How music gave you relief

Start writing...Research confirms these personal experiences with music. Current findings indicate that music around 60 beats per minute can cause the brain to synchronize with the beat causing alpha brainwaves (frequencies from 8 - 14 hertz or cycles per second). This alpha brainwave is what is present when we are relaxed and conscious. To induce sleep (a delta brainwave of 5 hertz), a person may need to devote at least 45 minutes, in a relaxed position, listening to calming music.

It’s not until we forget our headphones that we realize just how much we rely on music to help us through the day. Our favorite music seems capable of pumping us up before an important moment, calming us down when we’re upset, and just about anything in between.

But is there actually a scientific explanation for this? As it turns out, yes!

Music has been widely studied and revered throughout human history for its ability to both entertain and heal. Countless experts have investigated how listening to music can potentially have therapeutic effects on a range of mental and physical health conditions, or just as a way to cope with everyday life.

Patients with memory loss can often remember songs and specific song lyrics. Doctors will often use music and lyric recall to help individuals retrieve lost memories

Music and musical training have also been shown to protect the aging brain and keep it healthy.

The wide-ranging benefits of continuously listening to music and its therapeutic properties thereof are widely known and appreciated.

Stress can either increase the risk of or exacerbate serious health issues like anxiety, asthma, depression, gastrointestinal problems, heart disease, and obesity. On the flip side, being in a state of relaxation can help counter all of these things—and more.

If you feel threatened, your nervous system releases stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol. Listening to music can switch the stress response to “off” and help your mind and emotions recover from stress faster than they would without music.

Some research points to the following types of music and sounds as being effective stress reducers:

Light jazz and classical music

Native American, Celtic and Indian stringed -instruments, drums, and flutes

Rain, wind, and other nature sounds

Neuroscientists in the United Kingdom conducted a study that had participants connected to sensors try to quickly solve difficult, stress-inducing puzzles as they listened to different songs. The researchers measured brain activity and physiological states such as heart rate, blood pressure, and rate of breathing.Music can be used as a therapeutic tool to not only reduce stress, but to also promote healing and improve one’s overall emotional well-being. Recent research demonstrates that the use of music in addition to standard therapeutic tools provides additional restorative benefits for people with depression and anxiety, compared to those who received just therapy without the use of music. Different uses may include listening to music, playing a musical instrument, singing along to music and using guided imagery with music.Michigan State University
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The role of music in stress management
Lisa Tams, Michigan State University Extension - June 17, 2021

Music can be a useful tool in relieving stress.

Young woman listening to music.
Photo: Unsplash/Jackson Simmer.
Music can be used as a therapeutic tool to not only reduce stress, but to also promote healing and improve one’s overall emotional well-being. Recent research demonstrates that the use of music in addition to standard therapeutic tools provides additional restorative benefits for people with depression and anxiety, compared to those who received just therapy without the use of music. Different uses may include listening to music, playing a musical instrument, singing along to music and using guided imagery with music.

Music can make us feel good. There is solid evidence that music stimulates the production of dopamine, the “feel good” hormone in our bodies. Through the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), a 2011 study demonstrated that dopamine increased in the brain when listeners experienced positive emotions in the same areas of the brain where pleasure is experienced when food and other sorts of cravings are satisfied. These findings may shed light on why music has played such a significant role shaping culture and is a source of pleasure for human beings throughout our history. Music is an integral part of life’s milestones and just about every significant life event across cultures, including weddings, birthday celebrations, funerals and religious activities.

In addition to helping human beings experience positive emotions, listening to music has also been associated with improving our physical health and well-being. There is good reason to believe that even more benefits are gained from music therapy when it is used not as a random activity, but as an intentional strategy to improve health and well-being. One study demonstrated that listening to music while taking a break reduced the prevalence of stress among front-line nurses, a profession that has long been marked by high rates of stress and occupational burn-out. In this study, participants were divided into two groups. One group listened to soothing music of their choice for 30 minutes while the other group rested quietly sitting in a chair for the same length of time. When outcomes were compared for the two groups, nurses who listened to music had lower perceived stress levels, lower levels of cortisol in their bloodstream and lower heart rates when compared to the group that rested in the chair.