The #1 Piece Of Relaxing Music Guaranteed To Reduce Anxiety And Promote Sleep

A study measuring self-reported relaxation in groups with different objective levels of oxytocin release found that music increased oxytocin and accordingly levels of relaxation compared to control groups . Outside of clinical practice, music is frequently used to self-regulate mood and arousal as well as to decrease negative thoughts . Given the established links between stress and poor sleep, this research provides indicative evidence to suggest that music may be a powerful tool in the fight against sleep loss. In a typical study, people listen to relaxing tunes for about 45 minutes before they head off to bed. Several studies have found that the music’s tempo makes a difference. “Reputable studies find that music with a rhythm of about 60 beats a minute helps people fall asleep,” says Breus.

Listening to music before bed is not the only “calming” thing we do that may actually be disrupting our sleep. Here are some of the other habits sleep experts say to avoid or limit before bed. The outcomes of this study are especially relevant given how common earworms are. In a 2011 study of over 12,000 Finnish internet users, 89.2% of participants reported experiencing earworms at least once a week. Timing –This expresses the use of music to help in the process of monitoring sleep time. Internal –Utilized to describe instances when the target of the distraction is a subjective bodily or mental experience, this level 1 theme was made up of two level 2 subthemes.

Relaxing music triggers changes to the body and, in many ways, mimics a sleepy state. A slower heart rate, slower breathing, and lower blood pressure are all physiological changes that make the process of falling asleep and staying asleep possible. Music also has a soothing effect, helps tune out the thoughts, and eases stress and anxiety. Listening to music that relaxes you before bed is essentially helping your body to tune to sleep mode, both physically and psychologically. Our analysis indicated that music use was a significant predictor of PSQI score, with those using music less having higher PSQI scores, or lower sleep quality. It is notable that although our online survey focused on music for sleep, we found that only 62% of respondents reported using music for this purpose.

Chill-out music can be a mix of genres, including blues, jazz, and pop. The main idea behind these tunes is to generate an ambient environment in which you don’t overthink or dwell on the memories of the day. The response to sound highly varies with people, in both the waking and sleeping lives. Like sight and smell, the sound is connected to memory and can stimulate both positive and negative emotions. People exposed to pink noise during sleep spend more time in deep, slow-wave sleep, according to a study published in The Journal of Theoretical Biology. For many, the rhythmic crashing of water onto sand and rock can be quite calming.

Now they were using our meditations,” Smith concluded, and so the company began commissioning what it calls “stories” — breathy, soothing, grown-up bedtime tales with a feather bed of tinkling music beneath the murmured words. Another criteria for music to help you sleep is for there to be a lack of repetition. When you listen to music, your brain tries to find a repetitive melody, trying to predict a tempo and pattern.

Negative If these thoughts were negative, worrisome, or stressful in nature they were placed in Elevator Music this level 3 theme. Thoughts Similarly, this theme was utilized when the person used the term ‘thoughts’ or its synonyms as the experience they wish to block. Silence This theme points to the use of music to fill a void of external sound. All participants provided specific online consent for their participation and had the right to withdraw at any time with no penalty.

However, the use of a white noise machine could help keep them relaxed and mask any noisy distractions that may wake them, potentially helping them sleep longer. A 2011 study found that listening to music reduced levels of the stress hormone cortisol in patients undergoing surgery. Life’s worries can have a tendency to creep up at the most inopportune times, including bedtime. Tense thoughts can keep you up all hours of the night, and one of the ways music can help you sleep is by alleviating stress and allowing you to drift off to sleep.

Spotify conducted their own research and found that you can reduce blood pressure and heart rate by listening to this song. They named it the best song to listen to if you are a nervous flyer because of its relaxing effect. Of course, it’s not the only song that could help you drift off to sleep at night. As it turns out, there’s a science behind how certain types of music contribute to great sleep—and it has to do with more than just the brain. Unfortunately, that evening bite may interfere with your sleep.

The most common reason given for using music as a sleep aid was to ‘help fall asleep quicker’. 56.82% of participants who used music to help them sleep claimed they strongly agreed or agreed with this statement, and only 20.10% said they disagreed or strongly disagreed. This was followed by ‘reduction in time spent in bed before falling asleep’ (54.35%), and ‘increases sleep satisfaction’ (34.74%). Studies into music’s efficacy as a sleep aid have used subjective self-report measures and occasionally objective measures such as actigraphy and polysomnography. The majority have been conducted in clinical populations such as individuals with chronic insomnia or patients in hospital settings [28–30].

Each person’s definition of soothing is different, so explore a few different types of music content to find the one that best quiets your brain and gives you that relaxed, sleepy feeling. Music is an effective treatment for both short-term and chronic sleep disorders. The therapeutic effects of music on your sleep increase with time. This means, the more consistently you use music to help you sleep, the more effective it will be at aiding in your sleep efficiency. The experience of listening to music is an incredibly individual one. We all react and relate differently to songs and find different meaning within them.