Your Power, Your Life, Your Playlist!

A Community Collab Session: It Hits Different with Dr. Ali Reign | Snackable Science for Stress & Connection | Life in Action: A 7‑Day Music‑as‑Medicine Challenge | Snatched with Dr. Zoe Hart

Overall Synopsis:

This edition invites you to lean into the healing power of music. Dr. Ali Reign shares how daily doses of Bob Marley, Nina Simone, and Common keep him grounded and thriving through life’s chaos. He also explores research showing how music reduces stress, boosts mood and connection, and builds resilience. Ali drops the mic with a week‑long challenge that helps you curate your own healing soundtrack. Dr. Zoe Hart closes with reflections on how tracks like “Freedom,” “Love Is My Religion,” “Work Ethic,” and “Gratitude” help her return to neutral amid major transitions.Contents:

• It Hits Different w/ Dr. Ali Reign → Daily Doses of Sound Medicine
  From morning walks with Bob Marley to yoga flows with Nina Simone and family jams with Common, Dr. Ali shares how music keeps him and his tribe thriving.

• Healthy Playlist Samples → The Science of Music: Stress, Connection & Resilience
  Three research‑backed insights on why music is more than a vibe — it’s medicine.

• Life in Action: Music‑as‑Medicine Challenge
  Evidence‑based practices to try over the next week:

  • Morning Mood Boost

  • Midday Reset

  • Evening Unwind

• Snatched with Dr. Zoe Hart → Your Life Playlist: Finding Neutral Amidst Change
  Dr. Zoe opens up about marriage, entrepreneurship, travel, and how songs like “Freedom,” “Love Is My Religion,” “Work Ethic,” and “Gratitude” pull her back to center.

It Hits Different w/ Dr. Ali Reign

Mos Def (Yasiin Bey): “Everything is connected. Music, politics, spirituality — they’re not separate. They’re all expressions of what it means to be alive.”

Hey Fam!
I wanted to put pen to paper again and lift up one of the five pillars I mentioned last time. Let’s get right to it: Music is medicine.

With all that’s been going on in the world and for me personally, I’ve found myself taking multiple daily doses of music whenever I can find a moment… Like Mos Def said, it’s all connected and I use music to keep me grounded and to keep me and mines not just alive, but thriving!

For me, music is all the things — it meets me wherever I’m at. On a morning walk, I might ease into the day with Bob Marley. When I’m rolling out the mat, Nina Simone grounds my yoga flow. Common sneaks into family jam sessions with my daughter (she insists on mixing in her own hip hop picks — and yes, I make she knows the classics). And don’t get me started on all the live shows I’ve plugged into… one of my all-time highlights was Mos Def’s Black on Both Sides 20th anniversary concert at the Underground in Atlanta. That night, surrounded by my people who have a love for the music and the culture as much as I do… was truly a tribe vibe for us.

Here’s the thing: it’s not just vibes. Science backs up what Marley, Common, Bey, Simone and you and I already knew — music can heal, connect, and motivate us in ways that medicine alone can’t.

My top 3 healthy playlist samples for the month…

Bob Marley: “One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.”

1. Music reduces stress and pain.
That Marley quote? Facts. Research shows that listening to music can lower cortisol (our main stress hormone) and even reduce the perception of pain (Thoma et al., 2013). That’s why a good playlist sometimes beats an Advil.

Nina Simone: “Music is a healing force. It can make you feel like you’re not alone.”

2. Music boosts mood and connection.
Nina Simone said it best — music is a healing force. Studies show that group music experiences (like concerts or jam sessions) release oxytocin, the “bonding hormone,” helping us feel less isolated and more connected (Tarr et al., 2014). Translation: dancing with strangers at a show isn’t just fun — it’s literally rewiring your brain for belonging.

Common: “Music is a soundtrack to life. It touches you in ways that words alone can’t.”

3. Music enhances learning and resilience.
Common called it the soundtrack of life, and he wasn’t lying. Music activates brain regions linked to memory and emotion, which helps us process tough times and celebrate the highs (Koelsch, 2014). Whether you’re vibing to Pharrell’s “Happy” or Kendrick Lamar’s meditations on struggle and survival, music builds mental resilience.

And I’ll leave you with a Music-as-Medicine Challenge 🎶💊

For the next 7 days, try this out:

1. Morning Mood Boost: Start your day with one track that sets your intention (Bob for calm, Missy for hype, whatever you need).

2. Midday Reset: Take a 3-minute “music break” instead of doomscrolling — one song that re-centers your energy.

3. Evening Unwind: Close out the day with something grounding or soulful (I see you, Nina).

Notice how your body, mood, or even your stress levels shift over the week.

So, what’s the first song on your healing soundtrack challenge? Drop it in the comments — I want to build a community playlist with y’all.

Zoe Hart: Press Play to Reset: Using Music to Reground

My life has been full of transition over the past year—from getting married, to expanding my entrepreneurial ventures to include being a mortgage loan officer, to traveling to new countries and experiencing things I never had before—all while trying to maintain peace, balance, and stick to my optimal routine.

Clearly, something had to give. And when it does, the most important thing is being able to return to the tools that help us feel grounded and remind us to start exactly where we are.

For me, music is one of those tools. Depending on my mood, I turn to songs like Freedom by Beyoncé, Love Is My Religion by Ziggy Marley, Work Ethic by Toni Jones, or Gratitude by Londrelle. Each of these tracks pulls me out of whatever thought loop I might be in and brings me back to the reminder that I was created by the universe exactly as I am.

The point is this: at any moment, we have tools at our disposal to help us reconnect with the version of ourselves we want to embody. And sometimes, instead of watching the news cycle or endlessly scrolling, we just need to put on a song that shifts our perspective—and helps us get back to neutral.