“In all the world, there is no heart for me like yours.
In all the world, there is no love for you like mine.”
― Maya Angelou

A common statement made after the loss of a loved one is "you need to let go." But that statement has different meanings for many people and actually hurts some more than others. Moving forward and recovering from loss is important but telling someone to let go may be felt as dismissive. When loved ones are with us in our thoughts, memories and in some cases our personality and behavior, letting go is almost impossible and may just be a wrong choice of words.  

You need to carry on, work through grief and find new happiness, but the work of grieving is remembering your loved one as you move forward. Let your loved one guide you as you move forward; and that is not "letting go", that is allowing them to hold your hand.

Music is a way to say something, feel something and heal in the process. Music you listened to in the past may bring up memories during that time of your life that will allow you to look at some of your old thoughts and feelings and process how it relates to your current life. Listening to old music can put you in that place when you felt happy, sad or confused during life changes. 

Music for relaxation is just that, to relax the mind. Typically no thoughts of past, just to stay in the moment so the mind does not wonder. Without lyrics, there is no association of a thought or memory so you can stay in the moment.  This type of music is good for sleep and relaxation. 

Like we do with movies,  putting on a sad song will help process sadness. If you want be motivated to work out, then listening to something upbeat will help increase activity. For sleep, it's best to listen to relaxing music and nothing upbeat. When working on feelings in therapy, you can use music to help activate your thoughts and feelings of the past to help process unresolved matters.