The Syncreate Podcast: Empowering Creativity
Welcome to Syncreate, where we explore the intersections between creativity, psychology, and spirituality. Our goal is to demystify the creative process and expand the boundaries of what it means to be creative.
Creativity. It’s a word we throw around all the time, but what does it really mean? On the Syncreate Podcast, we share stories of the creative journey. We talk to changemakers, visionaries and everyday creatives working in a wide array of fields and disciplines. Our goal is to explore creativity in all its facets, and to gain a better understanding of the creative process – from imagination to innovation and everything in between.
The Syncreate Podcast is hosted by Melinda Rothouse, PhD. She helps individuals and organizations bring their creative dreams and visions to life through coaching, consulting, workshops, retreats, and now, this podcast. She's written two books on creativity, including Syncreate: A Guide to Navigating the Creative Process for Individuals, Teams, and Communities (winner of a Silver Nautilus Award for Creativity and Innovation), with Charlotte Gullick. She's also a musician (singer-songwriter and bass player) and photographer based in Austin, Texas.
The Syncreate Podcast: Empowering Creativity
Episode 113: Music Mindfulness & Healing with Dr. AZA Allsop
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Dr. AZA Allsop is an artist, neuroscientist, and psychiatrist who conducts research at the intersection of social cognition, music mindfulness, and psychedelics. AZA received his MD from Harvard Medical School, PhD in Neuroscience from MIT, and was an Emerson Scholar at Berklee College of Music. He is currently an Assistant Professor in Yale’s Department of Psychiatry and Director of the Center for Collective Healing at Howard University. He combines art, science, and community to redefine culture and make social impact. Our conversation explores AZA’s current research, his music, and the question of how music and creativity can help heal the world.
For our Creativity Pro-Tip, we encourage you to take a few mindful moments to pause and listen to what’s happening around you, as well as to take five minutes (or more, if possible) to set a timer and devote that time to your creativity on a regular basis. You may be surprised by what you can accomplish in a short amount of time.
Credits: The Syncreate podcast is created and hosted by Melinda Rothouse, and produced at Record ATX studios with in collaboration Michael Osborne and 14th Street Studios in Austin, Texas. Syncreate logo design by Dreux Carpenter.
If you enjoy this episode and want to learn more about the creative process in a variety of contexts, you might also like our conversations in Episode 9: Music and Psychology: "The Pocket" Experience with Dr. Jeff Mims, Episode 91: Envisioning the Possible with Vlad Glăveanu, PhD, and Episode 62: The Neuroscience of Creativity with Dr. Indre Viskontas.
At Syncreate, we're here to support your creative endeavors. If you have an idea for a project or a new venture, and you’re not sure how to get it off the ground, find us at syncreate.org. Our book, also called Syncreate, walks you through the stages of the creative process so you can take action on your creative goals. We also offer resources, creative process tools, and coaching, including a monthly creativity coaching group, to help you bring your work to the world. You can find more information on our website, where you can also find all of our podcast episodes. Find and connect with us on social media and YouTube under Syncreate. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and leave us a review! We’d love to hear your feedback as well, so drop us a line at info@syncreate.org.
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Melinda: Creativity and community are absolutely vital in challenging times. Welcome to Syncreate, a show where we explore the intersections between creativity, psychology and spirituality. We believe everyone has the capacity to create. Our goal is to demystify the process and expand the boundaries of what it means to be creative. We talk with visionaries and change makers, and everyday creatives working in a wide range of fields and media - from the arts to science, technology and business. We aim to illuminate the creative process, from imagination to innovation and everything in between. I'm Melinda Rothouse and I help individuals and organizations bring their dreams and visions to life.
At Syncreate, we’re here to support your creative endeavors. So if you have an idea for a project or a new venture and you're not quite sure how to get it off the ground, find us at syncreate.org. Our book, also called Syncreate, walks you through the stages of the creative process so you can take action on your goals. We also offer resources, creative process tools and coaching to help you bring your work to the world.
