Can Listening to Music Reduce Stress? Research, Benefits, and Genres

You need to do what works best for you; if music grounds and calms you, and brings you to a deeper understanding of yourself, then it will help your practice. Music for meditation uses this calming style of music to aid your meditation practice, but it can have beneficial effects on all aspects of your life. Whether you're strumming a guitar or working a woodwind, playing an instrument will sharpen your memory recall and protect your mind from the ravages of old age.

More research is needed to see if there are any side effects to listening to binaural beats over a long period of time. However, a 2015 review of studies found that most studies in this area are limited or contradictory, and that there’s evidence of diminishing impact over time. More research is needed to fully understand the potential benefits and how they differ from monaural beats. When 13 older adults took piano lessons, their attention, memory and problem-solving abilities improved, along with their moods and quality of life. Binaural beats are the most scientifically explored form of meditation music however there are plenty of other recommendations for people who’d like to get started.

Most studies on music and the brain have been done on school-age kids. Early music lessons encourage brain plasticity, the brain’s capacity to change and grow. Parents exposed their babies to the music of Mozart to give their brains a jumpstart, often even before they were born.

But music can also agitate and unsettle, experts have learned. From self-help books to aromatherapy, apps to weighted blankets, we've compiled the 10 best anxiety relief products of 2022. If you're feeling stressed, drinking a hot cup of tea may help. Meditation offers many benefits, and an app can help you make this practice a habit. Healing Music Doctors may refer to the parasympathetic side as “rest and digest,” since it takes care of things when the body is at rest, while sympathetic is “fight or flight,” in charge of the body in motion.

Are you familiar with the parenting technique of playing classical music to help a baby sleep? Studies show that classical music helps calm babies down, and some parents believe it even makes the baby smarter. This last idea is known as The Mozart Effect, popularized by a 1993 study in which researchers analyzed students listening to classical music before some tests. The researchers found that the students performed better when answering questions after listening to classical music. It’s more than just a fun distraction -- a team of Swedish researchers found that frequently listening to music you like reduces your cortisol levels. In a case of music over matter, it can also be a great pain killer by simultaneously distracting you and boosting your positive emotions.

Let your shoulders, your belly, and even the muscles in your face relax. Breathe in deeply through your nose, gently expanding your belly rather than your chest, then exhale through your mouth. Verywell Mind articles are reviewed by mental health professionals.

One of the most surprising psychological benefits of music is that it might be a helpful weight-loss tool. If you are trying to lose weight, listening to mellow music and dimming the lights might help you achieve your goals. The results suggested that listening to music had an impact on the human stress response, particularly the autonomic nervous system. Those who had listened to music tended to recover more quickly following a stressor. The notion that music can influence your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors probably does not come as much of a surprise. If you've ever felt pumped up while listening to your favorite fast-paced rock anthem or been moved to tears by a tender live performance, then you easily understand the power of music to impact moods and even inspire action.