5 Benefits and "healing" power of Music

Jan. 21, 2014 - PRLog -- Every day our ears are constantly exposed to information about our environment. Along with other sense organs, they keep us aware of danger and as stress triggers prompt reactions in our bodies. From a survival point of view, stress is what happens when we feel in danger. When in danger, your body produces as much energy as possible, in the form of oxygen and sugar carried by blood, so you can either flee or be prepared to fight. At the same time the adrenal glands spill cortisol in our bloodstream. Cortisol, the critical stress hormone, helps to convert fats into easy-to-access sugars: the energy we need to flee or fight. However, our everyday lives are full of stress triggers that lead us to anger, depression, negativity, overeating, pain and discomfort. Most of us go through the day without noticing to what extent sounds and music in our surroundings affect us. Some of them work as stress triggers, warning us of possible danger. If you regularly listen to relaxing music as a counterweight to all those annoying stress triggers, you’ll find many benefits. Here are some positive effects of relaxing music, based on different research studies.

1.- Reduced levels of stress and cortisol.

Music has been reported to reduce stress and cortisol levels even before, during, and after medical procedures including surgery, angiography and colonoscopy. In relation to the lower stress levels of patients listening to music, a number of studies have showed that sedative requirements are reduced in patients undergoing surgery under regional anaesthesia combined with sedation. Regularly listening to relaxing music helps us disconnect from stress. This reduction in stress is conducive to better sleep, something our bodies need in order to function properly. Listening to good relaxing music, together with breathing or meditating right before going to bed, is a great way to disconnect from our stressful days and embrace serenity and peace.

2.- Increased levels of Happiness, by boosting serotonin.

Many studies demonstrated that listening to soothing natural sounds and calming music increases the levels of serotonin in the bloodstream. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter known as “the happiness hormone”. It provides our bodies with better mood, sleep, learning capabilities, appetite and memory.

3.- Improved intraneuronal communication.

It has been proved that playing a musical instrument helps us achieve better communication skills as well as spatial-temporal reasoning. Researchers have discovered that while simply listening to music, similar areas of our brains light up, contributing to better interconnection between our hemispheres, prompting dendritic growth, hence giving us faster and more efficient communication within the neurons of the brain.

4.- Lowered heart and respiratory rate. Improvements in achieving your goals.

A decrease in blood pressure and a slowed pulse and respiratory rate are just examples of what that people experience by listening to calming music. A lower heart rate will soothe the self, helping us attain inner peace, which is important to focus and achieve our goals more easily. For this reason, music can also help students get better grades by boosting their concentration.

5.- Enhanced pleasure

Listening to music that we like gives a pleasant sensation to our brains, and releases dopamine, a very powerful neurotransmitter that plays important roles in motor control, motivation, arousal, cognition, and reward/reinforcement processes, as well as a number of basic lower-level functions including lactation and sexual gratification.

Most of us, these days, are vulnerable to burn-outs, due to all of the responsibilities and stressful life we have to endure. To alleviate some of your stress, lie in a comfortable position, take a deep breath, close your eyes and immerse yourself in the music of “My Relax Channel” on Youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/myrelaxchannel

The more you listen to this channel, the more you’ll be able to enjoy the benefits off of this kind of music.