Is Music The New All Natural Sleep Aid?

Poor sleep is nothing new to Americans. It is estimated that 50 to 70 million Americans have some sort of sleep disorder, according to the American Sleep Association.

The most common disorders include snoring, restless sleep such as waking up throughout the night, sleep apnea, and even insomnia. What’s even more scary is drowsy driving is responsible for over 1,500 fatal accidents a year.

Getting enough sleep can be difficult with the day-to-day grind that leaves us stressed and depleted. As a result, millions of Americans are using sleep aids to help them fall asleep at night.

But these medications are also causing an epidemic of Americans becoming so dependent on sleeping medications they are causing serious health issues.

One of those being the inability to naturally fall asleep on their own. As a result people are looking for a more natural way to get a full night’s sleep, and one way is music.

Just as adults sing lullabies to babies to help them relax and dose off, music is also a helpful tool when trying to relax and go to sleep.

Music helps trigger a feel-good chemical in the brain which can help with relaxation. By relaxing your brain and body, you naturally begin to fall asleep. It’s a natural way to self soothe and lower your heart rate and slow down your breathing.

Although definitive research is still trying to narrow down exactly how music can help one fall asleep, a general consensus is music affects the central nervous system of the brain by producing an anti-anxiety effect.

Most sleep-related disorders are caused by anxiety, depression, and stress. Because music can help relax the mind and body, and also produce anti-anxiety effects on the brain, it makes sense that it would help with overall sleep disorders. 

Adults need between 7 to 9 hours of sleep a night, yet over 35 percent of adults say they average less than 7 hours of sleep a night. Other natural ways to help fall asleep include warm baths or showers, and meditation or yoga.

When using music as a calming way to sleep make sure the beat does not exceed 60 beats per minute. Try setting a timer to turn the music off after an hour, and you can even use the soothing music as a way to help you naturally wake up.