Jessica Stover (00:07):
Hey, everyone. Welcome to Networks Looks At.

(00:10):
This recording is an offering of Networks for Training and Development's Online University.

Rosa McAllister (00:16):
Hello everyone. This is Rosa McAllister from Networks for Training and Development and with me is my buddy.

Tracy Lapreziosa (00:23):
Tracy Lapreziosa.

Rosa McAllister (00:25):
And we're here for yet another installment of Taste of Wellness, webinars and videos and podcasts and we just keep thinking of more exciting and interesting things that we think might be of interest to you too. So, we welcome you for joining with us and if you haven't, please check out all our other recordings. Again, podcasts, webinars, videos, et cetera.

(00:49):
So, we're here today. It's kind of the final one of this most recent five part series and today, we're gonna be talking about sound, what we hear. We've been talking about lots of our other senses and other things that are part of our daily life and how it affects our wellness or, um, for the good or for the not so good. And today, we're gonna talk about sound.

(01:12):
We, um, I, this, I should mention that these podcasts are transcribed so there's a transcription available in case hearing and sound is not one of your strong points, so to speak. For many of us, that's the case, um, and sometimes it's age related, sometimes it's illness related, sometimes it's activity related and we're gonna talk a lot more about that, about how well we hear, how well we maybe don't hear and the different ways that sound and hearing affects other parts of our wellness and our wellbeing. So, Tracy, you wanna get us started a little bit more and tell us a little bit more about you and your interest in this area?

Tracy Lapreziosa (01:57):
Yeah. Um, I'm gonna, I-I think I'd like to start out with talking a little bit about how sometimes sound can be a source of stress for us. Typically like if you are in traffic and you're hearing all that traffic noise and it's starting to stress you out or you are working in an office and there's all that noise around you and you can't really, can't really shut it out and, um, it just kinda, you don't really think about it. It's not like real loud or noisy, but it just kinda, they're just kinda starts to grate on you over time and it can actually cause some stress responses in your body.

(02:36):
And as I was just kinda reading through some stuff and preparing for today, I came across a little quote where somebody said, "You know, you don't have ear lids," and I was like, "Yeah, you don't have ear lids." You know, if you're overly, visually stimulated with something, you can close your eyes and shut it out for a little while. But it's really hard to close out your ears and, you know, you can stick your fingers in your ears, you can put your headphones on or whatever, but a lotta times, there's still sound getting through.

(03:08):
So, sound can be a source of stress for us and it can make it difficult for us to concentrate and do things. Uh, personally myself, I like quiet. I need absolute quiet if I'm gonna write something, if I'm reading. I need it absolutely quiet in order to do that. So, that's-

Rosa McAllister (03:27):
I-

Tracy Lapreziosa (03:28):
... you know, I was going to start with-

Rosa McAllister (03:29):
... I agree.

Tracy Lapreziosa (03:29):
... [inaudible 00:03:29] (laughs).

Rosa McAllister (03:31):
Yeah, thank you, and I agree completely. I have a kind of new roommate situation, housemate situation and we're learning how to work and live together compatibly and I work from home. And so, just doing a recording like this was trying to say, "Okay, a reminder. On, I'm gonna be live, I'm gonna be recording," because I, like you, I need quiet in order to focus. When I'm really working on something, I oftentimes can't even have music on in the background. I can't have the TV going. I have to, especially if it's something, I found that either I really have to think about and focus on or has emotion to it that I'm working on, I need absolute quiet. I will shut windows, doors, all that kind of stuff. Um, heaven forbid when the landscapers come by with their loud machines. I just go into, I can sometimes go into a frenzy frankly because the noise, it doesn't just distract me, it does exactly what you're talking about. It stresses me and it doesn't allow me to do whatever else I was trying to do. Now, the only difference is, I will say, when I'm cleaning, I like to blare the music because-

Tracy Lapreziosa (04:45):
(laughs)

Rosa McAllister (04:46):
... for some reason, that physical motion of like vacuuming or cleaning, that I can handle. In fact, I need, alm-, I don't need it, I almost want that, um-

Tracy Lapreziosa (04:55):
And the rhythm.

