relaxation benefits

relaxation music: the benefits

Music can be beneficial to people suffering from depression, anxiety and sleeping problems. It has also been proved to have a positive effect on people who are seriously ill in hospital.

The positive healing effects of music have been linked back to ancient times. In Greece, Apollo was God of both Medicine and Music. Ancient Greeks believed that music and medicine worked hand in hand to heal the soul.

The mathematician Pythagoras experimented with music to cure disease and promote spiritual health. The ancient Egyptians held the relationship between music and medicine as sacred and there is a long tradition of healing music in India.

how does it work?

A study published in the 1998 issue of Forbes Magazine showed how adults who regularly listened to relaxing music felt less depression and fatigue after six weeks of regular listening.

The researchers measured stress hormones in the participants' blood and found that those who listened to the music had significantly reduced the level of this hormone.

how and why is music a good tool for health?

"I think I should have no other mortal wants, if I could always have plenty of music. It seems to infuse strength into my limbs and ideas into my brain. Life seems to go on without effort, when I am filled with music." George Eliot

research

Research has shown that music has a profound effect on your body and psyche In fact, there's a growing field of health care known as Music Therapy, which uses music to heal. Those who practice music therapy are finding a benefit in using music to help cancer patients, children with ADD, and even hospitals are beginning to use music and music therapy to help with pain management.

'The child, who has Profound Multiple Learning Difficulties, had been very restless and uncomfortable, but calmed while the disc was playing and remained calm, with eyes moving gently. Other adults and children in the ward also said how calming they had found Calmtime.' Will Gosling, Head Teacher, Frenchay Hospital, Bristol, UK

Music affects the body and mind in many powerful ways. The following are some of the beneficial effects of music.

brain waves

Recent interest in sleep research has spurred scientists to take a closer look at music. Research has shown that certain music can stimulate brainwaves to resonate in sync with the beat - a slower tempo promoting a calm, relaxed state.

Calmtime takes this process much further, by enabling your brainwaves to progress from gentle relaxation through to deeper states of calmness.

"We may be sitting on one of the most widely available and cost effective therapeutic modalities that ever existed," Turow said. Systematically, this could be like taking a pill. Listening to music seems to be able to change brain functioning to the same extent as medication, in many circumstances."

heart rate

with alterations in brainwaves come other changes. Breathing and heart rate, which are governed by the autonomic nervous system, can be altered by listening to music - this can mean slower breathing and slower heart rate. This is why Calmtime and may help to counteract or prevent the damaging effects of chronic stress.

depression and anxiety

Music can also be used to bring a more positive state of mind, helping people who suffer from depression and anxiety.

other benefits

Music has also been found to bring many other benefits, such as lowering blood pressure (which can also reduce the risk of stroke and other health problems over time), boosting the immune system and easing muscle tension.

using music on your own

While music therapy is an important discipline, you can also achieve benefits from music on your own. Music can be an especially effective tool for stress management, and can be used in daily life. Calmtime is specifically designed to help you to take charge of your own relaxation response.

All the research mentioned here has been based on using conventional quiet music. It's worth remembering that Calmtime, with its powerful combination of relaxation aids, is likely to bring you a much stronger effect. www.calmtime.co.uk