At SpineAlign®, we are on a mission to support proper posture for sleep that is not only comfortable, but encourages healing and recovery. Through the latest technology and thoughtful engineering, our pillows and mattresses are all about giving your body its most natural, relaxed position to allow maximum recovery and energy regeneration.
On rare occasions when we need a little something extra to help us get to sleep, we turn to music. Like many people, we find that music can help take your mind off of stressful thoughts, relax your breathing, and help you fall asleep more quickly. Even if you have woken up in the middle of the night after a stressful day, music can help you get back to sleep sooner.
Particularly now, as the world is affected by the pandemic, studies have shown that a restful night’s sleep is also a defense in protecting your immune system. Listening to music can also contribute to relaxation by soothing and calming parts of the autonomic nervous system, leading to slower breathing, lower heart rate, and reduced blood pressure.
That brings us to the fun part! Designing a playlist. The most important factor to consider when designing a playlist is what the speed or tempo the music is played at. The measurement is in BPM or beats per minute. Since a resting heart rate is between 60-80 BPM, the recommendation is to download or stream slow music. There are many places to find soothing and relaxing music including YouTube, SoundCloud, Spotify, and even in the Google or Apple app store.
Genres of relaxing music are plentiful, from instrumentals from India to jazz and blues. There are also relaxing classical music and non-musical sounds of nature that are soothing. The general idea is to generate an ambient sound in your environment in which you release stressful thoughts that can often feel amplified as the night progresses.
Here are a few of our favorite sounds for relaxation and sleeping.
Meditation melodies are often where people start first when exploring the world of relaxing music. Focused on an instrumental or sounds of nature, the slow tempo and lyric free music helps you to stay focused on the music, and not the anxiety. We like this Bamboo Flute Music found on YouTube which is three hours long. Certainly enough time to get relaxed and fall asleep.
For a sound that is more contemporary and will make you feel like you are at a spa, we are listening to the New Age sounds of Arlette Leduc on Spotify. With over 36 million streams we feel that it’s a popular first choice for this category.
Some music stands the test of time, as does the sound of Chopin in the classical genre. Nocturnes, Op 27 No 2 is on our playlist, as the name says it all. This music is inspired by the night and hopefully your sleep will be inspired too.
A friend recently told us that on one particular restless evening, she hit pause on the music and decided to try the Meditation Oasis podcast. There are dozens of topics to choose from including Wee Hours Rescue in case you wake up and cannot fall back to sleep, Whole Body Relaxation, and Breath Awareness. The episodes are between 5 minutes – 20 minutes, so you are bound to find something that fits your needs.
Finding your favorite sleep music to fall asleep or relax to is a matter of finding out what makes you lower your anxiety and put stressful thoughts off until the next day. Visit other stories on our blog to find out ways to have a restorative sleep including issues related to blue light, mattress tips, and how your pillow affects your sleep quality.