Rosa McAllister (04:56):
Maybe it's becau-

Tracy Lapreziosa (04:56):
(laughs)

Rosa McAllister (04:58):
... and the rhythm. I'm thinkin' maybe it's because I'm not focusing and I don't wanna focus, I'm not sure. When I fly, I have big honkin' noise-canceling headphones that I wear to, that really block out the, one of these expensive, really good ones that block out a lot of the airplane noise. It also blocks out, and I hate to be rude, but some of the chatter that sometimes somebody sitting near you does because, unless it's somebody I really know or is really interesting, when I fly, I like to just chill out. I oftentimes sleep or I read and I like to be in my own little bubble and those noise-canceling headphones really help. They're also a signal to other people that I'm chilling out, I think, and that I really can't hear 'em so don't even bother talkin' to me kind of idea.

Tracy Lapreziosa (05:47):
Yeah.

Rosa McAllister (05:47):
It's kinda interesting how that affects us in various ways.

Tracy Lapreziosa (05:51):
Yeah, and I'm, you know, thinking in this day of Zoom and doin' recordings just like this one, um, I know at the beginning, I ask you, "Do you hear the vacuum?" 'Cause I could hear the vacuum, but you couldn't. But even though I knew that you couldn't and I could, that was still stressin' me out because I could hear it even though I know it's not comin' through to everybody else. My screen wasn't getting yellow or whatever, but it's just having that in the background, it kinda derails my thought processes.

Rosa McAllister (06:19):
Absolutely.

Tracy Lapreziosa (06:20):
Yeah. So-

Rosa McAllister (06:21):
I love this ear lids. Oh my gosh, I never heard this and I want ear lids for my ears.

Tracy Lapreziosa (06:28):
Yeah. Isn't it cool?

Rosa McAllister (06:28):
Oh my gosh.

Tracy Lapreziosa (06:29):
Wouldn't that be great? (laughs)

Rosa McAllister (06:31):
That's so interesting. You're right. We can do the fingers and all that other kind of stuff, but that doesn't, I mean, it's too obvious and it feels rude and frankly it also doesn't work very well. So, in my next go round, I want ear lids thank you very much.

Tracy Lapreziosa (06:44):
Yeah.

Rosa McAllister (06:44):
Or maybe we need to create some.

Tracy Lapreziosa (06:46):
Maybe.

Rosa McAllister (06:47):
(laughs)

Tracy Lapreziosa (06:47):
But you know, getting to this and some of the negative, I won't say negative, but the downsides of sounds is sometimes sounds are also tied to memories and past experiences and it could be a very, a sound that really doesn't mean anything to anybody else, but it could be tied to a memory or something that was traumatic for you that you hear that sound and it creates that whole stress response that takes you back to that time and place.

(07:17):
So, you know, I always try to be mindful of that with other people too is just trying, you know, if somebody has a reaction to something and it, you know, maybe it's just I drop a book on a floor or I drop, you know, a utensil or someth-, a loud, a-a loud noise can really set somebody off and it could be because it's triggering something.

Rosa McAllister (07:40):
Right-

Tracy Lapreziosa (07:40):
So.

Rosa McAllister (07:40):
... and it also can be very comforting, a certain-

Tracy Lapreziosa (07:44):
Right.

Rosa McAllister (07:44):
... sound, you know, like for, I-I have, um, someone that I work with that, um, the sound of a lawnmower, I think it's the sound and the smell of a lawnmower really takes her back to childhood and being with her grandmother. Um-

Tracy Lapreziosa (07:59):
Yeah.

Rosa McAllister (07:59):
... I mean, I think many of us have had that experience where we hear a song, I, probably all of us and we say, "Oh my gosh, that reminds me of," and it takes us back in time and it's a very sometimes heartwarming, sometimes funny, sometimes good thing. So, knowing that about ourselves, whether it causes stress or whether it causes joy is a good thing to know because do we use sound then to help us? Do we purposefully block out sound like we were talking about with the headphones and the ear lids and all of that, but do we also use the sound to make us happy or to make us joyful?

(08:38):
Um, I think we do. Like you like play a playlist or something or other like or you'll crank up a song when you hear it with it's a happy memory or something like that to sing along with or whatever. But do we do that purposefully? Do we, or maybe should we do that more is my point. Should we build that in more when we need a pick me up or when I'm cleaning? Should I crank up-

Tracy Lapreziosa (09:01):
(laughs)

Rosa McAllister (09:01):
... like should I be more selective about what I'm playing rather than just putting it on.

