It is well known that music helps in stress relief . Moreover, music has many benefits for body and soul.
This is also why music is often used to accompany relaxation, meditation, or therapy sessions. Music helps to capture attention, explore emotions, help meditation. Soothing, it reduces stress. Our tip tells you more.
Music therapy: to soften and heal
The use of music and sound in therapy is music therapy. A discipline practiced by a music therapist that allows to restore, improve or maintain physical and psychological health .
There are two types of music therapy:
the receptive music therapy : this is the case when the individual in therapy listening to music;
the active music therapy: the individual practice music, singing, humming or playing a musical instrument.
The benefits of music
In response to a stressful event, the body immediately secretes adrenaline. Then in the minutes that follow, the body secretes a second hormone in the minutes that follow in reinforcement: cortisol.
If this does not return to a low level it can cause damage to health. In this sequence of events, music has an important role as an (anti-stress) : it allows toreduce the level of cortisoland thus to find a normal state.
In addition to reducing stress, music has multiple positive effects on the body . In particular, it allows:
To soothe the body, improve mood and stimulate memory;
To help fight insomnia, improve immune function, in particular by simulating the production of immunoglobulin A;
Improve physical activity by increasing exercise tolerance.
From a physiological point of view, music helps lower the heart rate, lower blood pressure and decrease respiratory rate. These three factors increase precisely in the event of stress.
In hospitals: music plays against stress and pain
In hospitalized people, music is an anxiety relief as it reduces stress and pain. It is an excellent therapy for people having to undergo heavy treatment, or surgery.
Music helps patients to relax before the operation, but also to recover better afterwards by promoting relaxation and reducing the sensation of postoperative pain.
5 tips for taking action against stress in music
Here are 5 tips you can follow when using music to relieve stress:
1. Take a “sound bath” of about 20 minutes
Use an app like Zen Lounge and play some relaxing music – you can add nature sounds too. Then lie down or sit in a comfortable position on a sofa. Simply listen to the immersive music specially curated for mental balance and inner peace.
2. Choose music with a slow rhythm
The idea is to choose a song that is slower than the natural heart rate which is around 72 beats per minute. In general, music with a repetitive or cyclic pattern seems to be effective in inducing healing.
3. While listening to the music, let it wash you away and cleanse you from the stresses of everyday life.
Concentrate on your breathing, letting it deepen, slow down, and become regular.
Concentrate on the silence between musical notes. This prevents you from analyzing the music and makes the relaxation more perfect.
4. Listen to faster music to stimulate you
If you need stimulation after a hard day, pick up music that is faster paced than slow, soothing melodies.
Turn up the volume and DANCE! No matter if you can dance or not.
Just move to the beat of the music and do what feels right for you. You will be amazed at the feeling of liberation you will have!
5. When you are down, take music you know well
Music from your childhood or one of the old songs that you particularly like works good for emotional upliftment.
What is familiar often brings calm, comfort, or even energy. The main thing is that it gives you morale.
Summary
The human mind is hard coded for music – we understand music even before we learn to speak. Music is something which is accepted in all cultures and across all civilizations for jot, celebration, rituals and as a greatest form of expression. Music can be the best thing to relieve stress, anxiety and depression for anyone who wants to give it a try. It’s the best medication as there are no side effects.