Music-listening as a method of stress reduction | What type of music works best for relaxation? | Healing the mind with rhythmic music | Clinical implications of music | How to use music for relieving stress

Among all the modern-day health concerns, stress surely is one of the most dreaded ones. Our body offers a stress-response so that we can function more efficiently and effectively during a precarious situation.    

However, there are many times when simply waiting in the traffic can lead to stress. Tensed muscles, faster breaths, and a racing heart are often the preliminary signs of stress. If it occurs over and over, stress can have a grave effect on your physical and mental health. 

Some of the most common effects of stress on your body include:

  • Headaches
  • Depression
  • Heartburn
  • Insomnia
  • Rapid breathing
  • Weak immune system
  • High blood sugar
  • Higher risk of a heart attack
  • Pounding heart
  • High blood pressure
  • Fertility issues
  • Stomach pain
  • Tensed muscles

From work pressure to mishaps in everyday life, anything can cause stress. When you experience a prolonged period of stress, it can lead to serious health conditions. According to a study(1), daily stress can also influence health issues such as sore throat, backaches, and flu. It also negatively impacts mood. 

However, the good news is that it is not too tricky to successfully manage stress. In fact, science confirms that one of the most effective methods of controlling stress is a very simple task: listening to music. The Ruhgu app offers a wide collection of devotional songs, chants, mantras, spiritual music, and other sacred sounds that can help. 

Music-listening as a method of stress reduction

It has been found that music can affect both our mind and body. Different forms of music have diverse effects on us. For example, upbeat music is known for bringing positivity and optimism, while fast music helps us concentrate and become more alert. On the other hand, if you want to destress and relax your muscles, music with a slower tempo can help with that. 

These effects of music on the human body and emotions have been confirmed by scientific research(2). When the body is in a relaxed position and the mind is calm, our brain produces alpha brainwave. It has been proven that the alpha brainwave can be created by listening to 60 beats per minute music, as it synchronizes the brain with the frequency. Music can even induce sleep, but for that you need to listen to calming beats for at least 45 minutes while maintaining a relaxed body position. This synchronizes the brain to 5 hertz delta brainwaves, helping you relax even further. What makes this great news is that music is readily available to almost everybody. Hence, anyone can use the power of music to reduce stress. All you need to do is to select suitable music on the Ruhgu App and begin de-stressing. 

What type of music works best for relaxation?

Evidently, not all types of music can help with de-stressing. That is why choosing the right music is most essential to achieve the desired result. The kinds of music that have proven to be effective are Indian stringed-instruments, Celtic, Native American, flutes, and drums. It has also been observed that music helps with reducing stress even more effectively when played along with nature sounds, such as thunder and rain. To simplify your choices, try out music that is easy to listen to, as that will help you relax your mind and body.

One challenge with this method is that the effects of music on stress depend on the number of beats per minutes, but you may not always have that information available. To tackle that, you must try out different types of relaxing music and discover what works for you. Do not settle with any relaxing music if it does not make you feel calm. Take some time exploring the choices and find the music that works best for you. When it comes to selecting the music or sounds, the Ruhgu App offers a lot of choices, ensuring that you find exactly what you are looking for. 

Healing the mind with rhythmic music

According to a study(3), rhythmic music plays a vital role in the healing process of the mind. It has been noticed that depression, ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder), and other mental conditions can be treated with rhythmic music as it affects brain functions. The power of rhythm has long been recognized by mystics and musicians. That is why rhythmic prayers and drumming have always been used around the world for spiritual ceremonies to create a serene and relaxing atmosphere for participants.

The effects of rhythmic music on the human mind and brain have become a subject of interest among the scientific community. It has been recorded that the music can influence meditative and sleeping states due to its ability to alter brain function. Music’s ability to resonate brainwaves with the rhythm of the sound allows us to use it to achieve a desired physical and emotional state. Hence, slow rhythmic music can help us relax and reduce stress by slowing down brainwaves. Such types of sacred music from the Ruhgu App can effectively serve the purpose. 

Clinical implications of music

According to study(4), music can be an effective tool for the clinical treatment of stress and related conditions, such as high blood pressure, fast heart rate, and anxiety. The study suggests that with the right applications, music can be used for treating patients who show signs of anxiety and who suffer certain heart related conditions. The research also showed that music can improve plasma stress hormone levels and help with the treatments for cardiovascular disease, hypertension, gastrointestinal ulcers, and migraine. These findings have proven beyond question that music can reduce stress significantly and help you relax.

Another study(5) has found that patients of coronary heart disease can benefit significantly from music as it helps reduce anxiety and stress. Such patients often experience additional stress due to the uncertainty of the disease, surgery, hospitalization, fear, and doubts about the condition. These can worsen the coronary heart disease and hamper treatment. The study has proven that such patients can benefit from the power of music. Other than that, music helped the patients with coronary heart disease even more by improving sleep, heart rate, blood pressure, and respiratory rate.  

How to use music for relieving stress

Music therapy has become a popular method used alongside emotional and physical treatments. However, you do not always have to visit a specialist to benefit from the power of music. You can use it in your daily life, too. Reducing stress with music does not require much effort. The stress-reducing benefits of music can be reaped right at your home or in the office when you are using the Ruhgu App. This makes music the most easily available treatment for stress as you do not have to find additional time for it. You can listen to relaxing sacred music while being engaged in daily activities.  

All you have to do is to find soft, relaxing music that you can listen on the Ruhgu App and use its healing power to release stress. Below are a few meditative techniques that you can use while listening to sacred music and sounds to manage stress.

  • Breathing – Breathing meditation is the simplest way, but an effective method, for lowering stress. To practice this, focus on your breathing while you sit quietly. During the practice, listening to sacred music will effectively calm down your mind and release anxiety.  
  • Praying –  Praying is the most popular method of meditation. The best thing about prayer is that you can perform it anywhere. While you pray, it calms down your nerves, leading to reduced stress. To make it more effective, you can listen to divine music or mantras on the Ruhgu App. It will help take you into a deeper state of relaxation.
  • Focusing –  Focusing on sounds can be really helpful in getting  control over your mind and calming it down. Sacred sounds and spiritual music are great as subject of your focus as they not only help you concentrate but also fill your mind with thoughts of divinity. To practice this form of meditation, play a mantra or chant on the Ruhgu App and listen to them mindfully while adopting a peaceful posture.
  • Mantra repetition –  Repeating a mantra in your mind or aloud can help you meditate more effectively. You can choose any mantra from the Ruhgu App and listen to it on repeat so you can practice it more accurately. This process can reduce your stress in no time.    

What’s next?

The Ruhgu app offers professionally created music and sacred sounds that can offer you the relaxation and de-stressing you need. You can choose from the vast collection of music from the app to release all the built-up stress from your mind and body.  

References

    1. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology: https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2F0022-3514.54.3.486
    2. University of Nevada: https://www.unr.edu/counseling/virtual-relaxation-room/releasing-stress-through-the-power-of-music
    3. Stanford’s Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics: https://news.stanford.edu/news/2006/may31/brainwave-053106.html
    4. Clinical Nurse Specialist: https://journals.lww.com/cns-journal/Abstract/1997/03000/Music_Therapy__Proposed_Physiological__Mechanisms.3.aspx
    5. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews: https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD006577.pub3/full