Music has long been used in many cultures for meditation and healing.  Shamans used rhythms and chanting, and many times music, to help with relaxation and concentration. More recently, doctors are beginning to recognize music as a therapeutic tool to help with a variety of ailments, such as depression, blood pressure, and PTSD.  The Cardiovascular Society of Great Britain at Oxford University has found that listening to relaxing music with a repetitive rhythm on a regular basis can reduce heart rate and help in keeping blood pressure under control for longer periods of time. Further, studies at McGill University in Canada show that listening to relaxing music encourages the production of brain chemicals such as dopamine—increasing feelings of joy and bliss—which has been known to decrease symptoms of depression and stress. Studies have also shown that listening to relaxing music may also produce higher levels of human growth hormone, which is essential for regulating weight, bone growth, and metabolism, as well as increasing heart function. Music is a powerful tool that is only recently gaining recognition for its many health benefits, such as:

• Assisting patients with Alzheimer’s by reducing stress, improving mood, managing agitation, and facilitating cognitive function;
• Increasing brain plasticity, which helps with learning, changing, and growing;
• Helping veterans and others struggling with PTSD. The Department of Veteran’s Affairs has introduced an initiative to help veterans by giving them guitar lessons. Learning to play music has greatly reduced the stress and PTSD symptoms of those participating in the program.
• Assisting people struggling with sleep issues. Listening to music before and during sleep cycles can greatly help those who have trouble falling asleep and staying asleep.

So, what is it about music that makes it such a strong health and wellness tool? One of the reasons lies in the beats the music produces. As humans, we experience many mental states throughout our day, from wide awake and stressed to calm and relaxed, and everywhere in between. This continuum is caused by electrical activity in the brain and is controlled by a process called brainwave entrainment. When we want to change the state that our brain is in–such as going from stressed to relaxed–we can accomplish this by using brainwave entrainment Music is key in producing this effect. How do you experience brainwave entrainment? One of the easiest and most automatic ways is to listen to BrainTap’s wide array of audio sessions, designed to help balance brainwaves—ultimately achieving relaxation, focus, and overall peak performance. By utilizing relaxing, 10-cycle holographic music encoded with binaural beats and isochronic tones, along with guided visualizations (spoken word), BrainTap provides brainwave entrainment that requires no effort on your part, simply sit back and relax and we’ll do the rest. If you’d like more information on how BrainTap can help you get the benefits music has to offer–plus more–Click HERE now.