Tracy Lapreziosa (09:05):
Yeah. We're talkin' about the memories and what came in my mind was like I grew up in Lancaster County and I, the sound-

Rosa McAllister (09:13):
Pennsylvania.

Tracy Lapreziosa (09:14):
... of horses on, McAdam-

Rosa McAllister (09:17):
Mm-hmm.

Tracy Lapreziosa (09:17):
... because they had the horse and buggies go up by my house. I could hear that-

Rosa McAllister (09:20):
Mm-hmm.

Tracy Lapreziosa (09:20):
... clippity-clop, clippity-clop, clippity-clop and the sound, we lived at, the train track ran behind us and I could hear the whistle blowing-

Rosa McAllister (09:29):
Mm.

Tracy Lapreziosa (09:29):
... on the train. So, I love the sound of a train whistle and I love the sound of horses walking on-

Rosa McAllister (09:35):
Mm.

Tracy Lapreziosa (09:36):
... on a road. You know, just that-

Rosa McAllister (09:39):
Mm-hmm.

Tracy Lapreziosa (09:39):
... clippity-clop, clippity-clop, clippity-clop-

Rosa McAllister (09:39):
Mm-hmm.

Tracy Lapreziosa (09:41):
... and the goin' by and I remember lying in my bed try-, you know, waking up 'cause I would sleep late and hearing those sounds in the morning.

Rosa McAllister (09:47):
(laughs)

Tracy Lapreziosa (09:48):
It was just very, very comforting, very, very comforting.

Rosa McAllister (09:52):
Mm-hmm.

Tracy Lapreziosa (09:52):
So, yeah.

Rosa McAllister (09:53):
How 'bout, here's one, here's one you just made me think of. How about the ice cream truck?

Tracy Lapreziosa (09:57):
Oh, yeah.

Rosa McAllister (10:01):
The sounds of summer-

Tracy Lapreziosa (10:01):
(laughs)

Rosa McAllister (10:01):
... for many of us, the sounds of summer. The cicadas or-

Tracy Lapreziosa (10:04):
Cicadas, I love cicadas.

Rosa McAllister (10:05):
... uh, I grew up not too far from where you did, both of us Pennsylvania girls. It's not a sound that I have here now where I live in Maui. We don't have cicadas, which is probably a good thing 'cause they can be pretty destructive. But that buzz on a hot summer night. Um, the sound of the ice cream truck comin' by and-

Tracy Lapreziosa (10:23):
(laughs)

Rosa McAllister (10:23):
... you would all go running or all start begging our parents for money to go running towards the ice cream truck. I mean, we just, both of us, you can't, listeners in here can't see us 'cause this is a podcast, but Tracy and I are both smiling big and wide even thinking about this.

Tracy Lapreziosa (10:37):
(laughs) It does make you feel good-

Rosa McAllister (10:39):
Now, all of these-

Tracy Lapreziosa (10:39):
... doesn't it? Yeah.

Rosa McAllister (10:43):
It does, you know? Like I never even thought of this before, but I bet you we could find recordings of cicadas and ice cream trucks and wouldn't that-

Tracy Lapreziosa (10:48):
The crickets.

Rosa McAllister (10:51):
... be fun to just, and crickets just to play-

Tracy Lapreziosa (10:52):
Crickets.

Rosa McAllister (10:52):
... it every now and then to-

Tracy Lapreziosa (10:54):
Yeah.

Rosa McAllister (10:54):
... lighten us or to bring people back into those memory banks. So, I guess my point with this is how often do we use sound to help us? I know you and I both, we talk, started talking about blocking out sound to help us focus, but how often do we use sound to really help us and really consciously and helping other people? Um, I was traveling yesterday and there was a very fun little boy who was not liking all the delays we'd had-

Tracy Lapreziosa (11:25):
(laughs)

Rosa McAllister (11:26):
... because of weather and he was two, not quite two years old and he was just screaming and wanting to run and not being contained and all of that kind of stuff and I was trying to play with him and all of that and at one point, his mama turned on some, you know, she got out her phone and she turned on some very soft music and Tracy, you were talkin' about this. She did. She turned on some very soft classical music and it chilled him out. Not entirely, but at least for a few minutes.

