benefits of music Archives ~ Fit Health Ways

Music, we are all aware of the effects that it can have on our emotions but what other benefits does music have to offer us? This instrument was discovered in 2009 in a cave located in southern Germany and through carbon dating, the bone has been dated to be approximately 40,000 years old. Music can affect our quality of life because of its stimulating effects on the brain. Music can make us get up and dance, laugh, improve our mood, or even cope with relationship issues. The use of music as a therapy has been shown to work for issues such as depression, anxiety, stress, pain management, and degenerative neurologic disorders. MUSIC THERAPY Music therapy is a clinically based therapeutic that offers a natural approach to lifting the mood to improve mental health as well as relieve physical aches and pains. The first recorded use of music therapy was in 1789 in the Colombian Magazine, and the name of the article was Music Physically Considered. 1. THE EFFECTS OF LISTENING TO MUSIC ON THE BRAIN When we listen to music of any kind, most of the brain becomes active or stimulated and this has been shown using brain scans. The brain is divided into areas and music stimulates areas of the brain that are responsible for the mental functions that help us to complete any task. The National Institute of Health conducted a study and showed the effects of music on cognitive testing. Learning Memory Emotions Movement Boosts creativity 2. MUSIC HELPS TO REGULATE YOUR MOOD As we listen to music, the amygdala which is a part of the brain responsible for the processing of music is active. The amygdala is the part of the brain that controls our emotions and mood. When we are listening to music, we also get a boost of dopamine, which helps lift our mood, and a drop of cortisol, a stress hormone. Music can help to lift your mood, but it can also have the opposite effect if the music being listened to is a sad song, according to one study. 3. USING THE HARMONY OF MUSIC TO REDUCE STRESS Researchers have discovered that when people listen to music that is around 60 beats per minute, this causes the brain to sync up with the beat, which causes alpha brain waves. Alpha brain waves range from 8 to 12 cycles per second and are known to produce a sense of calm, enabling you to absorb new information, and also increase your creativity. 4. IT CAN EVEN HELP WITH ACUTE AND CHRONIC PAIN The use of music therapy for pain management has been studied 97 times and it has been discovered that it has significant effectiveness. Results of the studies show a decrease in the 0 to 10 pain scale, a reduction in emotional distress related to pain, lower opioid use, lower heart rate, lower systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure, and lower breathing rate. 5. LISTENING TO RELAXING MUSIC CAN BE HEART HEALTHY Researchers found that music therapy could make blood pressure medication effectiveness increase in one study. Other research has shown that your blood pressure and heart rate can be lowered just by listening to relaxing music. 6. MUSIC CAN ACTUALLY BOOST YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM Music as a method of increasing your immune health may not seem like a likely connection, but this has been shown to be true in multiple studies that show music can decrease stress and uplift your emotions. Stress and emotions have been shown to have a direct link to the health of the immune system. 7. CAN LISTENING TO A SYMPHONY IMPROVE SLEEP QUALITY According to one study, participants who listened to classical music before bed slept better the those who listened to an audiobook or nothing at all. Classical music may not be for everyone but the main point of the research showed that relaxing music is the key. The effects of music on the brain have been studied so much that we now know there are specific frequencies and binaural beats that can be created for deep relaxation. 8. LISTENING TO TUNES CAN HELP YOU EAT LESS Eating and music are two things that everyone enjoys doing, so why not combine them? In one study, two researchers discovered that soft lighting and music caused the participants to eat 18 percent less food than they had ordered. In another study, researchers studied the tempo of music compared to the number of bites taken per minute. That study showed that faster tempo music resulted in more bites per minute and a slower tempo resulted in fewer bites per minute.