My guest today is Dr. AZA Stephen Allsop. He's an MD/PhD from Harvard and MIT. He's a neuroscientist and neofusion musician who studies music mindfulness, psychedelics and social cognition. He is assistant professor of psychiatry at both Yale and Harvard University, and he combines art, science and community to redefine culture and make social impact. Okay. Welcome, DR. AZA. It’s great to have you on the show finally. We’ve been talking about it for a while.
Dr. AZA: Definitely. Yeah, I'm happy to be here and to get to talk to you.
Melinda: Yeah. Me too. And so, we originally connected a couple of years ago, through a mutual colleague, Dr. Jeff Mims, who I've also had on the show. And so, great to circle back with you now. And I know we have a lot of great things to touch on today, but first, just to kind of introduce people to what you do and your research… so you're a musician and a neuroscientist researcher and you study music mindfulness. And so, for people who maybe… or that's one of the things you study, I should say, of many…
Dr.AZA: Yeah. Yeah.
Melinda: But so, for people who may not be familiar, like, what is music mindfulness, and how is it different from just listening to music or practicing mindfulness?
Dr. AZA: Yeah, for sure. So, music mindfulness is this idea that we can combine components of either music listening or active music making with different kinds of mindfulness practices. And there are a number of different protocols and sort of models that one can use. And in our lab we've developed, you know, a few different, paradigms, but as a very sort of broad big picture, that's the idea.
And so, on one hand, it's different from just music listening or music making, because there's a certain level intent of intention and awareness of a particular cognitive or emotional state that the participant and the facilitator (if it's a facilitated sort of, you know, model) are bringing to that encounter and that activates different regions of the brain, even if you're still listening to the same music.
Melinda: Okay.
Dr. AZA: Similarly, with mindfulness, you know, mindfulness in silence activates different circuits than mindfulness with sound. And the kind of sound and the patterns of that sound frequencies, all those things, will modulate the brain in different ways. And so, we think that with music mindfulness, we are getting aspects of the same brain networks that we get with music. We're getting some aspects of the same brain networks that we get with mindfulness, but we're also really activating unique pathways in the brain, and we think we can leverage this for therapeutic value but also to bridge, you know, social gaps and make social connection.
Melinda: Yeah. Beautiful. Yeah. So, I know a big part of your work is also kind of social cognition and social connections, specifically through music and mindfulness. So, yeah, I'm curious like, kind of where… what directions your research is taking. You run a lab that, you know, looks into all of this and, so, like, I don't know… what's top of mind for you in terms of this research and kind of where you're going with it?
Dr. AZA: Well, I think I'm really excited about the work that we're doing because I think we're starting to come to a place in the development of music therapeutics and music medicine where we can have something that can be a first line treatment for things like anxiety and depression, and certain components of dementia, pain. There's so many different parameters. And what I think is exciting about this from the standpoint of a medical doctor is the idea that we can now target specific biology with aspects of sound and mindfulness and psychedelics as well.
And so, what we're seeing is that in these different parameters/paradigms, especially in social and group context, we're able to create synchrony between brain's synchrony, between nervous systems, and we can see decreases in anxiety, decreases in people's subjective report of things like depression. We finished a pilot study that we published last year, where we showed a music mindfulness protocol that combines a facilitator with a live musician and certain soundscapes that we created in the lab to help drive certain parts of the nervous system in just two weeks, can have a meaningful effect on people's own self-report of distress and anxiety and social connection.
And so… and not only that, but we can see that even just within five minutes of participating in this musical mindfulness paradigm - in the community - we can see changes in heart rate variability. We can see changes in the EEG that are different from baseline and different than when they're just doing mindfulness alone.
Melinda: Interesting.
Dr. AZA: And so, we're really interested in sort of the next phase of this study in which we can, you know, show like, well, what happens after eight weeks? Can we have like, meaningful effects on clinical outcomes, anxiety and depression? And our guess is that, you know, hypothesis, is that we can because we're targeting these parts of the biology.
