7 (+7) Ways Listening to Music Physically Benefits Your Heart, Mind & Body

From New York City to Papua New Guinea, music is at the heart of human culture. We consume music everyday without a moment’s thought and in doing so we are actually improving our physical, mental and spiritual health. No matter your taste in music the simple act of listening and enjoying music is a health boost for your entire being.

This article charts seven of the major benefits that music has on each and every one of us…

Music reduces stress

Cortisol is the hormone that causes us to feel stressed and anxious. Music has been proven to lower the levels of cortisol, although it is preference specific.

Stress is only reduced by music that you enjoy and music that you don’t like can actually have the adverse effect. So when stress is getting to you listening to your favourite music will have a strongly positive effect.

Related Why Sound Heals | Cymatics, Entrainment, Mandalas, Frequencies and DNA

Music improves immune system 

Another impact that an increased cortisol level has on your body is a weakening of your immune system ­ as stress is a factor in 60% of all illnesses and diseases. Music’s ability to reduce the body’s production of cortisol actually helps you fight off infection and disease!

Music reduces pain

If you’re struggling with a short ­term injury or chronic pain, research has shown that listening to classical or meditative music both lessens the pain and increases your tolerance to it.

Research has been done on a wide variety of different individuals from mild sports injuries to cancer sufferers, all of which show the positive power of music.

Music increases memory 

If you’re ever studying for a test or preparing a presentation listening to music is a proven way to improve memory and brain activity. People who listen to music regularly have been shown to be able to remember more complex patterns and characters than those who don’t.

Music keeps you young

Listening and playing music are both considered to be an exercise for the brain and exercising your brain is critical as you get older. Studies have shown that playing music in particular, keeps the brain healthy well into your 70s.

Additionally, an organization called Music & Memory work with patients suffering with alzheimer’s in order to regain parts of their memory.

By playing music that has played an important role in the individuals lives many of the patients are able to remember and recount stories from their lives for a short period.

Music boosts your workout

Once you’ve thrown on your workout gear, the next step for any workout is plugging in your headphones and picking the ultimate workout playlist.

Once you’ve got that you feel like you can lift more and run further and the beauty is that you actually can!

When people were tested with inspirational music, non-­inspirational and no music it was shown that the people listening to any type of music could run further than those that didn’t.

Inspirational music had the most significant results, so make sure you fill your workout playlist with music that inspires you and you’ll be an athlete in no time.

Music aids your emotional development 

Music has a clear and positive impact on our bodies and minds but it is the impact that music has on our hearts and souls that draw us to it as naturally as a moth to a flame. It is in our emotional development that music can have a profound impact. Science has shown that meaningful musical experiences such as listening to a song that you find moving can influence both current and future behaviour.

Related The Solfeggio Frequencies | The Lost Music Scale

Source – Collective Evolution

7 Ways Listening to Music Physically Benefits Your Heart, Brain & Health

by Joe Martino

2) Keeps an aging brain healthy

Research has shown that having musical training and listening to or playing music in old age can help keep the brain healthy especially as it ages. Since listening to music is like exercising the brain, one can expect the benefits of better memory and mental sharpness as they age. [4]

Even people who have some form of brain damage can regain partial or full access to memories (depending on severity) by listening to music, as listening can help draw on old memories and neurological patterns due to the fact that the rhythm and sounds of music stay within the core of the mind for a long time.

3) Music Makes You Happier

As mentioned before, music has the power to do so much. It can make you feel happy, sad, excited or even pumped up. Listening to music that hits you in a special way causes your brain to release dopamine which is known as a feel good chemical. It causes us to feel emotions like happiness, excitement, joy, etc. Listening to music provides us with the same burst of happiness that we would get from eating a piece of chocolate, sex or certain drugs.

Another study showed that music with a quick tempo played in a major key made people feel happy, while music with a slow tempo in a minor key more easily led to feelings of sadness.[6]

4) Heartbeat, Pulse Rate & Blood Pressure

‘We listen to music with our muscles.’ Nietzsche

Studies have shown that music strengthens the heart and improves the recovery time of patients who were suffering from heart disease. [7]

Regardless of the genre of music, listening to your favorite music releases endorphins in the brain that help to improve vascular health. It has been seen that both men and women who listened to music soon after cardiac surgery were much less anxious and even reported having less pain as opposed to those who rested quietly.

An observation made at Massachusetts General Hospital, found that heart patients confined to a bed that listened to music for 30 minutes had lower blood pressure, slower heart rates, and less distress than those who didn’t listen to music.

5) Improves Sleep Quality

Some of the most common things to interfere with sleep are stress and anxiety (heart rates.) Since music has the ability to affect both in a positive way, research has found that listening to music at various times promotes better sleep patterns for people and even created more restful sleeps. In some cases music might even be able to be used to effectively treat insomnia. [8]

6) Boosts Your Immune System & Reduces Pain

Research has shown that music is capable of reducing levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which is responsible for weakening the immune system, increasing risk of heart disease, interfering with learning and memory, lowering bone density, blood pressure, etc. [9] Research found that by listening to just 50 minutes of uplifting music the levels of antibodies in the human body increases. While different types of music were not studied, it is important one listens to music they enjoy as personal preference of music does have an effect on overall physical effects. [10]

7) Reduces Depression & Anxiety

Researchers from Drexel University found that cancer patients who either listened to music or worked with a music therapist experienced a reduction in anxiety, had better blood pressure levels and improved moods. Music can have positive effects on the psyche, mood, pain and quality of life as well.

“The evidence suggests that music interventions may be useful as a complementary treatment to people with cancer,” Joke Bradt