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Aid for Anxiety: Stress Relief Music

Stress affects millions of Americans every day. Daily problems can make stress worse, and unless the stress is recognized and efforts are made to alleviate it, stress can eventually cause physical problems, in addition to the mental anguish. One way to ease stress may be to listen to music.

There are many theories about music and its effects on stress related problems. For some it may work better than for others, but if all else has failed in your search for stress relief, music may be something to consider.

Stress Relief Music Theory

Some experts believe that music has a calming effect on us because it may subconsciously remind us of our mother’s heartbeat while we were in the womb. Others aren’t so sure, but it is generally recognized that music can have a beneficial effect on most people. 

The key to using music as a relaxation technique is to find something that relaxes different people. One person may respond to a certain type of music, while another may respond to something completely different. So-called stress relief music may actually be too slow or have other characteristics that may cause just the opposite effect in some types of mentalities. The key to music and its effectiveness is that every person is going to have a different style of music that will work for them.

One tip from experts in stress relief music is to choose music with a rhythm slightly slower than your natural heartbeat, which is generally 72 beats per minute. Also, music that has rhythms that repeat or may even sound somewhat monotonous is a good candidate for stress relief.

Music can even be used the opposite way. If you need a pick up for your day, or if you are just dragging later in the day, you can listen to upbeat music that has faster rhythms and this can cause your body to ‘beat’ faster and just have a faster rhythm in general.

Stress relief music is probably one of the better ways to alleviate stress. We listen to music everyday, whether it is the music of the traffic, talking, or just general noise – these are all a sort of music. When we consciously listen to certain slower, almost monotonous music, it can have a soothing effect on our nerves and may even be one of the better stress relief options available.