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Listening to music is widely considered to be a quick way to improve your mood, but it’s becoming increasingly clear that there are many more benefits to listening to music than just a quick mood boost. Research has shown that music has a profound effect on your body and psyche.In fact, there’s a growing field of healthcare known as music therapy, which uses music to heal.

People who practice music therapy are finding it can help cancer patients,children with ADD, and others. Hospitals are beginning to use music therapy to help ease pain and tension, to ward off depression, to promote movement, and to calm patients, among other benefits. Keep reading to learn more about the powerful ways music can affect the body and mind.

Therapeutic Effects of Music

The following are some of the physical effects of music that explain why music therapy can be so effective:

Brain Waves

Research has shown that music with a strong beat can stimulatebrainwavesto resonate in sync with the beat, with faster beats bringing sharper concentration and more alert thinking, and slower tempos promoting a calm, meditative state.

Research has also found that music can change brainwave activity levels to enable the brain to shift speeds more easily as needed. This means music can have lasting benefits to your state of mind, even after you’ve stopped listening.

Breathing and Heart Rate

State of Mind

Music can also be used to bring a more positive state of mind, helping to keep depression and anxiety at bay.The uplifting sound of music and the positive orcatharticmessages conveyed in lyrics can improve mental state as well.

Having a more positive state of mind as a baseline can help prevent the stress response from wreaking havoc on the body and can help keep creativity andoptimismlevels higher, which in turn bring many of their own benefits.

Other Benefits

Music has also been found to bring many other benefits, such as lowering blood pressure (which can also reduce the risk of stroke and other health problems over time), boosting immunity,easing muscle tension, and more.

With so many benefits and such profound physical effects, it’s no surprise that so many are seeing music as an important tool to help the body stay (or become) healthy.

Does Sound Healing Actually Work?

Music Therapy

With increasing research demonstrating the benefits of music, it’s no surprise music therapy is growing in popularity. Music therapists help with several other issues as well, including stress. For more information onmusic therapy, visit theAmerican Music Therapy Association’s website.

Using Music on Your Own to Improve Health

While music therapy is an important discipline, you can also achieve many benefits from listening to music on your own. It is likely you have been doing this since you were a teenager, but it is important to continue incorporating music into yourdaily lifeas you age. Whether it’s throwing music on to dissolve the stress of a long drive or using it to keep motivated while exercising, listening to music daily can be used for relaxation, energy, and catharsis.

Listening to Groovy Music Helps Improve Brain’s Executive Function

7 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Mofredj A, Alaya S, Tassaioust K, Bahloul H, Mrabet A.Music therapy, a review of the potential therapeutic benefits for the critically ill.J Crit Care. 2016;35:195-199. doi:10.1016/j.jcrc.2016.05.021Kordovan S, Preissler P, Kamphausen A, Bokemeyer C, Oechsle K.Prospective study on music therapy in terminally ill cancer patients during specialized inpatient palliative care.J Palliat Med. 2016;19(4):394-399. doi:10.1089/jpm.2015.0384Wang W-C.A study of the type and characteristics of relaxing music for college students.Proc Mtgs Acoust. 2014;21:035001. doi:10.1121/1.4902001.Ellis RJ, Thayer JF.Music and autonomic nervous system (dys)function.Music Percept. 2010;27(4):317–326. doi:10.1525/mp.2010.27.4.317De Witte M, Spruit A, Van Hooren S, Moonen X, Stams GJ.Effects of music interventions on stress-related outcomes: a systematic review and two meta-analyses.Health Psychol Rev. 2019;:1-31. doi:10.1080/17437199.2019.1627897Aalbers S, Fusar-Poli L, Freeman RE, et al.Music therapy for depression.Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2017;11(11):CD004517. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD004517.pub3Lee KS, Jeong HC, Yim JE, Jeon MY.Effects of music therapy on the cardiovascular and autonomic nervous system in stress-induced university students: a randomized controlled trial.J Altern Complement Med. 2016;22(1):59-65. doi:10.1089/acm.2015.0079

