Music moves the soul. It significantly improves our quality of life. It’s enjoyable to listen to on a walk, at the gym, in the car, at home and just about everywhere in between. But did you know music offers incredible physical, mental and emotional benefits? In many ways, music is medicine. It does everything from help you fall asleep at night to decrease anxiety.
“If you want to keep your brain engaged…, listening to or playing music is a great tool. It provides a total brain workout,” according to John Hopkins Medicine. “…listening to music can reduce blood pressure, anxiety and pain as well as improve mood, mental alertness, sleep quality and memory.”
Emotional and social benefits of music
Those who listen to music have a happier outlook on life and often a better social life. Music has proven to enhance moods and increase positive emotions.
Listening to music releases a ‘feel good’ chemical in your brain that makes you feel more excitement, happiness and joy. Next time you need a boost, listen to some classical or meditative music to lift your spirits. All you need is 15 minutes to create a natural high!
Our three award-winning Sun Health Communities locations—Grandview Terrace, La Loma Village and The Colonnade—integrate music into residents lives daily. You can step out onto the decked-out dance floor at Grandview Terrace, join a music-fueled aerobics class or venture out for a local blockbuster concert on any given day.
Overall Health Benefits of Music
If you want to exercise your brain:
Listen to music
Studies show that music promotes positive overall health. Those that listen to music often have improved verbal skills and physical health of moving more along to the tunes and dancing. Soothing music, like Jazz and instrumental tunes, helps reduce stress and agitation. Listening to music also aids in overall cognitive abilities, coordination and mobility.
Play an instrument
It’s never too late to play an instrument to keep you on top of your game. A study with healthy older adults found that those who played music 10 years or more scored higher on cognitive tests than musicians with one to nine years of musical study. The non-musicians scored the lowest, according to U.S. News.
“Since studying an instrument requires years of practice and learning, it may create alternate connections in the brain that could compensate for cognitive declines as we get older,” says lead researcher Brenda Hanna-Pladdy. Take it from business magnate, Warren Buffet, who stays sharp at age 84 by playing ukulele.
Listening to music helps you:
Sleep better
Studies show those that those who turn on some relaxing tunes before bed experience a better night’s sleep, less pain and better recovery time. If you’re having trouble sleeping, try listening to a little Bach or Mozart before bedtime to catch some Zzzs.
Eat less
If you’re trying to lose weight, try dimming the lights and listening to soft music at your next meal. Research at Georgia Tech University showed that “softening the lighting and music while people ate led them to consume fewer calories and enjoy their meals more.”
Increase your endurance for exercise
Studies show that listening to energetic workout tracks can enhance physical performance and increase workout endurance during a tough session, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine. When we’re focusing on our favorite album, we’re not noticing that we’ve just ran an extra mile or increase our reps.
Speed up recovery
Listening to music after a workout or surgery can help your body recover quicker. Researchers from Finland found that patients who listened to music after a stroke experienced a faster recovery of verbal skills.
Relax before and after surgery
Studies have found that listening to relaxing music before and after surgery decreases anxiety, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
Reduce pain
Music therapy and pre-recorded music reduced pain more than typical treatments for cancer patients, according to Health.com. Other research indicates that it can also reduce pain in intensive care and geriatric care patients. But the music selection needs to be meditative, classical or the patient’s choice.
Benefits of music on memory
Help recall a memory from the past
Music can help you learn and recall information better. Studies have shown when a person listens to music that corresponds with an important place, time, event or emotion for the listener, the brain’s memory becomes stimulated. Reach for familiar music, especially if it’s from the same time period you are trying to recall. A song can trigger a memory from when you were younger. For example, listening to the Beatles might bring back the first moment you set eyes on your spouse.
Music is a therapy for Alzheimer’s and dementia patients
Studies prove that music can help you acknowledge and remember information better. Even Alzheimer’s and dementia patients who have lost the ability to speak have been known to still hum along with songs. In some cases, they are able to remember who they are or even certain memories of the past by listening to old and meaningful tracks, according to Music and Memory, a non-profit organization of patients with Alzheimer’s and other age-related dementias. Because music touches so many areas of the brain, it stimulates pathways that may still be healthy.
“The past, which is not recoverable in any other way, is embedded, as if in amber, in the music, and people can regain a sense of identity,” explains Oliver Sacks, M.D.
The human brain naturally responds to music even when cognitive function declines. People with Alzheimer’s who listen to their dearest songs may suddenly remember who they are. The awakening can be dramatic. For instance, after a wheelchair bound dementia sufferer listened to music from his era who could barely speak, he sang songs and happily reminisced about his life.
Reduce anxiety and stress through music
Music by itself is a therapy. It can help settle you down when you feel agitated or stressed. It increases relaxation and self-esteem, while reducing tension and anxiety. If you feel stressed out, play a song that means something to you from your youth. Soothing music, like jazz or doo-wop, can help when you feel agitated.
According to Psychology Today, listening to music you enjoy decreases levels of the stress hormone cortisol in your body, which counteracts the effects of chronic stress. This is an important since 60% of all our illnesses and disease is caused by stress. Actively participating in music-making with various percussion instruments and singing has shown a boosted immune system, more so than if participants passively listened.
Stay healthy and calm by turning on the radio during a stressful day. Tap your feet to the beat and sing along to get the maximum therapeutic benefit.
Stay calm on the road
Decrease your road rage. A Netherlands study found that listening to music can make a positive impact on your mood while driving, which leads to safer behavior. The next time you’re feeling frustrated in traffic, turn up the music to boost your mood. It won’t hurt your driving performance – it may even result in safer driving.
Ways to integrate music into your life
It’s never been easier to bring music into your life. Here are several music activities to try out:
Go to a live concert. Sun Health Communities residents have easy access to several music venues and entertainment districts where exciting blockbuster concerts are held.
Make a customized playlist with songs you love. With the Internet, you can find any song, from any era nowadays.
Keep an eye out for local bands, choirs and musical groups from schools, which often perform public concerts.
Have a sing-along to a song like “When the Saints Go Marching In.” Sing-a-longs allow people to interact while singing aloud and can foster a sense of community.
Discover YouTube. Not only will you be able to find music you may have forgotten about, but you can watch live performances from your favorite artists from the past.
Play an instrument you once played. Hobbies, like playing music, are therapeutic and can increase self-esteem. Playing music can also help lower blood pressure and slow down heart rate.
Plato was correct when he said, “Music and rhythm find their way into the secret places of the soul.” No matter your age, happy or sad, healthy or sick, music can improve your quality of life in a number of ways. Listening to or playing music lifts your mood, boosts your health, helps you sleep better, reduces stress and anxiety, reduces pain and can even make you smarter.
We hope you are now motivated to include music in your everyday life. Sun Health Communities residents’ lives by hosting live musical performances, dances and other activities on a monthly helps stimulate basis. Find out more about engaging activities and amenities at Sun Health Communities.
