Children can be just as affected as adults by the stress and anxiety around them, whether they are able to put words to it or now. We wanted to create a follow-up to our Music as Stress Management blog post, sharing ways in which music can calm the little ones in your life (and the adults too).
Listening to music is not only an enjoyable activity, it can literally slow your brain waves down to a relaxed state. Listening to music that has approximately 60 beats per minute (bpm) can “cause the brain to synchronize with the beat causing alpha brainwaves,” the brainwaves we have when relaxed. Researchers at Stanford University found that “listening to music seems to be able to change brain functioning to the same extent as medication.”
1) With that in mind, the first musical step to melting away both your and your child’s stress is to listen to music with a tempo of 60 beats per minute. Here is a wonderful, relaxing playlist of songs that are all 60 bpm.
2) Continuing on the relaxation path, get ready to listen to song that was specifically composed in collaboration with sound therapists to reduce anxiety, cortisol levels, and the blood pressure of listeners. After hearing this piece, study participants indicated a 65% reduction in overall anxiety! In addition to this piece, check out some other music included on this playlist to bust stress.
3) Now that you’ve relaxed your body and reset your mind, it’s a great time to pull out some music to lift your spirits!
For the tiniest among us, Imogen Heap partnered with music therapists to create a song specifically to make babies happy. Using sounds scientifically proven to appeal to babies, a repetitive melody, rising pitch glides, and more they created the Happy Song, a delightful way to get any baby smiling in no time.
4) Now keep the smiles going by checking out this list of 50 upbeat songs guaranteed to put a spring in your step including Happy, which we have featured in Tiny Tots in the past.