We all listen to music now and then, but did you ever consider how listening to it can benefit you? This mood-boosting activity can have profound impacts on our health and wellbeing and should be taken as seriously as eating a healthy diet and staying active. Here are the top 10 benefits that you can expect to find when you listen to music regularly.

Increases Your Happiness

It only takes around fifteen minutes to feel happier after listening to your favorite tunes. These positive feelings of excitement and joy are enhanced since you get a natural high from the release of dopamine, which is known as the happy hormone. The release of dopamine might actually mean that listening to music is not only pleasurable but can also be addictive since the same transmission is sent when people enjoy drugs, gambling, and delicious food. 

Improved Sleep

Music can lead to slower breathing, lower blood pressure, and a reduced heart rate, which all contribute to better sleep since it relaxes the body by soothing the autonomic nervous system that controls automatic and unconscious processes. Choose relaxing rhythms that will synchronize with your heart rate,  measured in beats per minute (bpm) is a good idea since they will help to slow down anxious thoughts, however, choosing music that has helped with sleep in the past is always optimal.

Boosts Your Mood While Driving

Driving can be a boring and sometimes a time-consuming task, but when you are listening to music you can enter a zone where you are unconsciously driving and enjoying your time while doing it. Listening to music while driving positively affects your mood and can lead to much safer and calmer behavior on the road, which is good not only for you but everyone else around you.

Strengthens Your Memory

Your memory may be slightly improved when trying to recall something that you learned whilst listening to music. This makes it most beneficial to learn while listening to songs, however, if you do not like music, it might have the opposite effect. Furthermore, there is a difference in how you recall information if you are a musician or not since different types of music from neutral to positive have varying influences.

Improves Your Running Performance

If running is what you’re into then try running with music to enhance your performance. The rhythm helps to keep your body moving at a certain pace so play fast music, with motivating lyrics and watch your body react by speeding up or play slow, classical music to slow you down and take in the scenery. You can take music and running a step further by creating a playlist that will help you to manage your pace in a way that will encourage you to run longer and faster in the future without getting too tired. Music might also help you with an upcoming race since listening to it beforehand can relax your nerves and get you focused on performing your best, along with listening to it during the race can make the race more enjoyable. 

Enjoy Less Stress

Lower levels of stress are experienced in people who listen to music on a regular basis since the pattern helps to lower cortisol, a stress hormone. This is very significant since stress is known to have a negative impact on our well-being, with 60% of all diseases and illnesses being caused by high levels of stress. Slower music is better at helping you reduce stress levels since it soothes the body into a relaxed state where your muscles are made to loosen up and release tension. 

Eat Fewer Calories

All of this extra relaxation and decreased stress leads to the consumption of fewer calories! A study found that diners ate around 175 fewer calories when in a relaxing atmosphere, including soft, slow music, such as jazz and ambient lighting. This is since the diner is affected by the chilled-out mood, which causes them to concentrate better on their meal and eat slower so that they notice the feeling of fullness much sooner and stop.

Live Music

If listening to music is great for your health, just wait and see what happens when you listen to it live. Not only will you benefit from reduced stress, but the impact of singing along and dancing around has a bonus effect on our well-being, with a boosted immune system and greater happiness experienced. Visit the Hollywood Casino in Perryville, Maryland for a great selection of live music, from acoustic artists to live DJ’s and enjoy an experience like you’re at one of the classic casinos in Hollywood but with a better atmosphere.

Increases Verbal Ability

Listening to music but particularly taking music lessons can increase your verbal ability by providing you with a greater knowledge of rhythm, tone, melody, and voice that can lead to a much greater range of vocabulary and better comprehension of words. This is especially great for kids who are just at the beginning of their learning journey and are starting to get used to speaking up and engaging in conversations.

Improves Your Intelligence

Listening to music might not improve your intelligence so much by itself, however, the relaxing and stress-reducing impacts of listening to music can make it easier to concentrate and focus on a task, making learning and doing much simpler. Learning to play a musical instrument, however, will improve your intelligence, with the general IQ of a person being raised by around seven points when conducting this activity. If you can’t quite believe this then you should be aware that Albert Einstein loved playing the violin and piano, which helped to improve his mental capacity and uncover his genius.

There is no denying that listening to and playing music is beneficial to our well-being for a number of reasons and in some cases can actually contribute to saving our lives. Since music is quite accessible, it isn’t hard to commit to integrating it more into our lives, whether that’s listening to it in the car on the way to work or taking a bath with your headphones on to wind down.