We hum it in the shower, it’s with us on road trips, we dance to it, sing to it, enjoy it… because a day without music is like a day without sun. Listening to music is a real pleasure, and is one of the few activities that involves the full use of the brain. So beyond simply making our eardrums vibrate, music positively influences our health and wellbeing.
Music can influence our mood, boost our creativity, and enhance our intellectual abilities. When we listen to music, dopamine and endorphins are released in our brain, so it helps us feel pleasure and happiness (just like massage does). Most of us don’t consciously realize how much the sounds of our environment affect us; however, we often find ourselves seeking the type of music we need in different situations to reflect our mood (or what we’d like our mood to be). That’s also why you probably have several playlists with different styles of music.
Here are some of the benefits of listening to music:
- Reduce stress and anxiety. Listening to music just before going to sleep is a great way to unwind and forget about day-to-day worries. It reduces stress levels – thus, as a bonus, it can also help with insomnia.
- Relieve symptoms of depression. Classical and meditation music lifts people’s spirits and gives them a sense of calm and wellbeing.
- Improve concentration. Listening to music while you study or read may improve academic performance.
- Reduce the sensation of pain. Music therapy acts as a distraction, gives a sense of control, and makes the body release endorphins to counteract pain as well as regulate breathing and heart rate. You can read more about sound therapy and healing music frequency here.
At Healing Hands, we are aware of the health and relaxation benefits that music can provide. For this reason, we have a variety of relaxation music stations from which to choose while we give our massage sessions. There are several popular categories and we rotate between them: instrumental, nature sounds, meditation songs, etc. In this way, clients get to experience different music at each visit!
The next time you schedule a massage and have a hankering for a particular genre of music, please let us know! Although the stations we listed above are the most common, we have had all sorts of requests including jazz, gospel, and rock & roll! There is no “right” or “wrong” music – after all, it’s your time on the table. The only stations we advise not to listen to are those with the news and sports, as they can be counterproductive to relaxation.
See you soon!