Another really cool study that we're doing along the same line is our drum circle study where we've been studying, you know, group drumming in different cities in the US and showing that not only can we reduce things like state anxiety with group drumming, but we can really train the nervous system and facilitate parasympathetic activity (part of the nervous system that helps us to relax, and to heal), in these groups, in these group settings.
And so, I think it's really exciting for us to really not do something that is super new from the standpoint of, like, we know that music can heal in drumming in groups for a long time, but now we're actually getting into the biology and being able to make it really precise for clinical indications.
Melinda: Yeah. Yeah. That's amazing. And I was about to say the same thing. You know, it's like, we all kind of know intuitively, right, that feeling of like, how music can support mood or, you know, we go to a concert and everyone kind of gets into that synchrony in that kind of flow state between the musicians and the audience. But this is like, you know, taking it a step further and specifically kind of using it for healing and these kind of things.
Dr. AZA: Yeah. And the idea is that, you know, we… by understanding the mechanism from a biological perspective, we're able to maybe leverage some of that understanding to develop these tools from a clinical perspective. But as you know, like, I don't think that these systems only work at a biological level. You know, I think there's multiple levels.
Spiritual, you know, psychological. And we're trying to ask like, can we come up with tools that are really integrative so that we are able to show you mechanistically we can affect the biology, but we can also affect, you know, people psychologically and spiritually as well?
Melinda: Yeah.
Dr. AZA: You know, all in the effort of healing.
Melinda: Absolutely. Yeah. Both on the individual and the group level, sounds like.
Dr. AZA: Yeah. Particularly on the group level. Particularly on the group level.
Melinda: Yeah. That's amazing. So, I know you yourself are a musician. You have an album coming out soon. And I was curious… I don't know if you get to talk about this as much… I guess it depends on the context… but I'm curious, you know, given your roots in Trinidad, which has such a rich musical tradition… I'm curious how kind of your growing up and your exposure to those musical traditions, like, how it informs both your own music and your research?
Dr. AZA: Yeah. I mean, music was always a really central part of my life growing up, just like my, not only, you know, national culture from the standpoint of Trinidad, but even, you know, once I moved to the United States with my family and we were living in places like New York, you know, where, just such a rich culture of music. But my immediate family as well. Like, my dad is a multi-instrumentalist, my mom is a singer. And so, music was always a part. And so, there was like, the cultural music coming from that part of the world, you know: Calypso, Soca, Reggae, big influences.
But then, you know, gospel music, soul music, and then, you know, coming up in my time, you know, hip hop, R&B, neo soul. So, all of these different, genres and expressions of our music have been pivotal, you know, in my own genesis as a musician. And my first exposure to really playing was in church, you know. Learning sort of about music from that spiritual perspective. And then, as I got older, you know, I learned the theory, and, you know, I went to college, you know, played in combos and like, and all those things. But it's all… it's always kind of been built on that foundation. And as I became sort of deeper into the science, and particularly as I became a psychiatrist, I saw not only that there was just a huge gap and a need, but that we could use things like music to, you know, to fill some of those gaps in ways that could actually be really impactful.
It really started to even change what I was doing as an artist. And really all the things we’re learning about how, again, this music can affect the nervous system, I started bringing into, you know, into my shows. In fact, my last project in some ways is really a document - you know, a documentation of that process, you know, in real time. And how do we bring these different elements of chord structure and of narrative into our collective space, you know, to facilitate people's healing journeys?
Melinda: Yeah. Beautiful. So that brings up like, a few different questions for me. I'm curious, maybe tell us a little bit about your album that's coming out, but also when you perform live and I've experienced this, you know, it's not just like a performance, right? It's like a collective experience.
Dr. AZA: Yeah. No, exactly. And so, you know, the project is called Unmasked and it was recorded live at Firehouse Studios in New Haven, which is a great, you know, great venue. On Halloween night.
Melinda: Nice.
