April is National Poetry Month.
Why does this matter?
Well, in the way that music can change a feeling in someones heart and change their mood, poetry has the same ability.
Ne research shows that poetry is very powerful- not just in the words, but how it can stimulate the reward centers of the brain. This means that emotional expression can change.
It is why some of us will remember poetry years after memorizing it... in fact, it is what makes us memorize it in the first place.
My guest today is James Crews, an outstanding poet in his own right... and editor and collector of poems. His latest book The Path to Kindness reveals the Power of Poetry.
James shares the power of poetry in this collection, but allowing us the glimpse of kindness, while allowing ourselves to appreciate small and gentle gestures that represent love and memory.
Reference:
Wassiliwizky, E., Koelsch, S., Wagner, V., Jacobsen, T., & Menninghaus, W. (2017). The emotional power of poetry: neural circuitry, psychophysiology and compositional principles. Social cognitive and affective neuroscience, 12(8), 1229–1240. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsx069