In order to improve all aspects of elderly students’ health  including body, mind and spirit as well as their quality of life, MPI Seniors Academy (ACS) organized a “Listening to Music, Relieving Stress” workshop and invited certified music therapist Ms. Christal Chiang as the guest speaker.

The speaker firstly introduced the sources of stress that are common to the elderly and the symptoms that may appear when the body is under stress. She taught students how to pay attention to emotional health development, then introduced them to some musical therapy techniques by using relaxing music. Cooperating with commonly used stress relieving methods like the diaphragmatic breathing method, progressive muscle relaxation exercises, etc., students learnt how to relax and also learned about the principle of how music reduces stress. Through simple assessment tools, students could understand their own stress status, recognize different kinds of stress and the emotional changes triggered. They learned to adjust their attitude and thus improve their physical and mental quality.

Participants in the workshop said that with the professional knowledge and clinical work experience of the speaker, they learnt to establish a way to adjust their stress and benefited a lot. They hope that ACS will organize similar activities in the future to encourage elderly students to relax their mind and body and actively face daily challenges. The objective of ACS is promoting the physical and mental health of students, affirming their self-worth and helping them to actively integrate into the modern society. ACS will continue to organize different kinds of workshops to broaden the elderly’s horizons and keep them abreast with the times.