Dr. AZA: And, it was this idea that, like, we wear so many masks to cover who we are to keep us ourselves safe. And part of what we can do in this process of unmasking and being authentic and true to who we are in community, you know, as a collective, that there's something really powerful and freeing and healing in that. And it really, took this idea of music for the collective. And this is a project that we started at the beginning of 2025. We debuted it at the Kennedy Center, and it was like, an amazing experience. But it's this idea that not only are we bringing people together, for music, but the audience is a part of the program.
Melinda: Definitely.
Dr. AZA: You know, they're a part of it. They are co-creators of the experience. And so, they sing with us, they play percussions with us. And, really having them drop into the experience not as a passive listener, but as an active, you know, co-creator. And so, in this project, we recorded everything live. You know, it is as it was. And you kind of hear everything. But you can also hear the audience singing along and you can hear those moments of real community, you know, with some of the original songs that, kind of created the space and the atmosphere for that, you know, that engagement.
So, we're really excited about it. We'll have an album release, listening party here in DC and just, you know, start really pushing and performing that music that a lot of it we’ve been performing with my trio and quartet over the last year. But we'll be really pushing it, you know, for this year.
Melinda: Awesome. Awesome. Well, when that comes out, let us know and we'll, you know, we'll put a link.
Dr. AZA: Yeah, definitely.
Melinda: Yeah. Yeah. For sure. Cool. I'm excited for that. So, I'm curious, you know, speaking of kind of this notion of, like, collective healing and social connection, things like that. Obviously we're living in very divisive and turbulent times. So this is a question that's like, really on my mind a lot… like, how can we make a positive contribution to the world through our creative efforts? And so, like, how do you see this kind of music, mindfulness, social connection, like, coming together in terms of like, positive social change?
Dr. AZA: Yeah. So, this idea of depolarization, I think, is really important for us right now. And it's not to demonize polarization because it's the other part of the pole. It's the part of the spectrum. Like, we need polarization and we need depolarization.
Melinda: Yeah.
Dr. AZA: Now, we can push these processes to their extreme. And I don't think that that is the right course of action either. But I think we have to just understand that when you bring different organisms together, when you bring even the same species together in a space as a system, there will be these moments of polarization/depolarization within systems at every level. You know, that we can look at scientifically, we see this sort of process. I think that tools like music, like mindfulness, like psychedelics, can be really important in balancing out what we see right now. Right? There are many drivers for polarization.
Melinda: Yeah.
Dr. AZA: At the same time, we're also weakening the tools we have for depolarization. And that's what has led to some of this extremity. That's, I think… the more that we can understand that we do actually have to, now as a species, engage more actively and more intentionally and more rapidly in this process of depolarization. If we're going to survive what we have created.
And, you know, we can then leverage things like music and mindfulness and psychedelics to facilitate that process for us. And we do see that literally when I bring people together and I have them, you know, doing music mindfulness, I am literally bringing their nervous systems into greater synchrony.
Melinda: Yes. Yes.
Dr. AZA: They are quite literally now vibrating closer to the same frequency, right? The same rate, even in terms of the actual neurons and what they're doing. So it's really powerful biologically. Putting them within a space where maybe because there's greater biological synchrony, it creates and facilitates an environment where there can be greater cognitive synchrony. Or even when there's still cognitive dissonance, the way that we manage that can be very different when we've gotten to a place of biological synchrony or even at a deeper level, spiritual synchrony.
Melinda: Yes.
Dr. AZA: And so, I see that these tools really can facilitate this process. And I think we are at a place now where it's necessary. So my lab is trying to understand mechanistically how does this work. And how do we leverage that to create models that communities and groups can use to facilitate that process? And we’ve had some success, you know. Early success. But I think we're having success in figuring this out.
Melinda: Yeah. Definitely. And I mean, you know, it's been said so many times how music is kind of like a universal language. And it can bring people together in ways that, you know, just simply words or maybe verbal dialog, you know, it goes to a deeper level, in some sense. So, that's really cool. So, you've mentioned a couple times also the psychedelic side of your research. And I know, kind of research into psychedelics and as therapeutic and for healing work is having this kind of huge resurgence right now. So, where does your work kind of fit into that?
