There are no doubts that how many hours of sleep we get every night has a significant impact on our well-being and health, regardless of whether it is bad or good. Yet it is never too late to make restorative, quality sleep a top priority and you will soon start experiencing the positive impacts.
Since the era of ancient times, in many regions across the globe, babies were sung lullabies which included repetitive and sweet melodies to help them go to sleep. Yet this type of soothing and restful music is not only reserved for infants. In fact, it is great for anyone, especially for those who struggle to fall asleep at bedtime or suffer from a condition like insomnia.
Music with a slow tempo is effective in slowing down your heart rate, which results in lowering your blood pressure. This is one of the benefits of this type of music as a heart rate that is rapid will disturb sleep. Certain types of music have the ability to calm your mind as well as decrease the negative effects that stress has on our bodies. The right music can be hypnotic and relaxing which can help you to enter the state-of-mind that is ideal to drift away into a peaceful sleep.
Research has discovered that music that does not have a defined melody along with very little fluctuation when it comes to the volume is one of the best options to assist you with falling asleep. In addition, certain string-instrument based music with no or very little horns or drums, can reduce anxiety and help to bring about drowsiness. Some of the better music choices to fall asleep to includes Celtic, Native American, New Age, and of course Classical music.
When music is used as a method or tool in order to improve sleep, it can:
- Lower your heart rate
- Slow breathing
- Ease muscle tension
- Lower blood pressure
- Reduce anxiety and stress
- Quiet your nervous system
- Trigger as well as release the sleep-friendly hormones, which includes oxytocin and serotonin
- Lower the hormones that are sleep-stifling such as cortisol
The Overall Benefits Of Using Music For Sleep
Relaxing music can naturally trigger a number of changes to occur in your body, which often mimics the sleep state. Slower breathing, a reduction in heart rate, and blood pressure that is lower are all the physiological changes which contribute to falling asleep. The right choice in music also has a very soothing effect on your emotional brain, which helps to ease anxiety and stress.
So while you make the decision on what type of music you would like to add to your playlists, it is also important to consider that if you listen to soothing and soft music just before you fall asleep it also helps to block out any external noises such as traffic or an internal distraction such as tinnitus. The more important factor to finding the type of music that will help you fall asleep faster is to find something that you enjoy and that it helps you feel comfortable and relaxed.
