Music Changes Your Mood

Are you sad, depressed, or anxious maybe?

Have you ever felt stuck in an emotional state that you can’t seem to get out of?

If you’ve felt this way before, you may have even wished that there was a way to turn these emotions off entirely.

You will be glad to know that you can chase all the blues away just by listening to your favorite music. Considered as a natural antidepressant, music can give you the euphoric high that antidepressant medications can bring.

So if you are looking for a great way to end your crappy day, read on to learn more about how music can uplift your mood almost instantly.

Music is known to tap into various parts of the brain that is why it is utilized by many experts in treating depressed or anxious patients. The meter, timber, rhythm and pitch of music are managed in areas of the brain that deal with emotions and mood. These key areas are the hippocampus, prefrontal cortex and the parietal lobe.

The hippocampus, a structure of the limbic system, is responsible for spatial orientation, navigation and the consolidation of new memories.

It also brings about emotional responses. The prefrontal cortex, on the other hand, manages extreme impulses and emotions. Known as the “seat of good judgment,” it enables one to make good and acceptable calls so that inappropriate behaviors are prevented.

While seasons shift gradually, our inner emotional states can change rapidly, like the channels on a radio or a TV. Think of your mind as a radio.

There is a vast and constant amount of information to digest and process. Sometimes we might get stuck on a certain song or station, hearing the same thing over and over.

If you’ve experienced this kind of rumination or thought-looping before, you know it is an unwelcome and negative cycle. When this happens, anything that helps us to switch to a different channel can provide emotional relief.

Sometimes when we get in these entrenched states, it can be difficult to dig ourselves out. We may start listening to negative messages that have been internalized and deeply ingrained within our minds, (consciously or unconsciously) playing them on repeat.

Music can be a useful tool in helping to turn down volume on the (often irrational) song or story that’s being played incessantly.

While muting the unpleasant tracks we’re so accustomed to hearing in our minds and boosting the sound on some uplifting tunes, our favorite music automatically becomes a natural mood enhancer.

Feel the Beat

The mind and body are connected. Music often makes us want to move, inspiring us to dance or exercise.

This helps release endorphins and serotonin in the brain, so we feel better and adopt a naturally more positive outlook. Combining music with movement is a potent way to improve your mood with the potential for long lasting effects.

Each of us may have different taste in music, but we all crave many of the same things, including happiness and belonging. Music can help us strengthen the bond we have with ourselves, and ultimately, with each other.

While listening to our favorite music in solitude may be the perfect antidote, some people find that the energy and vibrations that abound at live music shows are powerfully therapeutic.

No matter where you are, it’s important to remember, that if you’re feeling a particular emotion, you are surrounded by human beings everywhere who have felt that same emotion before.

All of these ideas depend on what works best for you and what makes you feel good. Not sure what music to put on?

Disclaimer: The information on this POST is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional advice. The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. All content, including text, graphics, images and information, contained on or available through this article is for general information purposes / educational purposes only, and to ensure discussion or debate.  

Thank you …Try checking out Gaana, Sportily and Sound cloud to explore new artists and songs that might be appealing to you.

Music unquestionably affects our emotions. We tend to listen to music that reflects our mood.

When we’re happy we may listen to upbeat music; when we’re sad we may listen to slower, moving songs; when we’re angry we may listen to darker music with heavy guitar, drums, and vocals that reflect our level of anger.

Were you ever asked to name your favorite band or performer?

Were you able to rattle off the top five you listened to regularly?

We may not know why we prefer the artists we listen to, except to say that we resonate with or feel the music, or just that they write songs we like.

But we can learn a lot about our emotional selves through our musical tastes.

Consider a pleasant man in his mid-40s who describes his mid-20s as a time where he was figuring out his place in life.

At the time, he considered himself to be standoffish, internally anxious and shy, well-mannered, and sensitive.

But the music he preferred to listen to was dark, heavy, rough, and aggressive.

After some time in therapy, he realized he’d been repressing significant anger and aggression due to years of childhood emotional and physical abuse. Music had become his voice and his outlet. In a sense, music could touch the deep emotions that he dared not experience on his own.

Now, equipped with an awareness of his previously-suppressed emotions, he has been able to unlock them and begin to work through the issues that have existed since childhood.

Want to add word or two?  

If you are in a relationship, you may know that one of the things you need to negotiate is NOISE!

“I just can’t live another minute with those sports announcers screeching at me from the TV.”

“I’ll drive but I’m not listening to Oldies.”

“I know you’re hot but I can’t sleep with the sound of the air conditioner.

Your baby’s cries are cause for concern; the cries of the baby in the seat behind you on a three hour flight are different.

One person’s rap song is another’s nightmare.

The cell phone call you take on the train may be urgent to you – but it is “unwanted sound” to everyone else. 

The dance band at the wedding is great if you are dancing – deafening if you are not.

Your comment ….?  

Partners Come with Music and Noise

Much as we bring our histories and “our stuff” to our relationships, we bring noise. The same person you love who also loves pets, sports, music or neighbors “stopping by,” brings noise.

On one hand, you might consider that if such sources of noise bring a sense of well being to your partner, they may be worth enduring or working around. When the “girls come over,” find a quiet spot. When the game is on, pull up a chair or head to the mall.

If, on the other hand, your noise or the noise of your partner keeps one or the other from basic needs or important tasks as sleeping, studying, making a business call etc., it may have to be re-considered as an unwanted sound for both of you.

Function Changes the Tolerance for Music &Noise

It is an observation worth making that most partners tolerate the decibels involved in tasks that benefit both of them. Most people don’t complain about the clamor of pots and pans in the kitchen when dinner is prepared and rarely does a partner stop the other from cutting the grass or expanding the garage despite the sounds of the mower or hammer.

“Let’s open champagne and put on some music we love – really loud.”

You may have noticed that negativity or criticism sounds louder than normal speech. You may have said or heard your partner say “stop yelling at me” in response to the content – not the decibels of the exchange.

It is much like the response of children covering their ears even when parents are fighting in hushed tones. In all cases, it is worth recognizing that what is being said is emotionally too loud to be heard.

One of the most common questions I get asked is what the best headphones are for working out.

What are the best earphones for sport?

What are the best headphones for the gym?

You get the picture right? 

People obviously like to listen to music while they workout. There are many factors in deciding what headphone is best for sport as people work out in a variety of different ways and thus one may priorities  one headphones features over another.

To me good gym headphone, or good gym earphone for that matter, should be tough and durable, reasonably priced, warm sounding with good energetic music reproduction and usually should be bass enhanced to help drive you through a hard session.

With music -- is your motivator.