Next Stop Relaxation Station
Why music puts us to ease.
by Jackie Saunders
A bubble bath, an episode of American Idol, a hot stone massage, and NFL-packed Sunday afternoons are just a few things we cherish and indulge in to relieve tension and stress. Picking up your Les Paul or popping in the old standby Beatles album Abbey Road are just as essential, if not more effective, in helping to momentarily escape everyday pressures we can’t avoid.
A groundbreaking 2005 study published by research journal Medical Science Monitor showed, for the first time, that playing a musical instrument can reverse the human body’s response to stress at a very basic level. In the study, Dr. Barry Bittman of the Mind-Body Wellness Center in Meadville, Pennsylvania, found that a group of people who participated in an introductory group keyboard class called the Clavinova Connection by Yamaha, had greater levels of stress reduction than those that simply read newspapers or magazines of their choice.
Some positive health benefits of listening and playing music include the lowering of blood pressure, assistance in digestion, elevation in mood, and the production of heart-healthy chemicals that protect your ticker.
"I know people who can relax just so nicely when they hear the Rolling Stones play,” says George Stefano, Ph.D., director of the Neuroscience Research Institute, State University of New York (SUNY) and vice chair, board of directors for the Research Foundation of SUNY. Stefano is also a trombone player. “There is a great deal of individuality
in this pleasure phenomena, and once you find music you
love, it taps into that rewards system and you feel good about it.”
The rewards system that Stefano references is a process where your brain recognizes the positive outcomes and pleasure derived from a certain activity, whether it be getting a compliment from your boss for a job well done or mastering ClaudeDebussy’s “Clair de Lune.” Our brains have the ability to tap into this system when we learn a song we like or stumble upon our favorite tune on the radio. “Through our research, we found that one of the molecules
we have in the brain is an endogenous morphine. So our brain is actually creating a morphine and it’s found in the
pleasure areas,” says Stefano. “The molecule is there and has this function so we are designed to relax, aren’t we?”
Besides inducing a state of euphoria, similar to what people with addictive behaviors seek to receive from a game
of blackjack or a glass of beer, playing a musical instrument also relaxes the inner lining of blood vessels, improving overall health in a person’s cardiovascular system.
Dr. Mike Miller, a research cardiologist at the University of Maryland Medical Center, studies the effects of happiness on people’s hearts and recently discovered that music may be one of the best destressors out there.
Using high-tech imaging, Miller measured blood vessel size, while study subjects listened to music. Just as he suspected, music that the patients enjoyed actually relaxed the vessels and increased blood flow. When participants got an ear full of music they disliked, the blood vessels actually constricted, which is the same thing tension or stress does.
Constant stress can wreak considerable havoc on your body over time. As people age, the stiffening of blood vessels and constriction of blood flow can lead to hardening of the arteries, increased blood pressure resulting in heart attack and stroke, and suppression of the immune system. Other negative effects include infertility, speeding of the aging process, and higher vulnerability to anxiety and depression.
Since music is an essential component to relaxation for some people, many hospitals throughout the country use a music therapy method to help patients heal. The Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, uses music as a recovery tool for patients who have had cardiovascular surgery. Music helps patients relax, therefore decreasing pain, improving moods, and aiding in sleep, which speeds up the recovery.
In order to get the most out of playing music and listening to it, mix it up a bit. Doctors say playing the same song over and over reduces its positive health benefits. Try learning a new melody, or discovering a new artist, band, or genre, in order to get the most out of your de-stressing routine.
