Music is popular because it has the ability to aid people in a quest to feel good. It can help make you feel happy, sexy, relaxed, or if you listen to the wrong kind at the wrong time, angry. One of the best reasons to listen to music though, is because it can relieve stress. Whether you are over worked and in need of relaxation, or suffering from a relationship breakup or grief, listening to music can leave you feeling calm and stress free, providing you with welcome relief.
One way music achieves such a calming response is by helping to slow down a listeners palpitating heart. When you feel stressed, one of the physical reactions you will probably experience will be a racing heartbeat, otherwise known as palpitations. Other symptoms may follow, such as rapid breathing and emotional anxiety. Music can also leave you breathing more deeply, and making your breaths longer, and slower. The physical reactions which music alters will also help to alter your emotions and ultimately reduce stress.
The best music to listen to which will help you relax is that which you really enjoy, and which may have positive associations for you personally. It can also help if you listen to gentle, mellow music that has a slow beat. Stringed instruments can be very soothing to listen to, and so can instruments that have a deep, penetrating tone, such as a saxophone. Lighter toned instruments also have their part to play in stress relief, such as the flute, and the human voice when in tune, and pleasant to the ear.
Music you play as well as listen to can help reduce stress. Focusing on listening to notes, rather than concentrating on worries, can leave you feeling refreshed and calm. Losing yourself in a self-penned melody can open up your creative side which is more child like and stress free.
Some music is designed specifically with the intention of helping listeners with stress relief, such as binaural beat music. It aids stress reduction by altering frequencies in the brain and bringing about a relaxed state of consciousness. Listening to binaural beat music can help sufferers of anxiety and panic attacks, and make everyday stresses and strains seem reduced in intensity.
You can use music to relieve stress by choosing soothing sounds to listen to which make you feel at peace with the world. Listening regularly to gentle music can be used as part of a larger stress reduction plan, or be utilized whenever you feel the urge to unwind and let go of stress and worries.
