Music moves us. It stirs us to action, and affects our emotions.
But can it help you prepare for a big race or an exam?
Will it calm a stressed-out mom or help someone get over an illness?
Can music make you maintain your focus and keep you feeling younger?
You probably know what the answer is already. Yes. Music can do this, and more.
Music stimulates various parts of the brain, making it an effective therapeutic or mood-altering tool.
Music’s pitch, rhythm, meter and timbre are processed in various parts of the brain ranging from the prefrontal cortex to the hippocampus to the parietal lobe.
Anyone can experience the benefits of music on the brain.
Although certain types of music naturally lend themselves to particular applications, personal preference matters a lot. If you don’t like a particular type of music, it will actually have the opposite effect than its intended use!
The heightened mental arousal brought about by music can be used every day to enhance your life experience.
Here’s how:
1. De-stressing and healing
Just the right soothing music decreases stress, including lowering the levels of the stress hormone cortisol.
Personal preference is important: obviously if smooth jazz makes you angry, it’s not the right music to listen to for relaxation!
Soothing music is also beneficial in a healing situation – again, by decreasing stress, and also by elevating the patient’s mood.
2. Immune booster
Upbeat dance music boosts your immune system.
This may be partially due to the hypnotic beat of the music that causes the brain to go into the alpha state where the brain begins releasing endorphins (a natural painkiller) and healing hormones.
Stress reduction plays a big part here as well.
3. Enhanced exercise
You probably already know how music makes a boring workout more fun.
There’s a correlation between upbeat, fast-paced music and the effectiveness of your exercise.
It serves as a point of focus, taking your mind off your aches and burning muscles, and it motivates you.
This may go back to the caveman days, when rhythmic drumbeats were used to put people into a trance, or to pump them up before a hunt or battle. Not much different than the beats we hear at a dance club…
The heart also entrains to the beat of the music, making it easier to exercise to fast-paced music because the heart is already in sync with the tempo.
Using dance music for exercise will not only make the workout fun, but will improve your immune response!
4. Meditation aid
Rhythmic drumming and chanting have been used for many thousands of years to put people in a trance-like state of altered consciousness.
Omharmonics meditation music (with its embedded binaural technology) helps to quickly create a tranquil meditative state.
5. Memory recall
Some studies have shown a substantial increase in memory recall while listening to classical music, especially Mozart.
The famous “Mozart Effect” doesn’t actually promise increased intelligence…
…although studies have shown that children who are brought up learning musical instruments or singing are better at spatial-temporal reasoning.
6. Anti-anxiety
Music is very good at promoting self-soothing: have you ever hummed a tune to decrease anxiety or to remain calm under pressure?
If you have a theme song you like to play before competition or some big event, you know exactly how helpful this is – and it can be anything you really like – anything to distract you from the stress of the moment and get you pumped up.
7. Anti-fatigue, anti-boredom
Music helps keep you energized and productive – but be careful here…
…blaring metal or fast dance music just to stay awake might not be something your co-workers appreciate.
The best music for focus doesn’t have distracting words or a complex melody.
8. Heightened spiritual experience
Music has been a part of religious and spiritual traditions since the dawn of humankind.
It enhances the feeling of unity with a higher power or energy, and many spiritual practices employ rhythmic chanting to create an altered state of consciousness.
9. Improved mood
Research has shown that music generally improves mood.
If you’re slogging through a boring day at work, forcing yourself through a tough workout, trying to motivate yourself to mop the floor… music will help!
Your favorite music might even make house cleaning go twice as fast since you tend to move along with the music and dance your way through your cleaning chores.
And even if it doesn’t actually make time go faster, you’ll enjoy what you’re doing more.
In the case of cleaning the house, that’s a great thing!
Music is the universal language.
Humans are hard-wired to appreciate and need music – so find some music you enjoy, and let its good vibrations stimulate your brain in wonderful ways!
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