Tracy Lapreziosa (11:59):
It does help. They, you know, they say that Baby Mozart, you know, trying to get babies to sleep or even toddlers, if they're really disorganized in their movement, you play that Baby Mozart in the background of their play and they're able to focus on their play more. Uh, I-, working as a pediatric, you know, early intervention therapist, I-I would recommend that a lot to parents and I would-

Rosa McAllister (12:20):
Mm.

Tracy Lapreziosa (12:21):
... they would, they would be a little leery and I would like pull it up on my phone. I'm like, "Okay, let's, let's give it a try here," and I-

Rosa McAllister (12:26):
(laughs)

Tracy Lapreziosa (12:26):
... pull it up and I pull out the crayons and the paper and the things that we just couldn't sit for, the puzzles and all that and all of a sudden, the kid's at the table and they're putting the puzzle together and the parents are like, "Oh, wow. Wow."

Rosa McAllister (12:39):
Mm.

Tracy Lapreziosa (12:39):
You know, it's like, "Yeah."

Rosa McAllister (12:40):
Mm.

Tracy Lapreziosa (12:40):
"They're able to fo-, this is helping them filter out all this extra stimulation in their environment like the 100 million toys that are all around them and, you know, other children or whatever and it's helping them to focus on what they need to do," and it's, it's good. And like when I wanna focus for, to relax, I-

Rosa McAllister (13:00):
Mm-hmm.

Tracy Lapreziosa (13:01):
... use that kind of music, something that's non-lyrical, something that-

Rosa McAllister (13:06):
Mm-hmm.

Tracy Lapreziosa (13:06):
... doesn't tap into the language center of my brain because if it taps into the language center of my brain, it makes me think thoughts in words. And so, I don't wanna think thoughts in (laughs) words. I wanna think in images and feelings. So, I use non-lyrical music like a soft jazz. I love the series, station Watercolors. You know, I just-

Rosa McAllister (13:28):
Mm.

Tracy Lapreziosa (13:28):
... something that's just really soft and flowing or-

Rosa McAllister (13:31):
Mm-hmm.

Tracy Lapreziosa (13:31):
... nature sounds where you don't have words because words just really-

Rosa McAllister (13:36):
Right.

Tracy Lapreziosa (13:36):
... pull you somewhere you may not wanna go.

Rosa McAllister (13:39):
Well, and how about how many people use white noise to filter out, to go to sleep or other things? I mean, we have sound machines that I know a lot of people use, um, to either, um, cover up other noises, traffic noises or like many therapists in their offices have little white noise machines so it blocks out any potential other conversations because our brains, the survey says our brains go to that white noise and try to almost figure it out and then it settles us, the, the, the rhythm of it, the, the continuation, the, the pattern. The repetitive pattern of the white noise soothes our nervous syn- system, most of us. Most of us. I have to say of course some of us are, we go the other direction and it, it just, it's like nails on a chalkboard, which is-

Tracy Lapreziosa (14:29):
Yeah.

Rosa McAllister (14:29):
... another sound that really-

Tracy Lapreziosa (14:30):
(laughs)

Rosa McAllister (14:32):
... affects us in many, many ways.

Tracy Lapreziosa (14:34):
Yeah, everybody's wired differently. You have to find out what works-

Rosa McAllister (14:37):
Mm-hmm.

Tracy Lapreziosa (14:37):
... for you. I, somebody, um, had recommended alpha waves-

Rosa McAllister (14:43):
Mm. Mm-hmm.

Tracy Lapreziosa (14:45):
... and my grandson was having trouble sleeping and we se-, I sent him the alpha waves and he got so into it. Like, "I gotta have my alpha waves. Gotta have my alpha waves," and like for, and then when I went down to visit, he's like, "Grandma, you gotta sleep here with me because we've gotta go to sleep with the alpha waves."

Rosa McAllister (15:01):
(laughs)

Tracy Lapreziosa (15:01):
"Okay." And (laughs) he played them rather loudly, which I would've preferred them to be soft, but-

Rosa McAllister (15:09):
Mm-hmm.

Tracy Lapreziosa (15:10):
... I did really, you know, when I, I could, I could get myself floating with the alpha waves and then-

Rosa McAllister (15:15):
Mm-hmm.

