When the COVID-19 outbreak hit last year, we used several ways to handle stress during this challenging time. Many found music to be their best friend while trying to deal with stressful thoughts and circumstances.
People have written music to poke fun at, as well as, promote social distancing, handwashing, and mask-wearing. During the pandemic and the required isolation, music was a go-to for many people, listening to it in their homes on a substantially larger scale and even learning to play instruments.
Although the positive effects of music on the brain have been well documented, the pandemic caused us to lean in and utilize this tool, not just for enjoyment but for stress relief. We now appreciate and embrace music more than ever.
Why do people turn to music for stress relief and fun? What’s the connection of music to the human brain? And what can you do to utilize its positive effects? Let’s find out.
Music Exercises Your Brain Muscles!
You may not realize it, but your brain has to do a lot of work to process music and make sense of it for your enjoyment. When you listen to music with speakers or headphones, these devices produce a wave of vibrations that travel through the air to reach your ears. They hit your ear canals which then transfer the vibratory signal to your brain. This signal is then translated to a meaningful rhythm that we call music.
According to researchers, this process of listening and making sense of music activates the human brain and provides the necessary stimulation to help the brain stay fit. In short, music exercises your brain muscles and keeps them healthy and sound.
Related reading: "5 Ways Brain Fitness and Behavioral Health Are Optimized by Healthy Habits."
Music Boosts Your Mental Performance
According to researchers, music can improve your ability to think, reason, and memorize things. While I don’t suggest turning on heavy metal at high volume while working on something important, light background music can certainly help. It can improve your mental performance and make completing your daily tasks more enjoyable.
Some forms of music can help the human brain process information faster and more effectively, while others can improve its ability to memorize better. I recommend turning on light background music next time you’re trying to get something done.
Music Helps You Sleep Better
According to pieces of research, music can help you cope with stressful situations better. Meditative music that’s specifically built to relax the human mind is your ideal choice for such scenarios.
When your brain deals with stress and has fewer negative thoughts to handle, it can relax and sleep better. Moreover, just like you get better sleep after an intense physical workout, your brain can stimulate sleep after working it out with music.
Music Can Help You Heal and Manage Pain
Research has shown that music helps in dealing with pain and can stimulate certain parts of the brain that are directly involved in the healing process of the human body.
According to one controlled study, people who listened to music for one hour daily could deal with pain better. After the 4-week study was over, the participants who regularly listened to music expressed significantly fewer feelings of pain and depression.
Listening to music can be useful at any time of the day. However, reports suggest that doing so before surgeries and other painful experiences can significantly reduce the feeling of pain, stress, and depression.
Music helps you deal with stress and depression, sleep better, exercise your brain to keep it fit, manage pain, and much more.
If you're interested in going deeper, you might be interested to know that while older versions of music solely relied on natural sounds and instruments, today’s music has a lot of variety. Nowadays, music is mainly produced with a mixture of natural instruments and music-making software. If you want to give it a shot, you can try to create your own music by downloading free music-making software.
After you make your music, don't be shy about sharing it with others for all to enjoy. Send your creations to your friends and family; it will help you and your F&F both.
Conclusion
Whether you’re simply enjoying an upbeat song, writing your own music, or dealing with stressful situations caused by the pandemic and challenging times, turn to music and the magical effects on the human brain.
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