“Help Me If You Can, I’m Feeling Down:” How Music Can Relieve Stress
It’s the most wonderful, and stressful, time of the year! The holidays are here and while it can be a joyful time to celebrate with friends and family, it can also consist of busy schedules, sickness, shopping, deadlines, traveling, events and parties, and a range of emotions from gratitude to grief. Stress is a part of our daily lives and according to a new 2022 study by the American Psychological Association, stress and mental health statistics are on the rise due to factors such as inflation, politics, global uncertainty, COVID-19, money-related matters, and parental concerns for children.
Research studies have shown that music can help us alleviate stress, depression, and anxiety by enhancing mood, expressing emotions, and providing opportunities to socialize and connect with others. Music is so powerful it can even affect our physical bodies by lowering heart rate and blood pressure, decreasing stress hormones (cortisol), relieving muscle tension, increasing dopamine and serotonin levels, and boosting the immune system.
Here are some helpful tools for how you can use music in your daily life to relieve stress and anxiety-
1. Listen to Music
Favorite songs and playlists- Listening to music that you enjoy helps to release dopamine, a hormone that makes us feel happy, motivated, and satisfied!
Relaxing music and activities- Find music that is relaxing to you and can be used for meditation, yoga, breathing, or muscle relaxation exercises
2. Make Music
Sing or play an instrument- Singing is a great way to relieve stress and it’s never too late to learn how to play a new instrument!
Write/compose your own music- It’s fun to create our own music whether we’re making up rhythms, melodies, or both! There are all kinds of beginner friendly resources that are easy to use including Garage Band where you can create your own loops or record your own music and Google Chrome Music Lab which is a fun, interactive way to explore and experiment through sound and visuals!
3. Move to Music
Dance or work out- Moving our bodies releases opioid hormones that relieve physical and psychological pain. This helps us boost our immune systems by increasing antibodies and decreasing stress hormones.
4. Music with Others
Attend concerts or music festivals- Going to music events is a great way to increase our socialization with others and to meet new friends who share our music interests.
Join a choir, band, or take music lessons- This can help us find a community, create relationships, and cultivate positive experiences. For example, the Parkinson’s Choir at PHH is virtual and allows us to connect with people from all over the USA and even other countries!
Make/share music with family and friends- This gives us the chance to connect with our loved ones and have fun together! It could be a campfire family sing-a-long, sharing favorite songs, watching a musical together, or making a cd/playlist as a gift.
5. Music Therapy
Music Therapy at PHH- Music therapy sessions can include interventions such as songwriting, improvisation, lyric analysis, emotional recognition, and more to meet goals associated with emotions and stress! We offer individual and group opportunities based on what your needs are!
One important thing to remember is to choose music that YOU find enjoyable and relaxing! There’s so many different types of music genres out there and everyone has their own opinion about what kind of music they find relaxing. One person might relax while listening to classical music while another prefers metal. The bottom line is, if you don’t like the music, it will annoy you more than it will help you relax! It also depends on how you’re feeling or what activity you’re doing to help de-stress yourself. For example, if you want to do some deep breathing or meditation, you may want to consider a slower, softer song with fewer instruments or you may decide you like the sound of waves or you may prefer having a singer. But if you’re working out or dancing to relieve your stress, you may choose something upbeat, fast, and motivating to match your pace. On the other hand, if you’re dealing with feelings or moods that are difficult to process, you might want to connect with a song that has relatable lyrics and slowly shift towards music with lyrics that are optimistic and full of positive affirmations to help regulate your emotions and increase your self-awareness. Listen to clips of songs and explore new music to find what resonates for you and fits your needs! Take a look at the spotlight on our PHH music therapists below to read about why and how they chose their own personal favorites!
It’s important to have coping strategies to help us keep our stress at a manageable level because it will help us improve our overall health in addition to paying attention to our diet, exercise, and sleep routines. Music can be an effective way to manage our stress and it’s never too late to explore all the ways we can engage with music and make it a part of our daily routines!
“Music speaks what cannot be expressed, soothes the mind and gives it rest; heals the heart and makes it whole, flows from heaven to the soul.” – Author Unknown
SPOTLIGHT ON MUSIC FROM PHH MT’S
Here you can get a glimpse of the different kinds of music our very own PHH music therapists use to de-stress and relax. Please listen and enjoy!
ALLISON, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, MT-BC - "Louder Than Words" from Tick Tick Boom
I have consistently used this song to de-stress since I was in middle school (and it still appeared on my 2022 year in review from Spotify). I really enjoy Broadway music, and this song helps me de-stress because of the message. I really resonate with the lyrics and find them validating and motivating whenever I feel stressed. It also has a great musical build. It isn't necessarily a traditional "calm" sounding song, but I find the more energetic drum beat hypes me up when I need to blow off some steam. Bonus Songs: "Morning Comes" by Delta Rae, "You Are Loved" by Josh Groban, "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" by Elton John, and "Days Like This" by Dermot Kennedy. I am a lyrics person, so I usually choose which of these songs to relax to based on the lyrical message I feel I need.
KENZI, MT-BC - "Kissing in Cars" by Pierce the Veil
It elicits a positive memory for me and the aspect of the acoustic heavy beats provide a constant for me to slow my heart rate down and just be in the moment.
ELLIE, MT-BC - "Changes" by Langhorne Slim
Going through changes and how uncomfortable that can be so I like to listen to it in times of change; a quote by my favorite poet Andrea Gibson says it best “the most healing thing you can do is remind yourself over and over again that other people feel this too”; I am constantly changing and evolving so this song is always relevant and inspiring to me to keep trucking along even when the changes feel hard
HANNAH, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, MT-BC - "Forever Like That" by Ben Rector
First, it is my wedding song. Ben is an artist my husband and I have been following since he played in small bars in our college town. We knew long before we were engaged that this was 'our song.' So I have strong (and positive) emotional ties and memories of hearing this in concerts, in the car, and at our wedding. On a more practical note, it's written in a triple meter, so it has a lilt, and if you breathe with the phrases, it produces long and deep breaths. He also drives his lyrics with melody/pitch/rhythm, so you can physically feel the push and pull through the tension and release portions. For me, it's a song I can get lost in and always come out with a warm feeling of belonging and peace.
REFERENCES
Heckman, W. (2022, April 11). Stress Level of Americans Is Rising Rapidly In 2022, New Study Finds. The American Institute of Stress. https://www.stress.org/stress-level-of-americans-is-rising-rapidly-in-2022-new-study-finds