Tracy Lapreziosa (15:16):
... just drifting off, but you know, and they played for like, I don't know, hours before they like shut off because they-

Rosa McAllister (15:23):
Mm-hmm.

Tracy Lapreziosa (15:23):
... you're supposed to get your brain into a certain state.

Rosa McAllister (15:27):
Absolutely, into a deep REM state-

Tracy Lapreziosa (15:28):
So-

Rosa McAllister (15:29):
... and there's lots and lots of research on those. Lots of those available, some, many are available now for free. I know I bought one-

Tracy Lapreziosa (15:37):
Yeah.

Rosa McAllister (15:37):
... years and years ago, um, and they do. I sometimes still fall back to them. The other thing that I was gonna mention, kind of on a different angle, but similar, I remember very clear there was a gentleman that we assisted through Networks where he had a-a project called Career Net in Northeast Philadelphia and we had five folks that we were assisting to kind of find their place in their neighborhoods and, uh, get on with life and have some fun and, you know, be more of a contributing member of their, of the neighborhoods and just have a better and bigger life.

(16:11):
This one guy in particular, really, really wonderful, fascinating, interesting man. He had an extraordinari-, extraordinary delay in his movement and speech and most things in life. So for example, if he came in to here, I might say, "Hey Joe, how are you doing?" And he would stand there like stock still and kind of like you could almost hear the wheels turning in his brain. He'd be blinking, he'd be thinking and sometimes almost three minutes later, he would say, "Hey Rosa. I'm fine. How are you?" And even his speech pattern had a very deliberate like syncopation to it, rhythm to it.

(16:56):
Unfortunately, in that three minute delay or whatever, and we did clock him a couple times to see how long the delay was, um, we, sometimes people would walk away. They'd say, "Oh, I guess you're not interested," or, "I guess you're not there. Oh well, so much for that," you know? And he unfortunately, people had different opinions about him because of this delay that he had and because of the way in which, I mean, this, it wasn't just a delay in speech, it was a delay in movement too. So, if he came into the room and something caught his attention, he would stop just like me saying, "Hey Joe, how are you doin'?"

(17:32):
So, in talking with his parents and trying to get to know Joe better, we found out that he and his dad had this great mutual love of marching band music, John Philip Sousa. Now, Joe also got a job at a local, um, I think it was a Best Buys or, or Silos, one of those big appliance stores and he washing-, he loved washing machines, which was another thing was rhythm, washers and dryers, but particularly washers because of the rhythm and the warmth and the sound that came from them. He liked to, you know, touch them, be near them. He was fascinated by the different brands, all that stuff.

(18:13):
Anyway, he had a job in this appliance store of wiping down the machines to make sure they were always clean, but he would get stuck if a machine wasn't working or started or stopped while he was nearby or somebody said hi or whatever. So, we played with John Philip Sousa and Joe and we got him a little tape deck back in the day and he would-

Tracy Lapreziosa (18:36):
(laughs)

Rosa McAllister (18:37):
... play with headphones, he would play John Philip Sousa music and we fi-, you know, the, he would literally start moving and he would also speak in rhythm to the music and he had it on, as I recall, fairly loud. But that became part of his adaptation or accommodation for work of listening to John Philip Sousa music and coworkers and others really found that it changed him because he actually moved in rhythm and spoke in rhythm to, it set a pattern kind of like a metronome does.

Tracy Lapreziosa (19:13):
Mm. Yeah.

Rosa McAllister (19:14):
It's like a pattern for him to move through the world, which was, I mean, it was such a huge learning for all of us.

Tracy Lapreziosa (19:20):
And-

Rosa McAllister (19:21):
And for him, I think it was like, "Oh yeah, sure. That works."

Tracy Lapreziosa (19:25):
Yeah, that's very interesting. That made me think of the metronome and I use the metronome, uh, frequently with individuals who seem to get stuck with movement and couldn't keep a pace at a task and I just get out the metronome and set it on the table and just get that tick, tick, tick, tick, get that rhythm going and it helped people to keep the rhythm of the movement going. Um-

Rosa McAllister (19:51):
Right.

Tracy Lapreziosa (19:51):
... for some people, it really was helpful. You know, it didn't have to be music. It was just the metronome.

