MENTAL HEALTH

It is fantastic that Lady Gaga and Princes William and Harry have teamed up to discuss mental health issues and the need for people in general to be more open about their own personal struggles (http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/39626803/lady-gaga-and-prince-will...).  

Many children in Primary schools today are dealing with feelings of anxiety and depression.  The focus of my Doctoral research was working with children who were presenting with social, emotional and behavioural issues to find out how, if at all, the power of music could help them in any way. My research highlighted many ways in which music had helped the children, by enhancing their well being and self esteem (you can read more about it in my Bio section).  The 'Bounce!' project, a collection of five children's songs, grew out of this research and it very much focuses on not only discussing some issues such as anxiety and feeling overwhelmed, but puts forward some strategies to help children who are experiencing such feelings.  Feelings such as being overwhelmed are sung about in the song 'Giant' and then its followed with:

'So you gotta take alot of small steps one step at a time,  

and then before you know it, you got rhythm and rhyme'

This kind of song can help children who experience anxiety to realise that they are not alone in having these types of feelings, and it's okay to just pause, and take things slowly one foot in front of the other.

'Bounce!' is a collection of engaging pop and reggae songs, for children to enjoy, and have fun in learning how to deal with a mixture of emotions, and how to actively use strategies to help them feel better and cope with the world around them.

I really hope that you enjoy listening to the 'Bounce!' collection, and more importantly your children (at home  or in the classroom).  I would love to hear any feedback or suggestions that you may have about these songs, please contact me on info@jednamae.co.uk