Calm Mind

The Many Health and Sleep Benefits of Music
Music is an incredible tool for emotional health, daily performance, and sleep.
Posted December 13, 2018 | Reviewed by Jessica Schrader

Music is a consistent part of my daily life. I listen to it to stay motivated during exercise, to relax and distract myself while traveling, and for a quick creativity boost when I write. My family—especially my kids—always has music playing around the house. I also use relaxing music to unwind before bed, especially during my Power Down Hour on nights when my mind is too active or I’m feeling tense.

Music serves as a highly therapeutic tool for emotional health, performance, and sleep. It has been used as a healing practice throughout much of human history. Ancient Arabic cultures had musicians working alongside physicians, and the Greeks used music to treat mental illness. After WWII, musicians were even brought into U.S. hospitals to help soldiers heal from both physical and emotional trauma.

How Music Affects the Mind and Body

We all know the experience of hearing a favorite song and feeling a surge of pleasure or immediately tapping our feet. Music exerts powerful and varied effects on both the body and mind, influencing breathing and heart rate, triggering the release of hormones, stimulating the immune system, and boosting cognitive and emotional areas of the brain.

There is no single, uniform reaction to music, which is part of what makes it such a unique and effective tool. Different melodies, tempos, and rhythms elicit vastly different responses, as can music with or without lyrics. Additionally, our individual emotional responses to music are often shaped by personal memories tied to familiar tunes. Music activates many regions of the brain, including the hippocampus, which processes memories.

As a sleep aid, soothing, relaxing music can:

• Slow breathing

• Lower heart rate

• Lower blood pressure

• Quiet the nervous system

• Relieve muscle tension

• Reduce stress and anxiety

• Stimulate the release of sleep-friendly hormones, such as serotonin and oxytocin

• Reduce sleep-stifling hormones, like cortisol

On the flip side, energizing, upbeat music can:

• Raise heart rate

• Boost physical stamina and endurance

• Activate brain regions related to physical coordination, mental focus, attention, and creativity

• Stimulate the release of hormones like dopamine and adrenaline, which increase alertness

The key is choosing the right music based on the time of day or night and the desired effects. Now, let's explore what science says about music’s ability to enhance sleep.

The Benefits of Music for Sleep

Relaxing music triggers physiological changes in the body that mimic a sleep state. These include a slower heart rate, slower breathing, and reduced blood pressure—all of which promote falling and staying asleep. Music also has a calming effect on the emotional brain, reducing stress and anxiety.

If you listen to music that relaxes you before bed, you’re helping your body prepare for sleep, both physically and psychologically.

Scientific studies have shown that listening to music at bedtime improves sleep quality, with benefits seen in young adults, older adults, and children alike.

Research also demonstrates that listening to music before bed can help improve sleep quality for adults with insomnia.

Music Improves Sleep Efficiency

Sleep efficiency refers to the amount of time spent asleep compared to the total time spent in bed. Poor sleep efficiency often points to restless sleep with frequent awakenings, trouble falling asleep, or waking up early and being unable to return to sleep.

Studies show that a pre-bedtime music session can help you fall asleep faster.

Music is an effective treatment for both short-term and chronic sleep disorders. One study found that the therapeutic effects of music on sleep increase over time, suggesting that the more consistently you use music to aid your sleep, the more effective it may become.

The Influence of Music on Mood and Stress

One of the most important ways music helps sleep is indirectly—by influencing mood and emotional state. Our mood significantly impacts how well we sleep. Stress is the most common barrier to falling asleep regularly and staying asleep throughout the night. Mood disorders like depression and anxiety are often intertwined with sleep problems, including insomnia.

Sleep and mood have a bi-directional relationship, meaning poor sleep can both result from and contribute to mood struggles. Conditions like depression, anxiety, and stress interfere with sleep, while poor sleep makes us more vulnerable to stress and more prone to emotional reactivity and mental health issues.

When stress is alleviated and mood improves, sleep typically improves as well. Music, with its ability to activate emotional and memory-related brain regions, can be a helpful tool in this process.

Several studies have demonstrated that music reduces stress in high-anxiety situations, such as medical treatments. In these instances, listening to music was shown to lower anxiety levels even more effectively than medication. Music also reduced anxiety and improved sleep in individuals who had experienced physical and emotional trauma, such as those studied at the University of Kansas.

In healthy adults, research has proven that listening to relaxing music helps reduce anxiety, as well as the physical symptoms of anxiety, like high blood pressure and increased heart rate. It also lowers cortisol, a hormone that increases alertness and stress.

Research further reveals that music can relieve symptoms of depression and other mood disorders. It has shown benefits for improving both depression and sleep in people with PTSD. Similarly, studies have found that relaxing music helps those with schizophrenia improve their depression and sleep.

Music Treats Pain—and Enhances Sleep by Association

Another indirect benefit of listening to music for sleep is its ability to reduce pain. Physical pain and discomfort are common barriers to good sleep. Like mood, pain and sleep have a complex, interdependent relationship—pain interferes with sleep, and poor sleep heightens pain sensitivity. The good news is that improving one can improve the other.

A growing body of research supports what our ancestors seemed to know instinctively: music can reduce pain. An analysis of over 70 studies found that music played before, during, and after surgery reduces pain and anxiety, and patients who listened to music were less reliant on pain medications.

Listening to music can help alleviate both acute and chronic pain, including pain from conditions like fibromyalgia. Music stimulates the immune system, relieves emotional tension, and offers a means of emotional release, which likely contributes to its effectiveness in treating pain in a range of conditions.

Though scientists aren’t fully sure why music alleviates pain, it is believed that music's ability to relax the body, distract from discomfort, and stimulate certain hormones (like dopamine and oxytocin) may all play a role.

Not Just for Relaxation: How Music Enhances Performance

In addition to its benefits for sleep and relaxation, music can enhance both mental and physical performance.

• Creativity: Studies have shown that listening to “happy” music stimulates creative thinking. What counts as “happy” music varies by individual, but in general, it’s music that feels energizing and positive.

• Focus: Research suggests music can improve concentration and productivity, though effects are highly individual. Music with lyrics may distract from tasks requiring verbal processing, so instrumental music might be a better choice. Keep the volume at a moderate level and choose music that motivates you, but doesn’t become a distraction.

• Stamina and Physical Performance: If you exercise, you’ve probably noticed how much faster or longer you can go when your favorite song plays. Studies show that music boosts stamina and effort during exercise. It also makes vigorous workouts more enjoyable and encourages consistency. For workouts, upbeat music with a strong, steady beat (120-140 beats per minute) is typically ideal, though choose the tempo that suits you best.