3 types of music to reduce anxiety

1. Classical music

According to studies from the Anxiety & Stress Center in Illinois, soothing tones in music create a calming environment (optie: atmosphere) for people who suffer from illness or stress. Classical and other soothing music can lower the heart rate, blood pressure and levels of the cortisol stress hormone.

In addition, classical music increases serotonin production, which helps combat anxiety, panic and depression. However classical music is certainly not the only type of music that has positive effects on our health. The music we like differs from person to person and is determined, among other things, by our personal experiences.

The music styles that we like are the ones that help to reduce anxiety. There is no point in forcing yourself to listen to classical music when you actually hate it. That would be anything but relaxing! Only music that can make you feel good actually helps to reduce anxiety or stress.

2. Binaural beats

Binaural beats is another type of music that can reduce stress and anxiety. But not everyone is familiar with its power (optie: with the power of binaural beats). Binaural beats are created by playing two sounds of slightly different frequencies. One tone is slightly higher or lower than the other tone, yet your brain perceives these as a single tone.

This single tone is what makes it unique. Your brain - which vibrates at different frequencies - adapts to that single tone. As a result, the beats evoke a certain state of mind, such as focus or deep relaxation:

• Delta (0 – 4 hertz) – deep sleep, healing
• Thèta (4 – 8 hertz) – meditation, deep relaxation, creativity, trance
• Alfa (8 – 14 hertz) – reduced stress, concentration
• Bèta (14 – 30 hertz) – focus, energy, clarity
• Gamma (30 – 100 hertz) – highly alert, highly conscious, memory

For binaural beats to work, you need to use a headphone or earphones, so your left ear hears a different tone than your right ear.

3. Sound healing

Another type of music to help reduce anxiety is sound healing, which uses the healing power of music to relax the body and mind.

Here is how it works. Sound healing uses sound vibrations for their healing properties (optie: uses sound vibrations to relax your mind and body). Think of tuning forks, gongs or singing bowls. When these are triggered, they create vibrations that have a powerful effect on body and mind.

Compare it with a stone that you throw into the water. As soon as the stone hits the water, small waves spread out from where the stone first made contact. The music vibrations are the waves and your body is the water they move through.

In the book Vibrational Medicine, Dr. Richard Gerber explains how music frequencies can help to rebalance the energy in a body that is out of balance due to anxiety or stress. Sound healing can shift low frequencies of fear into high frequencies of peace and confidence.

Music in the Meditation Moments app 

The Meditation Moments app has different sections dedicated to binaural beats and sound healing. In addition, the app is full of music for different purposes such as peaceful sleep, better focus, or improved relaxation. It also offers a range of music tracks that can be used as background music for yoga and meditation. All music is exclusive and specifically composed by our team in our own studio, which makes it unique.