How Does Music Affect Sleep?

Everybody likes music. From classical, pop, rap, or rock, everyone has their own taste. Music is more than just entertainment. It can affect your health, or more specifically your sleep.
Listening to music while you’re sleeping has many positive effects on the human body. Being in contact with music (playing, listening, singing, etc.) can also have effects in your sleep. Have you ever taught sleep problems as insomnia can be reduced or solved with something as simple as music?
Based on the research published in the Journal of Advanced Nursing in February 2005, people with sleep problems from the older generation that listened to music while they slept reported a thirty five percent of improvement in their sleep. They were able to chose what song to listen from a collection of calm pieces. The benefits included relevant improvement in the quality of sleep, as well as in the amount. They also claim to be less stressed during the day. This is due to the fact that sleeping provides rest and energy for the body.
Canadian researchers in the University of Toronto proved that listening to music before you sleep can lead to a restful night. They came up with “Brain Music,” or music based from the brain waves produced when you’re trying to sleep. They played music to two groups of people: one group listened to brain music and the second one listened to normal music. Both groups showed improvement in their sleep, but the ones exposed to brain music showed more significant results. Brain music reduced the levels of anxiety and stress and induced sleep.
Neil Stanley, chairman of the British Sleep Society, said that your favorite piece of music is even better for sleep (Stanley). Calm music isn’t necessarily the only choice for good sleep. If you don’t like calm music, then your body won’t feel comfortable. Anything that goes against what you like is not a good option. If perhaps, your favorite music is rock or pop, it would still be good for your sleep.
The Benefits of music therapy are great! They cure sleep problems, or simply provide you with a restful night. What makes this better that medicine or therapy is that you won’t become dependent to it. Many medicine for sleep problems contain drugs and other substances that can result harmful for the body. The side effects may also be something to have caution about.
Music does not only give you good sleep, but it can also be present in dreams. According to Valeria Uga’s research musicians who have been playing a musical instrument from an early age can listen or even create music in their dreams. Some testimonials , which have not yet been proven by scientific research, say that if you listen to music while you sleep your dreams can be related to the song you hear.
I surveyed seventh grade students to find out if the listened to music while they slept. Only one out of 20 surveyed boys and girls listened to music while he slept reporting eight hours of sleep. Even though, this survey can’t be analyzed further due to the lack of people who listen to music while they sleep.
One of the surveyed students, who doesn’t currently listen to music while she sleeps, affirmed to get better sleep and health when she listened to classical music while she slept during the second grade. She states her grades back then were always in the high nineties. This may happen because of the good quality of sleep and other benefits caused by music. She also mentioned that as soon as she stopped listening to music her grades dropped back to the low eighties. This proves that music doesn’t only benefit sleep, but plays an important role on a daily basis. This also clues in that music can affect attitude, sleep, dreams, rest, and even your way of thinking.
Based on the research I found out that music helps reduce sleep problems and it-s symptoms. It can, as well, affect your dreams as musicians often dream with music. Music doesn’t only play a part in sleeping habits but may also benefit health. Getting good sleep is especially important for your attitude through the day and your overall health. If you’re not getting enough sleep, give music a try!
FGB