Music has a long history of being used for healing, and it’s now clear that there are many benefits to making music a part of your daily life. It could help improve sleep, increase exercise performance, reduce pain and stress—and even boost your memory.
Promote Better Sleep
Listening to music before bedtime can help you fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer. When you listen to music, your brain waves slow down, which relaxes the body and mind, so it’s easier for you to drift off into slumberland.
Your body’s response is similar when you’re listening to your favorite tunes as it would be if someone were singing or speaking a lullaby in your ear (without embarrassment). You may even find yourself waking up more refreshed than normal because the rhythmic sounds of the music signal that your internal clock has been reset.
Improve Your Workout Performance
A good workout playlist can help you get into the right mindset for exercise. If you’re just starting to exercise, music can give you motivation and get your body moving. If you’ve been exercising for a while, music may help keep up your intensity so that you don’t lose steam on a tough interval circuit or run.
Music also helps with post-workout recovery by assisting muscles to repair and recover faster than they would have otherwise. Listening to music after exercise has been shown to reduce stress hormones like cortisol, which are responsible for slowing down muscle repair.
It also increases endorphins (your body’s natural painkiller) and dopamine levels in the brain — not only does this feel good physically but mentally too!
Lowers Blood Pressure and Hypertension
Music can lower blood pressure and hypertension. Listening to music is one way of reducing stress, which has been linked to chronic illnesses such as heart disease. In addition, it may help you fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer if you’re having trouble sleeping.
Listening to music can also improve your mood and make you less depressed or anxious. Finally, music can help manage pain from cancer or other diseases by blocking out the pain signals from the body’s nervous system that travel up your spine into your brain when there’s a problem with whatever part of your body is injured (e.g., broken bones).
Stimulate Creativity
There’s a reason why people often play music when they aren’t sure what to do or when they need to solve a problem. Music can help you focus, allowing you to concentrate and think clearly about whatever is on your mind. Music may also lower stress levels, which could improve your ability to focus even further.
It’s clear that music can be a powerful tool for improving your health and well-being, but it’s important to remember that not all music is good for you. You should choose music that aligns with your mood and goals. If you’re trying to fall asleep, listen to softer sounds like classical or ambient music.
If you want an energizing boost right before your workout, rock out! Music is powerful medicine—now more than ever, we have access to it wherever we go, thanks to smartphones and other devices capable of playing our favorite tunes. So what are some of your favorite songs?