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Music is replacing my self-talk

Jan 15, 2025

About six months ago, I transitioned from working out at home with kettlebells to working out at the club where I used to play tennis (I'd still be playing if my knees would allow it). The club was acquired and they replaced all of the gym equipment with new stuff. So I've been going there as my kettlebells gather dust at home.

I subscribe to YouTube Premium to remove ads from YT videos and that also includes YouTube Music.

I've created a long playlist that I typically suffle through during my workouts.

My workout starts with a 7-minute warmup on a treadmill. And the reason that it's 7 minutes (it used to be 5 or 6) is that the song that I listen to is 7-minutes long. It's called Wake Me Up by Avicii.

Now to the point of the title of this note. I have a noisy mind that is hard to calm. If I'm not listening to something, I'm thinking of all the things and those things can often involve worry. What has started happening over the last couple of months is that when I'm just being, and not listening to anything in particular, I am often playing back the songs in my workout playlist. And since I listen to Wake Me Up every time I work out, it is often the one that enters my mind. Since I shuffle the playlist and it lasts longer than a workout, the songs that come are random. That said, I'll sometimes have my mind filled with one of those in place of Wake Me Up.

All of this has had the effect of allowing me to be more calm and my worry becomes more selective and priortized. And I think that's a good thing.