Music a healing instrument that tends your mental health

It is no secret that on this platform we celebrate the fashions in which music and spirituality interact and intertwine.

As a universal language, that transcends borders, beliefs and sometimes even reality, music has a way of transporting us, capturing the mind and spirit in journeys that feel otherworldly yet deeply personal. 

Music, capable of evoking or even vividly emblazoning memories and emotions in our minds and thoughts, remains like a teleportation device.

Music is a powerful tool for evoking, whether it is memories, emotions or even spirits.

Some songs become etched in our minds, forever linked to specific memories, while others, upon first hearing, somehow transport us to past moments – even if they didn’t exist then.

Whenever I hear any music by South African musical giant Ringo, I am flooded with memories of my mother’s paternal family, specifically the home of my grandfather’s brother in Dutywa, Eastern Cape.

I remember my uncles happily (read drunkenly) singing along to the music while my mother and I made jokes at their expense.

There are countless songs that I can tie to many memories – as can you.

Recently, I heard a song that leads me to the second part of the point, where upon hearing a song for the first time can teleport one back to an era of one’s life.

The song is titled Ndinovalo by Yallunder.

I encountered one of those transformative moments when I first heard the song.

I was getting my hair done at the salon when the song came on and I immediately felt compelled to Shazam it. I was caught by its raw power like a spark. 

Bethunana (my good people), I was hooked!

But it wasn’t until I really let myself fall into the song that I grasped its depth. Ndinovalo isn’t just a melody. It’s a desperate plea – a stark portrayal of internal chaos and vulnerability.

Through haunting vocals and powerful lyrics, Yallunder voices the kind of turmoil that can grip the soul, manifesting in both physical and spiritual unease.

The song speaks to the challenges of mental health, addressing emotions that too often remain hidden, including those feelings that bring one to the edge.

Equally, the song forces one to confront the relationship between mental health and spirituality, especially under the umbrella of psychosomatic symptoms such as uvalo (in this context anxiety or feelings of unease manifesting as heart palpitations).

The way I see it, uvalo is all-encompassing of mental, physical and spiritual unease, often with the intention of drawing attention to something specific.

Ndinovalo drew my attention to my own mental health wherein I had to examine why I was so drawn to the song, the singer and I suppose her thoughts and cognitions when she wrote the song.

I wondered if her thoughts would be identical to mine, such as a general feeling of existential dread and nihilism.

It must have been on the 50th listen where I called order to self and explored what the song means to me with emphasis on the memories of when I started being fascinated with uualo or as I solely understood it then as physical feelings depression and anxiety.

I was transported to my time undergoing my first initiation, when uvalo became not only a symptom that I wanted to suppress but as a tool for me to navigate the spiritual world.

This teaching on uvalo as a tool disenfranchises its power to be debilitating while empowering as a tool for discernment and divination, and as an all-round compass or GPS.

At the same time, Ndinovalo served as a sobering reminder of the importance of nurturing mental health and remaining committed to that journey, just as I am with spirituality.

The relationship between mental health and spirituality has historically been fraught.

Spiritual experiences – visions, ancestral connections – were often dismissed as signs of disorder, creating an unnecessary divide between what we feel and what we see as “real”. 

Yallunder’s Ndinovalo serves as a bridge, offering a starting point for conversations that can break stigma, reconnect us with ourselves, and remind us that healing is multidimensional. 

If I haven’t been explicit enough, let me say it plainly: Take care of your mental health.