Can Music Help You Sleep Better?
How Does Music Affect Us?
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Our brains are programmed to respond to music. Music can affect us in a many of ways, physiologically our breathing and heart rate will mirror the beat of a song.
Listening to music activates both sides left and right side of our brain. Engaging both sides of your brain simultaneously enhances your ability to solve problems because you’re using the creative left side of your brain at the same time as the logical right side.
Music also affects the hippocampus, a part of your brain associated with long-term memory. That’s why songs from the past can make us feel nostalgic when we hear songs from our childhood, adolescence or peak times in our life. Music can help to bring back fond memories.
Why Listen to Music While Sleeping?
Enhances Sleep Quality and Quantity
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Choose songs that make you feel relaxed and happy, falling asleep to a pleasant song can help you fall asleep faster and get better rest.
The melody help soothe and relax you, but the routinized aspect of playing songs right before bed will signal your body that it’s time to rest. You may find yourself able to fall asleep effortlessly, simply because you’ve trained your body that it’s time to go to bed.
Relaxation
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Music can help us relax, especially if the song is of 60 to 80 BPMs (beats per minute). This most closely matches our resting heart rate and therefore is soothing on a biological level.
Everyone has their own choice in music which is unique in itself.
Fall Asleep Faster
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When your done with the daily chores, putting on some background music can take our minds off our daily distractions and give our brains something else to focus on. Try putting on relaxing music as you hot the sack at the end of a stressful day. You may find that you fall asleep much quicker!
Stimulate Feel Good Chemicals
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Music that we enjoy stimulates serotonin production, the feel good chemical in our brain. People who are depressed lack serotonin, so if we want to happy we should boost our serotonin levels naturally.
It’s a lot easier to fall asleep and stay asleep when you’re in a happy mood, so put on your favorite album and see what kind of effect it has.
We’ve linked a few pieces you might want to add to your sleep playlist:
Try this deep relaxing sleep music by Jason Stepehenson and go your deepest sleep. (YouTube video- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LS_9r2-Zjpw)
Checkout the playlist with songs for sleep on Spotify. ( link-https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7fTZGAfi1SV6qrnsK35Cky )
“Reverie” is French for “dream,” and this classical piece was composed by Debussy early in his career. The beautiful piano sounds are gentle and meditative. (YouTube video: https://youtu.be/-SrvreW-E80)
If you are a hindi movie fan, try this soothing romantic songs(YouTube Video- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQ1ED8-tBpE )
The first movement of Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” is a masterful piece, hauntingly played on the piano. As the name suggests, this music is meant to be played at night, to soothe the soul after a long day. (YouTube video: https://youtu.be/nT7_IZPHHb0)
This New Age music piece is specifically created to induce delta waves in the brain to help us ease into sleep. And it continues to play for 8 hours! (YouTube video: https://youtu.be/8gNWVYMa_Zc )
If you like piano music, check this link out( Youtube videohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NycM9lYdRI)
Billy Joel wrote “Lullabye – (Goodnight, My Angel)” in 1993, inspired by his daughter. (YouTube video: https://youtu.be/dcnd55tLCv8)
Sheryl Crow wrote this lullaby for her son Wyatt. (YouTube video: https://youtu.be/oHZi9qJsxvw)
This relaxing Celtic music is played with harp and flute, and it’s dreamy and soothing. (YouTube video: https://youtu.be/BiqlZZddZEo)
Two Native American flutes are featured on this instrumental piece composed by Peder B. Helland. (YouTube video: https://youtu.be/jO01kemz1kY)
The most important thing is finding music to help you sleep is to choose music that you like, that helps you to feel relaxed and comfortable.
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