This week is Children's Mental Health week. Music is proven to help people with their health and well being. 

Music stimulates the brain which in turn helps with pain relief, reducing stress and memory. Studies have shown that relaxing music may lower blood pressure and heart rate after physical exertion. It can also improve mood and help to make you feel less anxious about things. Coming together to make music and also make you feel less lonely and isolated as you create something together.

We have listened to music by Coldplay before but I have included some of their music this week as works well with the theme this year of 'Growing Together'. It is time to look back and appreciate how far we’ve come, and how we can help others on their journeys in the future. Times aren’t always easy, so it’s also really good to see difficult moments in our lives as opportunities for growth and to see things in a new light.

The songs here reflect different emotions: when times are difficult and you need help, when they are difficult but you are determined to make them work and when times are more hopeful and positive. Sometimes listening to music which reflects our mood can help us make sense of our feelings.

Coldplay are a British rock band that were formed in London in 1996. Vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, and drummer Will Champion met at University College London and began playing music together from 1996 to 1998, first calling themselves Pectoralz and then Starfish before finally changing their name to Coldplay.