Dr. AZA: I think we do fit into a pretty exciting space within that ecosystem. As I kind of mentioned before, I really believe in the idea of group based and community-based work. And it's not to, again, not to say that individual work is not important because I think it is also critical, but the individual work, I think without the group based or community or collective work, misses a very important component of this larger problem that we're speaking about.
Melinda: Yeah.
Dr. AZA: So, we are looking particularly at how can group and community-based form of psychedelic engagement and integration help facilitate greater social cohesion and social connection? How can it also potentially treat mental health symptoms and how can it help people survive things like burnout? And a lot of this work we do in collaboration with Beckley Retreats. I'm head of research and that's a very interesting model because people are in a naturalistic environment. And they're able to legally take psilocybin. So I've been in a group setting with live music, with aspects of mindfulness, you know, yoga, breath work.
And so, it's a very integrative approach to group, you know, group work for wellness and to facilitate decreases in burnout. But the next step really is asking, can we leverage some of these same group and community-based models to treat things like PTSD and depression? Towards the point that we talked about, can we use it for things like depolarization and awareness, climate action? And so, that's the sort of work that we're doing… is to ask all these different protocols and paradigms that we've developed that integrate the arts and things like music, mindfulness.
How does adding psychedelics to that system really help amplify and facilitate some of that therapeutic work? And can we leverage some of the community based and retreat-based work that's already going on in group settings to facilitate treatments for mental health disorders and depolarization, you know, containers?
Melinda: Yeah. Yeah. That's awesome. And so, I mean, just on a kind of really basic level, maybe you can tell us more the nuances of it. But, you know, the research is indicating that psychedelics, especially psilocybin, which you mentioned can kind of open up new neural pathways. And so, how do these retreats and kind of bringing together, you know, psychedelics and music and group process… like, what is happening in the brain with that?
Dr. AZA: Yeah. And so, we can look at different levels of analysis to understand at the level of the individual neurons, we believe that psychedelics act on the serotonin to a receptor, which is a receptor that allows for changes that happen in the neuron, that allows it to then have increases in plasticity, meaning it's growing new connections. And that will change how that, you know, neuron or a group of neurons function. At the network levels, the way that different parts of the brain often interact and send information to each other can be changed and often are changed under psychedelics, particularly at higher doses.
And you can have new routing of information that hasn't been routed, you know, in that way before. And networks, parts of the brain that are now connected in terms of information flow in ways that they haven't been, previously. And this can have really long-lasting impact even after the initial dosing, where people can really engage in sort of new behavioral, you know… behavioral pathways and really laying down new neural circuitry to support it. And at the psychological level, we can have many different phenomenon that lead to sort of a reduced sense of egoic sense of self, which becomes more expanded.
And that experience can really psychologically be very healing for people to experience that. It also allows processing of certain memories and trauma, you know, in ways that can be helpful, particularly in a facilitated context where there is preparation, an experience of the actual psychedelic and then integration of that experience. And it does seem that that those pieces together are really important for therapeutic or, you know, healing value.
And so, I think the big picture that psychedelics are changing neural activity and activity and networks in ways that facilitate plasticity, and allow the organism to create new pathways of cognition and behavior that we can leverage, I think, for therapeutic benefit, but just also to, for self-development, right? To become a much fuller, freer version of oneself.
Melinda: Yeah. Absolutely. So I'm curious, you know, both like in the lab and in these retreats that you're involved with, you know, let's say after an experience… like a psychedelic experience with a group, or just an experience with music mindfulness, kind of circling back a little bit to the conversation about, you know, depolarization and things like that. Like, do you notice a difference in the kinds of conversations that people are engaging in after an experience like this or the quality of dialog or just how people are interacting?
Dr. AZA: Yeah. I think this work, particularly when we start to engage with psychedelics in a group context like this, I think, can be very deep work in that, it’s very vulnerable. It can be very vulnerable.
