“I think music in itself is healing. It’s an explosive expression of humanity. It’s something we are all touched by. No matter what culture we’re from, everyone loves music.”
– Billy Joel
Music is not only a powerful means of communication for human beings but also a powerful tool for a healthy body.
Music therapy has many significant benefits for physical and mental health. It can not only reduce anxiety, blood pressure, depression, and stress levels but also improve sleep quality, mood, mental alertness, memory and give opportunities to express emotions.
Another key point to remember is that the human brain responds differently while listening to the same element of music including pitches, melodies, rhythms, etc.
Studies have shown that listening to favorite music might cause the brain to release a chemical
dopamine that ferries information between neurons. Also known as the feel-good neurotransmitter dopamine, it has positive effects on mood.
It’s safe to say that music is an easy-to-digest way that makes us feel strong emotions. Besides that, the music goes a long way toward overall body health.
Here are some highlights of the benefits you can get while listening to music.
- Mood evaluation. By boosting the brain’s production of dopamine, music helps regulate emotions. It’s processed directly by a part of the brain called the amygdala – responsible for the perception of emotions and control of aggression.
- Stress reduction. Research has found that relaxing music can activate biochemical stress reducers. So, music with a slow tempo is thought to relieve stress and anxiety.
- Anxiety lessening. Music has that power to help you to get better when you are sad or depressed.
- Memories stimulation. While you listen to music many times or the repetitive part of the melody, it can form patterns in our brain that improve memory.
- Workout endurance improvement. Listening to music while exercising can improve the quality of your workout. Besides, synchronizing music with your exercise can have physical and psychological effects
- Eating less food. Scientists say that playing soft and relaxing music during a meal can help people eat slowly. In this case, people feel full faster and ultimately consume less food.
- Calming babies. Especially lullabies and classic music may impact better communication skills with babies and their parents, improve feeding efficiency according to studies.
- Better sleep quality. Having a direct effect on the parasympathetic nervous system, music can relax your body and prepare it for sleep. People who listen to relaxing music before bedtime tend to sleep faster, have a good, long sleep, and rest.
Best of all, music is heart-healthy. As a result of music therapy, our body will have
✔ reduced heart rate,
✔ lower blood pressure,
✔ decreased cortisol (stress hormone) levels,
✔ increased serotonin and endorphin levels in the blood.
It’s a one-of-a-kind healing to get every day. Music therapy has also been used to provide comfort, improve cognition, maintain some mental abilities, enhance communication.
Music brings people together resulting in a feeling of connection and togetherness.
How do you use music to improve your well-being? Comment your answers below.
