How mindful are you using music?

I don’t have to tell you the impact a band, solo artist, genre of music or song can have on us. Music can truly touch our hearts, make us feel many emotions and enrich our lives overall. 

Yet, how often do you stop and ponder how you use music in your daily life? Do you listen mindfully? Are you present, or does it become a ‘soundtrack for the background’ often? 🤔

In this blog post, I want to shed light on how your favourite songs can influence your emotions and how these songs can be a tool for self-refection and discovery. I will also share how you can start to understand your musical habits and use it with more intensions.

The Emotional Impact of Music

The impact music has on us is more than a collection of sounds, it is a powerful too that makes you feel a wide range of emotions.
This can be an upbeat song to make you want to get up and dance or a more sad or sombre melody of a ballad that can make you cry. Music has an enormous impact on your emotional wellbeing. 🌿

How can you understand the effect of Music on your emotions?

The starting point is the here and now; what music do you currently listen to? I have put together some questions that can help you make a start with this process:

• Are there any genres you listen to the most?
• Do you use music to help you cope with specific emotions or situations?
• What songs do you turn to when you feel happy, sad, or stressed?
• When do you typically listen to music?
• Do you listen to music actively (mindfully) or passively (in the background)?
• Do you have a habit of exploring new music or do you prefer to stick to familiar songs/artists?
• If you do listen to new music, how often do you do this?

What is the Power of Mindful Music Listening?

As with anything else we want to be better at and improve, it starts with awareness, intention, and being present. That will lead to more engagement when you listen to songs and decrease the time you passively consume it. Some mindful music listening benefits are:

Better emotional awareness: The more you pay attention to how music affects you, the more you can gain insight into your emotional state. 💞

Reduces stress: Allowing yourself to focus on music regularly can be meditation, which helps reduce stress and anxiety. 😎

Increase your appreciation for music: Mindful listening can help you find additional aspects of familiar songs/artist and hence deepen your appreciation for music. 😊

Better mood regulation: If you can choose music based on our emotional needs by becoming more conscious about it, you can regulate your mood more effectively by using music. 🤗

The Science Behind Music and Emotions

A bit of research for your information

It is exciting to see all the new research being conducted to understand the immense power music has in our lives. Whilst us music lovers already ‘know’ this, having scientific backup and confirmation makes it even better.

For the impact of music on our emotions and mental health, I wanted to share one study that shows both the negative and positive influence music can have on us.

The study, published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, found that:

“… anxiety and neuroticism were higher in participants who tended to listen to sad or aggressive music to express negative feelings, particularly in males. “This style of listening results in the feeling of expression of negative feelings, not necessarily improving the negative mood,” says Dr. Suvi Saarikallio, co-author of the study and developer of the Music in Mood Regulation (MMR) test.”

On the other hand, the study also revealed that:

“In females who tended to listen to music to distract from negative feelings, however, there was increased activity in the mPFC. “The mPFC is active during emotion regulation,” according to prof. Elvira Brattico, the senior author of the study. “These results show a link between music listening styles and mPFC activation, which could mean that certain listening styles have long-term effects on the brain.”

The findings in this study highlight the complexity of our music listening habits and emotional wellbeing and draw attention to the importance of being mindful about how we use music in our daily lives.

Link to study: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/10/151022094959.htm