Melinda: Sure.
Dr. AZA: And it can be very intense. And so, I think by just that alone, the level of conversation I think, really goes deep very quickly because we are… if I think core elements of what it means to be human, you know, core elements, that could be like, at the root of people's trauma, at the root of individuals anxiety… when we think about one's being, you know, how that's related to one's thoughts, how that one's related to one's sense of self and what is real… these are like very, very fundamental parts of our human experience.
And they all really are facilitated to come into our awareness during the psychedelic experience, particularly again, within this context where there's been preparation and there's also integration, and that that space is also facilitated and held in a certain way. And so, you do see people really making breakthroughs and getting to certain, I think, fundamental ground levels of awareness and understanding that can be really insightful, you know, for them.
Melinda: Yeah. Yeah. Amazing. And you mentioned also earlier like, that, you know, you're kind of looking at the effects of this, not just kind of in the moment, but for a certain amount of time afterwards. And what do you kind of notice there in terms of maybe the longer-term effects.?
Dr. AZA: Yeah. And so, some of this work, I think, is still too early to say is a definitive theme. But part idea and part of what we're seeing. And the hypothesis is that when this work is engaged in a group setting particularly that's held in facilitated, the long-term benefits will be… the lasting benefits will be longer than when individuals are engaging in this by themselves. Or as a part of a group.
And that community and group formation, and increase in social connection that we see over the course of a retreat or over the course of some of our other arts-based integration, that enhancement and social connection and community actually helps to integrate and facilitate more long-lasting therapeutic, you know, benefit. And that's sort of what we're working towards.
Melinda: Yeah. Yeah. I'm just thinking about this kind of like, in my own experiences and like, you know, you can have a powerful individual experience that can stay with you for a long time and maybe inspire creativity in different ways. But even more powerful as a group experience even shared with one other person or a few, or maybe more people, there's like, this kind of synergy that happens, right? Yeah. Yeah.
Dr. AZA: Yeah, definitely.
Melinda: Yeah. Awesome. Well, anything else that's kind of top of mind for you at the moment in terms of your research, your music, or kind of what's on the horizon for you?
Dr. AZA: Yeah. I mean, I'm really excited just about the space that we're in with the integration of these different pieces. And I think we're in a time where both the culture, as well as the clinical community, seems to be ready for it now.
Melinda: Yeah.
Dr. AZA: You know, I think, when I was in college, or in med school or graduate school or studying, you know, for my music fellowship… these things still felt very separate. And it wasn't… there wasn't a very clear career path for me to integrate them. But I would say that, you know, within like, the last five years, there seems to be both on the scientific community side, as well as the general culture and even in the artistic community side, a real desire to integrate arts and health, and to really see kind of new arts field grow.
And bringing these different ways of expressing our total humanity really centrally into the conversation, about how do we heal individually and collectively, and how do we use the arts to address real public health, you know, concerns? And so for me, I'm really excited to be, you know, one of the people that's like, at the forefront of that, and working with a lot of really amazing artists and scientists and policymakers to try to make this something that we can implement. Because I do think now we are on, you know, we're on a time scale. We're on a timetable. Right?
Melinda: Yeah.
Dr. AZA: I think, that we have to make certain changes, as a society and as a species, if we are going to survive the coming challenges. And I think, on one hand, right, maybe we figure it out, maybe we do come together in time. Maybe we do leverage these things and find the balance so that we can take that next step. And maybe this is the end of the road for our species. (Laughter) As is.
Melinda: Right. We don't know. Right.
Dr. AZA: Right. I think, I would love it for it to be the former. I’m an optimist and that’s what I hope for.
Melinda: Me too. (Laughter)
Dr. AZA: But even if it's not, like, I would love for our species, if we are going to go extinct, I would love for us to go extinct with some grace. With like, peace and like, a spiritual understanding of what's happening to us, versus a very anxiety-ridden, chaotic, you know, end. Right? So either way, I would love for the ways that we evolve in this next stretch to be guided by a much more balanced, holistic, integrated view of the human, and how all of these things actually work together, not in a way that separates biology from psychology and spirituality, but in a way that really understands that these are all an integrated system, or a set of integrated systems that are working and that are expressed, you know, through our form.
