Music is a great tool to help you relax, physically and mentally. It’s a way to deal with anxiety and stress and to make you feel calmer and happier. The following 3 types of music help to reduce anxiety.
1. Classical music
According to studies from the Anxiety & Stress Center in Illinois, soothing tones in music create a calming environment (optie: atmosphere) for people who suffer from illness or stress. Classical and other soothing music can lower the heart rate, blood pressure and levels of the cortisol stress hormone.
In addition, classical music increases serotonin production, which helps combat anxiety, panic and depression. However classical music is certainly not the only type of music that has positive effects on our health. The music we like differs from person to person and is determined, among other things, by our personal experiences.
The music styles that we like are the ones that help to reduce anxiety. There is no point in forcing yourself to listen to classical music when you actually hate it. That would be anything but relaxing! Only music that can make you feel good actually helps to reduce anxiety or stress.
2. Binaural beats
Binaural beats is another type of music that can reduce stress and anxiety. But not everyone is familiar with its power (optie: with the power of binaural beats). Binaural beats are created by playing two sounds of slightly different frequencies. One tone is slightly higher or lower than the other tone, yet your brain perceives these as a single tone.
This single tone is what makes it unique. Your brain – which vibrates at different frequencies – adapts to that single tone. As a result, the beats evoke a certain state of mind, such as focus or deep relaxation:
- Delta (0 – 4 hertz) – deep sleep, healing
- Thèta (4 – 8 hertz) – meditation, deep relaxation, creativity, trance
- Alfa (8 – 14 hertz) – reduced stress, concentration
- Bèta (14 – 30 hertz) – focus, energy, clarity
- Gamma (30 – 100 hertz) – highly alert, highly conscious, memory
For binaural beats to work, you need to use a headphone or earphones, so your left ear hears a different tone than your right ear.
3. Sound healing
Another type of music to help reduce anxiety is sound healing, which uses the healing power of music to relax the body and mind.
Here is how it works. Sound healing uses sound vibrations for their healing properties (optie: uses sound vibrations to relax your mind and body). Think of tuning forks, gongs or singing bowls. When these are triggered, they create vibrations that have a powerful effect on body and mind.
Compare it with a stone that you throw into the water. As soon as the stone hits the water, small waves spread out from where the stone first made contact. The music vibrations are the waves and your body is the water they move through.
In the book Vibrational Medicine, Dr. Richard Gerber explains how music frequencies can help to rebalance the energy in a body that is out of balance due to anxiety or stress. Sound healing can shift low frequencies of fear into high frequencies of peace and confidence.
Music in the Meditation Moments app
The Meditation Moments app has different sections dedicated to binaural beats and sound healing. In addition, the app is full of music for different purposes such as peaceful sleep, better focus, or improved relaxation. It also offers a range of music tracks that can be used as background music for yoga and meditation. All music is exclusive and specifically composed by our team in our own studio, which makes it unique.
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Solfeggio Frequencies: How Listening to 396 Hz Tones Can Soothe Your Anxiety
Solfeggio frequencies are specific tones of sound known to trigger healing processes in the mind and body. They’ve been used for thousands of years as a way to treat both physical and emotional discomfort. If you suffer from anxiety, guilt, and other negative emotions that block your happiness and productivity, tune into sounds at 396 Hertz (Hz).
What Are the Healing Solfeggio Frequencies?
Solfeggio frequencies are nothing new, although they may be seeing a resurgence in popularity. For millennia, people of various cultures have known that specific pitches, or frequencies, of sound can have healing properties.
The historical record shows that the ancient Egyptians used these frequencies to alter their consciousness and heal. Chants in many religions incorporate the solfeggio frequencies, including Medieval Gregorian, ancient Sanskrit, and Buddhist chants.
Modern research on solfeggio frequencies is limited, but a few studies show that they can have healing properties. For instance, 432 Hz sounds slow the heart rate and relax the mind. Meanwhile, 538 Hz tones can actually lower levels of stress hormones in the body.
396 Hz – The Anxiety Relief Frequency
We haven’t yet discovered why these particular frequencies affect the body and brain in ways other sounds don’t. It may be due to a match or balance between the frequencies of these sounds and that of our brainwaves. What we do know is that people have been using solfeggio frequencies for healing for thousands of years.
The 396 Hz frequency may help with letting go of stress. It provides some relief from the negative energy and emotions that you may carry around often, like fear, doubt, and guilt. Many people who use solfeggio frequencies say that the 396 Hz tone turns grief into joy.
This frequency is also thought to be associated with unblocking the root chakra, the energy point at the base of your spine that keeps you stable and grounded. When blocked, the root chakra can make you feel emotionally insecure, worried, and anxious.
