Key Message: Research shows that music can help improve sleep quality
Action Point: Listen to certain types of music before bedtime to help you fall asleep quicker and improve your sleep quality
There’s nothing quite like a good night’s sleep. It paves the way for the day ahead, improving energy levels and mental performance.
Unfortunately, there are many out there who don’t get to enjoy the luxury of having a full eight hours of sleep. These unlucky individuals have to make do with lethargy and a type of sluggishness that they just can’t shake off.
Thankfully though, help may be at hand. Research has shown that music can actually help improve sleep quality and speed up the rate in which somebody dozes off. If you have issues with your slumber, it’s time to grab your iPod and continue reading. You might be about to discover the answer to your woes.
How Music Can Help You Sleep
The British Academy of Sound, a prestigious institution based in Great Britain, has found that certain types of songs can increase the chances of you falling and staying asleep.
Certain songs have the ability to relax the brain, which promotes rest.
What to Look for in a Song?
According to researchers, rhyme and repetition help people cross over into the land of nod. Not only this, but low tones and slow tempos help, too.
If you’re a fan of pulsating techno music, that’s unlikely to do the job, at least according to Lazlo Harmat, a German researcher tasked with understanding how music affects sleep.
Your best bet is to look for a tune that has around 60 beats per minute. If you’re wondering how to figure out a song’s BPM, simply search online, or count the beats in your head for a full minute. Anything around 60 is likely to be beneficial.
Songs Without Words
Songs without words offer the most benefit when it comes to putting you to sleep. Naturally, classical music works well, but so too does new age electronic music, as long as the BPM remains at around 60.
Pop music isn’t that advantageous, except for a few pieces. Sam Smith, John Legend, and Ellie Goulding were found to create sleep-friendly music – at least most of the time.
Certain sleep tracks such as those designed to encourage the delta wave state also proved helpful; however, these aren’t always the easiest to listen to.
Conclusion
In order to cater for those that are all too familiar with restless nights, music giant Spotify created a special playlist designed to allow sleep-shy music-lovers a chance to kill two birds with one stone.
On this playlist – which might just be the greatest sedative ever – you can find Ed Sheeran, Kanye West, and other such artists. Give Me Love and FourFiveSeconds are two songs by the above artists said to promote sleep.
If you’re finding night times difficult, why not see if music can come to the rescue? It’s a whole lot cheaper, not to mention safer, than medical sedatives.
References:
- Wong C (2014) “Can music promote a more restful sleep?” About Health. Accessed online 28 August 2015.
http://altmedicine.about.com/od/insomnia/a/music_insomnia.htm
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Written by: Sandra Di Giacomo |