And so, that message, as a physician scientist ,and also as an artist, is what I'm most excited to do, and to create the spaces where community can be built around that and really implementing that. That's what we have been doing. But I'm looking forward to really taking these next steps to do that in an even more impactful, you know, and holistic way.
Melinda: Yeah. That is such a beautiful sentiment. It kind of echoes some things I've been thinking about. And I think a lot of us who kind of, you know, straddle academia and arts, and it's like, maybe in the old days, you know, we had to compartmentalize ourselves somehow, like, “Okay. I'm a musician, but I'm a, you know, a researcher, professor or whatever.” Now we can start to bring it all together in really meaningful ways. So, you know, we're not sure what the outcome is going to look like, but I think that's like, a really beautiful sentiment.
So… and kind of a great place to bring the conversation to a close. So, I like to end the podcast episodes with what I call like, a Creativity Pro Tip. It's something that people can take and kind of try out on their own. So, you know, if maybe people don't have a chance to come to your lab or get to a show or retreat, like, what's something that they could do just on their own, in the moment that might, you know, be helpful for exploring music mindfulness, or just kind of mental health?
Dr. AZA: Yeah. So, I think one very simple practice… I'll give two. So, one, I think, really simple practice is taking time to just listen to what's around you. Sometimes just in ten, fifteen seconds, you just hear certain things that you weren't hearing before. And it's just a reminder that there's so many things going on around us that our brains filter out, and sometimes just giving ourselves a moment to bring real attention to what we're hearing, what we're seeing, what we're feeling, can already just help to create some space and to reshape our experience of these moments. And then, I think from a creative perspective, making the minimum amount of time possible and available for your creative act.
Melinda: Yes!
Dr. AZA: So if you're in, you know, if you draw, if you paint, if you do, you know, slam poetry, whatever it is… if it's five minutes, right, that you believe, “That’s all I have to dedicate to my art today…”, put a timer on for five minutes and just create something in that time. And you don't put any pressure on yourself that it has to be a masterpiece, has to be a finished work of art. Even if you write three lines of your next song, right? Or if you just outline a sketch of your next painting, but just give yourself five minutes. I've often found that when I'm really disciplined like this, it pretty much is never just five minutes.
Melinda: Yeah! (Laughter)
Dr. AZA: I actually end up having more time than that. Just giving myself that time, you know, I'm able to really just stay consistent and stay dedicated to, you know, to that muse.
Melinda: Yeah. I love that. It's like, kind of micro bursts of creativity, if you will. Yeah. So I love that. That’s perfect. So, thank you so much, Dr. AZA.
Dr. AZA: Oh, of course.
Melinda: It's been so great to have you today. And if people want to learn more about your work, about your music, what are the best ways for them to find you and connect?
Dr. AZA: Yeah, for sure. So you can go to @azathemessenger on Instagram. And you can find out stuff about music, personal stuff, you know, science. On LinkedIn: AZA Allsop. I often post a lot of things there. And then azalab.org has all of the research and amazing things that we're doing in that regard. And then, the last website I'll give you all is azafortheculture.com. And you can find out a lot about the art and the movement that way too.
Melinda: Okay. Beautiful. Well, thank you again so much. It's been such a pleasure. I'm glad we got to do this today.
Dr. AZA: Yes. Me too. Looking forward to some more.
Melinda: Yeah. For sure. We'll have to circle back and do another convo at some point.
Dr. AZA: Yeah.
Melinda: Cool. Find and connect with us on YouTube and social media under @syncreate. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and leave us a review. We're recording today at Record ATX Studios in Austin, with Dr. AZA joining us from the East Coast. The podcast is produced in collaboration with Mike Osborne at 14th Street Studios. Thanks so much for being with us, and see you next time.
