Have you ever been sitting in a room listening to relaxing music and found yourself drifting off to sleep? If so, you are not alone. Most people find soft, soothing music relaxing. In fact, that is why lullabies are so effective at helping children fall asleep.
What if you could take advantage of that effect to make it easier to fall asleep at night? Instead of laying awake staring at the ceiling, you could easily fall into a deep, refreshing sleep that left you feeling great the following day.
The best part is, anyone can benefit from this simple technique. Everyone from young children all the way up to elderly individuals can play music in the background to sleep more soundly at night.
If you are trying to sleep better, choosing the right kind of music is essential. Your odds of drifting peacefully off to sleep after listening to aggressive speed metal are pretty slim. On the other hand, soft classical music could be the ideal choice.
According to WebMD, the music that you choose should come in at approximately 60 beats per minute. This is the range that studies found most effective for helping people sleep. If you don’t know any songs that meet this requirement off the top of your head, there are plenty of free tracks available online. These tracks, which are designed specifically for promoting better sleep, have a tempo of exactly 60 beats per minute.
You can also use your own music as long as it falls somewhere in the proper range. Try to stick with songs that have fewer than 80 beats per minute for the best results.
Songs that don’t have vocals are the best option. If someone is singing, your brain naturally listens to the words since it is programmed to try to understand speech. This can make it harder to fall asleep. Instrumental music is much less distracting, which is why it is a far better choice for bedtime listening.
You should also look for songs that are relatively consistent in terms of their volume. Avoid songs that have dramatic changes in their dynamics. If a song goes from being extremely quiet to being loud and back to quiet again, it can wind up disrupting your sleep. Songs that maintain pretty much the same volume from start to finish are a much better choice.
You may also want to look for music that is repetitive in nature. Hearing the same calming music patterns over and over again can help the brain relax. When listening to repetitive music, your brain is far less likely to try to anticipate what is going to happen next, making it easier to keep from focusing too much attention on the music.
When you go to bed, keep the music at a low volume. If it is too loud, it can wind up being distracting. You may also want to set a timer so that the music shuts off automatically after you are asleep. That way, it won’t continue playing throughout the night.
Music can definitely improve the quality of your sleep. You just need to choose the right type of music to listen to at bedtime. Avoid fast-paced music that has a lot of changes in pitch, volume, or tempo. Instead, opt for slow, repetitive songs that have a tempo that measures somewhere around 60 beats per minute to get the best results.
