1) Increased happiness
Listening to music can give us a natural and instant mood boost; it can lower anxiety and prevent low mood. A 2013 study published in the Journal of Positive Psychology found that listening to upbeat music can improve mood and boost happiness.
Listening to music can enhance emotions and increase the amount of the neurotransmitter dopamine which helps to control the brain’s reward and pleasure centres. Similarly, soothing tunes can nurture the release of serotonin, a feel-good hormone that fosters happiness and a general sense of well-being.
Music affects us on emotional, physical and physiological levels and can make us feel more connected. We don’t just have to listen to happy, upbeat music to feel good, listening to sad songs can help us to release emotions and let go of pain.
2) More motivation
When we are doing something that we find boring such as studying for exams or house cleaning, listening to music can help us stay motivated and on track of what we are doing. It can also help distract us from the unpleasantness that we usually associate with the task.
Songs that have motivational messages and an upbeat tune can help keep us energised and prevent negative demotivating emotions such as boredom or fatigue from taking hold. Music engages the sympathetic nervous system; this activation helps to ready our body when we find something challenging.
Music can encourage us to go that extra mile when we workout. This isn’t exactly a new concept – have you ever worked out in silence? But it is backed by science too; research has found that listening to music distracts athletes from their bodily awareness which, in turn, can result in exercising for longer than when working out in silence. Not sure what to listen to, or need a change from your regular workout jams? Check out our motivational running songs for a playlist that will help you amplify your workout!
3) Better relaxation
Listening to relaxing music can go a long way to helping you feel chilled out. Mellow music can help you slow down your breathing rate and relax tense muscles. Certain music can help slow the mind initiating a relaxation response and putting the body into a meditative state.
Interestingly though, not all people experience the same sense of familiarity and calmness that gentle music offers. It’s important to find soothing music that works for you. Don’t listen to music that irritates you, have fun experimenting with different artists and styles to find music that works for you.
What music should I listen to?
As a general rule you should always to try listen to the music that you love, but there are a few things that I want to make you aware of that can negatively impact our mood at a more subconscious level.
Firstly, watch out for emotional associations with songs, we can often associate certain times, people and events with particular songs and while this is not a bad thing if these associations are positive, if they are negative they can end up making us feel low.
Secondly, look out for the wording of songs; songs that are upbeat but are filled with negative lyrics and words can affect us at a subconscious level and put a bit of a downer on our mood.
While you would be right in thinking that you should listen to upbeat motivational songs to get the most out of your workout and mellow music to make you feel relaxed, it’s also important to go by what you like and by your own feeling.
1 http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17439760.2012.747000
2 http://lavangachiropractic.com/music-helps-keep-motivated-focused/
3 https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/25/phys-ed-does-music-make-you-exercise-harder/