Fear and anxiety plague many people. They act as obstacles to taking action, reaching goals, and achieving spiritual self-realization. Tune into the 396 Hz frequency to overcome these feelings, gain self-confidence, and remove barriers to your success, happiness, and inner peace.
How to Benefit From This Solfeggio Frequency
BetterSleep offers all the tones on the solfeggio spectrum, so you can pick and choose the right one for the type of healing you need in the moment.
Unblock your root chakra, get grounded, and release fear and worry by listening to sound mixes with the 396 Hz tone. You can find it among the other solfeggio frequencies and either enjoy it alone or as part of a mix. Alone, it is just one note. Add it to one of your customized soundscapes for a background pitch that soothes, relaxes, and heals.
A great way to benefit from 396 Hz is by using it in your meditations. BetterSleep offers many practices that complement the frequency very well, like Chakra Release and Grounding Meditation for Anxiety. Combining the frequency with your mindfulness practice should provide better results than using either one alone. Let the steadiness of the 396 Hz tone guide you as you meditate on releasing your fear, soothing your stress, and finding peace.
Music can have a profound effect on both the emotions and the body. Faster music can make you feel more alert and concentrate better. Upbeat music can make you feel more optimistic and positive about life. A slower tempo can quiet your mind and relax your muscles, making you feel soothed while releasing the stress of the day. Music is effective for relaxation and stress management.
Research confirms these personal experiences with music. Current findings indicate that music around 60 beats per minute can cause the brain to synchronize with the beat causing alpha brainwaves (frequencies from 8 – 14 hertz or cycles per second). This alpha brainwave is what is present when we are relaxed and conscious. To induce sleep (a delta brainwave of 5 hertz), a person may need to devote at least 45 minutes, in a relaxed position, listening to calming music. Researchers at Stanford University have said that “listening to music seems to be able to change brain functioning to the same extent as medication.” They noted that music is something that almost anybody can access and makes it an easy stress reduction tool.
So what type of music reduces stress the best? A bit surprising is that Native American, Celtic, Indian stringed-instruments, drums, and flutes are very effective at relaxing the mind even when played moderately loud. Sounds of rain, thunder, and nature sounds may also be relaxing particularly when mixed with other music, such as light jazz, classical (the “largo” movement), and easy listening music. Since with music we are rarely told the beats per minute, how do you choose the relaxation music that is best for you? The answer partly rests with you: You must first like the music being played, and then it must relax you. You could start by simply exploring the music on this web page. Some may relax you, some may not. Forcing yourself to listen to relaxation music that irritates you can create tension, not reduce it. If that happens, try looking for alternatives on the internet or consult with Counseling Service staff for other musical suggestions. It is important to remember that quieting your mind does not mean you will automatically feel sleepy. It means your brain and body are relaxed, and with your new calm self, you can then function at your best in many activities.
Experiment now. Experience a “sound bath” and let the music carry you away
The links below each open relaxing musical selections in YouTube.
A Moment of Peace Meditation
Aneal & Bradfield, “Heaven and Earth Spirits” track from Life & Love). Lovely contemporary piano music with accompanying instruments and nature scenes.
Echoes of Time
C. Carlos Nakai from the Canyon Trilogy. Serene Native American flute music, with a picture of Nakai backlit by the sun at the Grand Canyon.
The Winding Path
Ken Kern from The Winding Path. Highly rated, beautiful piano music with accompanying instruments with pictures of exquisite flowers and plants.
Classical Indian Music for Healing and Relaxing
Gayatri Govindarajan, “Pure Deep Meditation” track. Lovely and rhythmic music played on the veena, the most ancient of the Indian plucked-instruments, with nature scenes.
Angels of Venice
Angels of Venice from Music for Harp, Flute and Cello. Classical with 3 instruments with nature pictures.
Earth Drum
“Spirit Vision,” (David & Steve Gordon. Serene and lovely contemporary Native American informed-drumming music utilizing Taos Log Drum and Incan Pan along with other instruments and ocean/forest nature scenes.
Buddha Spirit
Aneal & Bradfield from Light & Love. Reflective but strong contemporary music utilizing various instruments and occasional humming voices with colorful oscillating fractals
Spa Relaxing Music
Tranquil contemporary instrumental with piano and a fixed candle light.
Relaxation Music: 1-Hour Meditation Candle
Serene contemporary instrumental with piano and one flickering candle.
Sleep Deeply
Dan Gibson. Nature sounds and instrumental, tranquil sleep music.
Weightless
Marconi Union. The sounds on this video are carefully arranged harmonies, rhythms, and bass lines that help slow a listener’s heart rate, reduce blood pressure, and lower levels of the cortisol stress hormone.