7 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Mofredj A, Alaya S, Tassaioust K, Bahloul H, Mrabet A.Music therapy, a review of the potential therapeutic benefits for the critically ill.J Crit Care. 2016;35:195-199. doi:10.1016/j.jcrc.2016.05.021Kordovan S, Preissler P, Kamphausen A, Bokemeyer C, Oechsle K.Prospective study on music therapy in terminally ill cancer patients during specialized inpatient palliative care.J Palliat Med. 2016;19(4):394-399. doi:10.1089/jpm.2015.0384Wang W-C.A study of the type and characteristics of relaxing music for college students.Proc Mtgs Acoust. 2014;21:035001. doi:10.1121/1.4902001.Ellis RJ, Thayer JF.Music and autonomic nervous system (dys)function.Music Percept. 2010;27(4):317–326. doi:10.1525/mp.2010.27.4.317De Witte M, Spruit A, Van Hooren S, Moonen X, Stams GJ.Effects of music interventions on stress-related outcomes: a systematic review and two meta-analyses.Health Psychol Rev. 2019;:1-31. doi:10.1080/17437199.2019.1627897Aalbers S, Fusar-Poli L, Freeman RE, et al.Music therapy for depression.Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2017;11(11):CD004517. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD004517.pub3Lee KS, Jeong HC, Yim JE, Jeon MY.Effects of music therapy on the cardiovascular and autonomic nervous system in stress-induced university students: a randomized controlled trial.J Altern Complement Med. 2016;22(1):59-65. doi:10.1089/acm.2015.0079

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Mofredj A, Alaya S, Tassaioust K, Bahloul H, Mrabet A.Music therapy, a review of the potential therapeutic benefits for the critically ill.J Crit Care. 2016;35:195-199. doi:10.1016/j.jcrc.2016.05.021Kordovan S, Preissler P, Kamphausen A, Bokemeyer C, Oechsle K.Prospective study on music therapy in terminally ill cancer patients during specialized inpatient palliative care.J Palliat Med. 2016;19(4):394-399. doi:10.1089/jpm.2015.0384Wang W-C.A study of the type and characteristics of relaxing music for college students.Proc Mtgs Acoust. 2014;21:035001. doi:10.1121/1.4902001.Ellis RJ, Thayer JF.Music and autonomic nervous system (dys)function.Music Percept. 2010;27(4):317–326. doi:10.1525/mp.2010.27.4.317De Witte M, Spruit A, Van Hooren S, Moonen X, Stams GJ.Effects of music interventions on stress-related outcomes: a systematic review and two meta-analyses.Health Psychol Rev. 2019;:1-31. doi:10.1080/17437199.2019.1627897Aalbers S, Fusar-Poli L, Freeman RE, et al.Music therapy for depression.Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2017;11(11):CD004517. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD004517.pub3Lee KS, Jeong HC, Yim JE, Jeon MY.Effects of music therapy on the cardiovascular and autonomic nervous system in stress-induced university students: a randomized controlled trial.J Altern Complement Med. 2016;22(1):59-65. doi:10.1089/acm.2015.0079

Mofredj A, Alaya S, Tassaioust K, Bahloul H, Mrabet A.Music therapy, a review of the potential therapeutic benefits for the critically ill.J Crit Care. 2016;35:195-199. doi:10.1016/j.jcrc.2016.05.021

Kordovan S, Preissler P, Kamphausen A, Bokemeyer C, Oechsle K.Prospective study on music therapy in terminally ill cancer patients during specialized inpatient palliative care.J Palliat Med. 2016;19(4):394-399. doi:10.1089/jpm.2015.0384

Wang W-C.A study of the type and characteristics of relaxing music for college students.Proc Mtgs Acoust. 2014;21:035001. doi:10.1121/1.4902001.

Ellis RJ, Thayer JF.Music and autonomic nervous system (dys)function.Music Percept. 2010;27(4):317–326. doi:10.1525/mp.2010.27.4.317

De Witte M, Spruit A, Van Hooren S, Moonen X, Stams GJ.Effects of music interventions on stress-related outcomes: a systematic review and two meta-analyses.Health Psychol Rev. 2019;:1-31. doi:10.1080/17437199.2019.1627897

Aalbers S, Fusar-Poli L, Freeman RE, et al.Music therapy for depression.Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2017;11(11):CD004517. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD004517.pub3

Lee KS, Jeong HC, Yim JE, Jeon MY.Effects of music therapy on the cardiovascular and autonomic nervous system in stress-induced university students: a randomized controlled trial.J Altern Complement Med. 2016;22(1):59-65. doi:10.1089/acm.2015.0079

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