It's winter in Calgary. Flu and cold season has kicked in. We have already had a month where the daily temperature has struggled to reach -20 Celsius. When you're outside it hurts to take a deep breath. Our exposure to fresh air is limited. We spend the majority of our time indoors breathing recycled indoor air.

It is also a time of highly stressed immune systems for many people. The good news is that music and sound can boost your immune system. Many of us intuitively put on our favorite feel-good music when we're not feeling well. You choose this music for good reason.

Music changes your heartbeat. For example, not everybody knows that when you walk into a grocery store or mall where music is playing, within about five minutes your heartbeat matches the rhythm of the music. This is called rhythmic entrainment. There is no off switch. The human body is a natural resonator for sound.

Three main rhythms in your body are your heartbeat, your breathing, and your brain waves. Because these rhythms are connected, when you affect one of these systems you affect the others. When you listen to music with a beat that matches the beating of a calm heart, your heart will match it. Your breathing will slow down and you will feel calmer. When this happens, your hormonal system releases endorphins that have been shown to lessen pain and help you feel better.

At the molecular level, viruses use the same receptors as neuropeptides to enter a cell. The name for the cold virus is rheovirus. It attaches to the same receptor as the neuropeptide, norepinephrine, which is believed to be released when you are happy. If all these receptors are attached to norepinephrine, the cold virus can't get into the cell.

There is a whole genre of music called Applied Psychoacoustic Music that uses entrainment to manipulate body rhythms for specific results. You can find CDs that will help you sleep, relax, learn faster and better, focus your mind, boost your immune system, lose weight etc. When you add guided meditation or imagery to this kind of music, the results are even better.

Experiencing this kind of music, feeling its effects on your own body and discovering how it affects you in particular, is worth the effort. By feeling the effects yourself, you will know whether or not this is a tool that you can use to create health and wellness in your life.