I am a massive fan of music. I couldn’t imagine a life without music. Every day I get in at least an hour of music. Not only is music incredibly enjoyable, but it’s good for you. It can improve your mood, help you sleep better, and improve your memory.

Music can affect your mood. It’s obvious that upbeat music makes you happy and reduces stress. Sad music, like the blues, puts you in a mellow mood. But why? Our favorite music releases dopamine and serotonin. For those who don’t remember their true name, they just call it their feel-good hormones, which trigger our brain’s pleasure and reward systems. Music can have an immediate, positive impact on our mental state also, fast music can psychologically and physiologically fire us up and energize us for some time. 

Also, music affects sleep quality. You may know that people sing or play lullabies for small children to help them fall asleep. But why is that? Slow music improves sleep by calming parts of your autonomic nervous system. Your autonomic system is the part of your nervous system that controls your involuntary actions, such as the beating of your heart and the widening or narrowing of your blood vessels. Listening to music can lead to slower breathing, a lower heart rate, and reduced blood pressure, all of which help with falling asleep.

Lastly, music helps with memory. Listening to and creating your own music renews areas of the brain associated with memory, speech, reasoning, emotion, and reward. Two recent studies, one in the United States and the other in Japan, found that music doesn’t just help us retrieve stored memories but it also helps us create and remember new ones.

Music is a blessing, and people don’t understand the full potential of its use. Not only is it a good way to spend your time, but it can improve your daily life. Music can improve sleep, memory, and mood.