Music is way more powerful than many of us think. It can affect our physical and mental health. It is medicine to the soul. Here are five benefits of music for us:
Music Connects Us
Music creates a feeling of social connectedness. It remains a powerful way of uniting people: national anthems connect crowds at sporting events, protest songs stir a sense of shared purpose during marches, hymns build group identity in houses of worship, love songs help prospective partners bond during courtship, lullabies enable parents and infants to develop secure attachments. If you want an example of how people are connected by music, watch a football game where Liverpool football club sings. You’ll never walk alone and see the beam on the faces of the Liverpool fans.
Increases Productivity
Music is an effective way to boost productivity. Little wonder, music has deep roots within industry and labor. Work songs were widely used by various occupations, such as factory workers, agricultural laborers, sailors, and miners. Music can be helpful, harmful, or inconsequential, depending on the type of music and the task you are working on.
Background music helps you become more immersed in your work, especially if your tasks are repetitive or tedious. If you want to get in the zone and get over the boredom of a repetitive task, listening to music could be the best way to go. Similarly, it is also helpful in blocking out distracting noises in your office environment. For example, rather than hearing the sounds of footsteps, phone calls, and nervous foot tapping, you only hear the sounds of your favorite music at a constant volume, which can help you focus on your tasks with fewer distractions.
Good for Mental Health
Another benefit of music is that it can improve brain health in many ways. It can make a person brighter, happier, and more productive. Researchers have discovered musicians have bigger, better connected, and more sensitive brains. Music helps improve their mental flexibility. For those listening, music triggers the pleasure centers of the mind that release dopamine, a neurotransmitter that makes you feel happy. This response is so quick the brain can even anticipate the most pleasurable peaks in familiar music and prime itself with an early dopamine rush.
While listening to music, you’re likely to sing along. Researchers have shown that singing lyrics can be especially helpful to people recovering from a stroke or brain injury that has damaged the left-brain region responsible for speech. Because singing ability originates in the undamaged right side of the brain, people can learn to speak their thoughts by singing them first and gradually dropping the melody. Music can also help with the psychological aspects of illness and improve the quality of life in patients with cancer, dementia, Parkinson’s, and chronic pain. For example, it can decrease the confusion and delirium that affects some elderly patients while recovering from surgery.
Music Therapy
Sound healing therapy uses aspects of music to improve physical and emotional health and well-being. The person being treated partakes in the experience with a trained practitioner. Music therapy may involve: listening to music, singing along to music, moving to the beat of the music, meditating, or playing an instrument.
There are a few different types of sound therapy, each with other benefits, though not all have been supported through research. Music therapy treats symptoms of several conditions, including anxiety disorders, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, dementia, autism spectrum disorder and learning difficulties, behavioral and psychiatric disorders, and cancer.
Some of the supposed benefits of music therapy include:
- lowers stress
- decreases mood swings
- lowers blood pressure
- lowers cholesterol levels
- teaches pain management
- reduces the risk of coronary artery disease and stroke
- improves sleep
Physical Health
Research shows that relaxing music can slow your heart rate and lower your blood pressure. This helps to keep your heart healthy as blood can flow more freely. In addition, music helps to relieve stress, which ultimately strengthens the immune system. Finally, it improves your sleep quality: Listening to classical music before bed can help you sleep better. In addition, listening to relaxing music, such as smooth jazz, can induce an alpha-wave state in your brain. The type of music that’s most relaxing for you depends on your musical tastes. However, some music is designed for deep relaxation using specific frequencies and binaural beats.
Please Note:
While music can be a powerful tool for regulating and shifting your emotions, it’s not a substitute for mental health treatment. If you have distressing emotional experiences that interfere with your ability to function, consider talking to a licensed mental health professional.
