Music that Swings the Soul

You can hear music all around you, and at all times. In your car, at parties, on television commercials, sporting events, the radio, at home, on your computer, and you can even hear music when there is no music playing. But how can all of this music affect your daily mood? Many people know that listening to music while feeling sad or upset can actually make you happier. Music can stimulate your body to produce serotonin (the happiness hormone) which elevates your mood.  What you may not be aware of is that music can not only make you happier, but it can also reduce stress, make depression more bearable, and can help you relax.

Believe it or not, music can relax your muscles and help reduce your breathing rate. Both of which are directly related to reducing stress and can assist you in making your life less stressful. In fact, there are certain music genera’s that should be played to counterbalance unwanted emotions.

For instance, if you are sad, it would help to listen to happy and upbeat music to turn your mood around. This also helps in the morning to fight off the haze of sleep and to get your day going quicker. Anger is another tricky emotion that many people have trouble dealing with. For those of you with “Short Fuses”, you may want to try rock music with fast tempos with loud guitar playing.
           

IPods are a wonderful way to keep all of your music organized and in one single place. It is wise to make several different playlists on your IPod of music that can be used for different moods. For example, create a playlist for when you are sad which contains happy music, and one for times when you are angry with rock and medal.

While choosing your music selection you should be sure to watch out for anchors. When your random music player chooses an anchor song, you are likely to feel down. Anchors are unpleasant memories that can be attached to a certain song or artist. This happens because your mind has previously associated both events with each other so that when one of them occurred you just recalled the second.

You should also be aware of the lyrics of the songs you listen to. Some songs contain negative words and phrases that are much more destructive than negative self-talk. A poplar example would be any love song that contains a phrase like “I can’t live without you”. The more you will listen to this song the more you will be programming your mind with such a belief and the more likely you are to end up feeling desperate when you break up with someone.

            

      Music has more of an impact on your lives than most people realize, and it could possibly be the reason someone is either a generally happy person, or a generally sad person.  By altering your music choices and when you listen to certain songs, you could change the whole outlook of your day, and possibly your whole week.