempo can slow your breathing right along with it. Thadd is essentially designing that effect on purpose. ### Why This Matters for Mindfulness Professionals If you teach, coach, or write about mindful living, you already know the struggle: getting people to actually sit still. Sound is one of the gentlest entry points there is. It meets people where they are. Here's what makes the music-as-medicine approach useful in practice: - It lowers the barrier. No prior experience with meditation required. - It works for people who find silence uncomfortable or distracting. - It fits into small windows of time — a commute, a lunch break, a few minutes before bed. - It gives practitioners a concrete anchor when the mind starts wandering. You don't have to be a musician to borrow the principle. You just have to be willing to let sound carry some of the weight. ### Start Smaller Than You Think One thing Thadd's work quietly reminds us: mindfulness doesn't need to be elaborate. There's no equipment list. No perfect room. No 6 a.m. alarm required. Try this. Pick one piece of instrumental music — something without lyrics pulling your attention toward the words. Put on headphones. Close your eyes. Follow one instrument for the length of the track, and when your mind drifts, gently bring it back. That's it. That's the practice. > "Music is medicine" isn't a slogan. It's an invitation to stop treating sound as filler and start treating it as a tool. ### The Bigger Lesson What I love about Thadd's journey is how ordinary its starting point is. A local artist. A small city. A belief that the thing he already loved making could help people feel better. That's how a lot of real mindfulness work begins — not with a certification or a following, but with paying close attention to something you already do. Maybe for you that's music. Maybe it's walking, cooking, or the first ten minutes of your morning before anyone else is awake. The practice is already there. You just have to notice it. If you've been looking for a way to bring more presence into your day, start with sound. Turn something on. Listen like it matters. You might be surprised how quickly the noise in your head quiets down.