The benefits of adding music to your life

In the past, present, and future, you will be making memories to remember. To recollect those eye-sparkling moments, listen to music. Listening to music helps give you a sense of “Oh I remember that!” It reactivates parts of the brain that are connected with memory, reasoning, speech, emotion, and reward. Listening to music helps us remember memories. 

According to Harvard Medical School, studies in Japan and the United States found evidence that music, along with retrieving stored memories, also helps you make new ones. In both studies, elderly people scored better on tests of memory and reasoning after completing weekly classes of physical therapy with musical accompaniment. Music is a great way to think back on the amazing times in your life.

Does anyone want to feel stressed? No! We want to be happy, relaxed, and smiling. To reduce the stress, you can listen to slower, mellow music. A study published in the National Library of Medicine found that using music can release stress and increase relaxation, especially with classical music. This type of genre slows down the heart rate and pulse. For example, as I am writing this right now, I’m listening to calm, relaxing music, and I feel like time is passing very slowly. 

In a different study published in the National Library of Medicine, in addition to the therapeutic tools, people with depression and anxiety gain more revitalizing benefits, compared to people who received therapy without music. Music isn’t only entertaining, it can be used for therapy and other necessities. Therefore, music eases our hearts, making us feel lighter.

Along with that, our mood can be boosted by listening to music. In a 2013 study in the Journal of Positive Psychology, researchers found that in two weeks people who listened to positive and cheerful music would have a healthier mood. Participants were told to improve their mood and there was no improvement until they listened to lively music. 

A happier mood doesn’t only make you feel good, it’s linked to better health, higher income, and greater relationship contentment. Furthermore, another study, published in the Journal of Consumer Research, found that when people are experiencing a deep loss, like the end of a relationship, they lean towards sad music. The authors of that study suggested that sad music is a replacement for the lost relationship. They compared it to an empathic friend who understands what they’re going through. All in all, music helps those who need it.

Music embraces you like an extraordinary friend who comforts you. It helps recover our memory, reduces stress, and helps our mood. It is one of those companions that when you find them, you don’t want to let go. Music altogether is someone who understands you.