Relaxing Music Recommended By Music Therapists
Music can improve your mood and help you feel more motivated to tackle important tasks, but it doesn’t always work as a study tool. If you prefer the outdoors to your office or study desk, soft nature sounds might provide a relaxing atmosphere that makes your work more pleasant. It can also help reduce stress and promote a more positive mindset.
In one study, adults who listened to 45 minutes of music before going to sleep reported having better sleep quality beginning on the very first night. Even more encouraging is that this benefit appears to have a cumulative effect with study participants reporting better sleep the more often they incorporated music into their nightly routine. Fortunately, children aren’t the only ones who can benefit from lullabies before bedtime. People across age groups report better sleep quality after listening to calming music. Parents know from experience that lullabies and gentle rhythms can help babies to fall asleep.
Many of us are instinctively drawn to music to seek to destress and relax. If you are looking to help calm your dog with sounds, a good place to start is with the Pet Acoustics Pet Tunes calming music dog speaker. This speaker features 90 minutes of calming sounds for dogs.
When slow music is played, the bodily reaction follows suit– the heart blow slows down and blood pressure drops. This causes the breath to slow, which helps Ocean Waves with Chill Music release tension in the neck, shoulders, stomach and back. Listening to slow or calming music on a regular basis can help our bodies relax, which over time, means less pain and faster recovery time.
It has been used as a healing therapy for most of human history. Ancient Arabic cultures had musicians working alongside physicians. After WWII, musicians were brought to U.S. hospitals to aid the healing of soldiers’ physical and emotional trauma.
In addition to feeling euphoric, endorphins quell anxiety, ease pain and stabilize the immune system. With high endorphin levels, we have fewer negative effects of stress. Researchers have also uncovered evidence that suggests the music we heard as teenagers has a greater emotional bind to our brain than anything we’ll listen to as adults. This idea of musical nostalgia is a fun exercise for anyone, but is most impactful for people suffering from memory loss, including those with dementia or Alzheimer’s. Listening to soothing music is a great way to help you wind down and relax before slumber.
More troubling still, a recent paper out of Harvard and Stanford found health issues from job stress alone cause more deaths than diabetes, Alzheimer's, or influenza. With all the depression and anxiety so many are feeling, I attribute my sense of peace to piping acoustic music through my home throughout the day. It makes my home a refuge rather than a prison, and my son has mentioned he likes it, too. With brain-imaging techniques, such as functional MRIs, music is increasingly being used in therapy for brain-related injuries and diseases. Brain scans have proven that music and motor control share circuits, so music can improve movement for those with Parkinson’s disease and for individuals recovering from a stroke. Neurologic music therapy should become part of rehabilitative care, according to this group of doctors.