Rosa McAllister (19:59):
Exactly, and it sets a pace and I bet you for all of us, if we had that kind of, um, rhythm in the background, I bet if we really paid attention, I bet for most of us, we'd find that we were moving to that rhythm as well or speaking along with that rhythm-

Tracy Lapreziosa (20:16):
Yeah.

Rosa McAllister (20:17):
... as well. It's interesting. So, I think our point in all of this, if it's not obvious to everyone else listening in, is that it's finding out what works for you and what doesn't and, you know, I would also say that I have a couple friends who have, um, hearing loss. That doesn't mean they can't hear. It doesn't mean they're not sensitive to sound.

(20:39):
Um, I have a very good friend and you might be hearing birds in the background for me. I have Minah birds that are having a conversation or something out there. So, hopefully that's not annoying to you listening in. Um, but I have a friend who has pretty significant hearing loss and yet, he cannot stand the sound of a whistle or an alarm, which many people have difficulty with the sudden sounds that come along. You know-

Tracy Lapreziosa (21:06):
Mm-hmm.

Rosa McAllister (21:06):
... a baby crying or-

Tracy Lapreziosa (21:07):
Shrillness.

Rosa McAllister (21:08):
... a fire alarm [inaudible 00:21:08]. Exactly. And the suddenness. You can't anticipate when it's gonna happen. Um, so it throws people off. But for him, it's those high-pitched sounds, which for a lot of people with hearing loss, that's, they're the first to go. But for him, that's what remains and it is very v-, so he walks around with, um, noise-canceling headphones on almost all the time just because he doesn't know when that might happen and he-

Tracy Lapreziosa (21:34):
Mm-hmm.

Rosa McAllister (21:35):
... is almost praying, as he says, that he, his hearing loss, which continues to increase, he's almost praying that it gets total, so that he no longer has these, what he calls breakthrough sounds.

Tracy Lapreziosa (21:50):
Mm.

Rosa McAllister (21:50):
You know, you know, for each of us, we're all wired through differently, as you said. We can't make assumptions and as we're with helping others, whether it's our baby like the wonderful mama in the airport yesterday or whoever, whether it's for ourselves or someone who's aging or someone who has other sensitivities or we have a new roommate-

Tracy Lapreziosa (22:13):
(laughs)

Rosa McAllister (22:13):
... housemate, whatever it is, you know, it's trying to find out what works for us and then using that information, using it to our benefit. That's-

Tracy Lapreziosa (22:23):
Yeah.

Rosa McAllister (22:23):
... I think the, the key here.

Tracy Lapreziosa (22:25):
Yeah, and continuing to explore new sounds is good because it tap-, all sound taps into different parts of your brain, um, and if you can activate a part of your brain that you haven't been using for a while, yay. (laughs)

Rosa McAllister (22:40):
That's probably a good thing.

Tracy Lapreziosa (22:41):
Maybe some new thoughts and, uh, ideas will come from there. But yeah, just, you know, don't get into the old patterns. Continue to explore and, you know, build your sound library and, um, you know, do what's best for you and comfortable.

Rosa McAllister (22:58):
Absolutely. So, we hope this has sparked, uh, a little something for you. We hope that as we've been chattering on that maybe you're saying, "Ooh, that reminds me of this," or, "I-I don't understand that," or, "Oh, that reminds me of this person," or, "Oh, I found this to be true," or, "That's something similar." Make notes. Um, whether it's mental notes or written notes or whatever of what works for you and what works for those around you that you love and you care about and you maybe care for and see what you can do to play with sound, explore it like Tracy's talking about. Explore the different, the nuances of sound, the highs, the lows, the different qualities of sound and see how maybe you can use it purposefully to benefit you and others around you. Any last pearls of wisdom, Trace?

Tracy Lapreziosa (23:53):
I don't think so. Well, that was my last pearl there, just explore and be comfortable and, you know-

Rosa McAllister (23:57):
Perfect. So, we hope you have a beautiful, soundful, fun day as you move ahead and, um, please feel free to explore all our other Taste of Wellness items and many, many other things that are available on Networks Online University, www.networksortraining.org, and explore our online university where we have all kinds of topics and fun things, webinars, podcasts, videos, other materials and we're always expanding that. So, enjoy. Thanks so much for joining us.

Online University (24:38):
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