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If listening to music while sleeping is your jam, there
Plato once said music “gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.”
And he was right.
But music is not only impactful for our imagination, listening to music while sleeping can improve our bodies and health.
If you’re like the average human, you will spend about 26 years of your life sleeping. This equates to 9,490 days or 227,760 hours.
As if that’s not enough, you’d also spend 7 years trying to get to sleep. So if you’re looking for ways to get a good sleep and wake up more rested, keep reading.
In this article, we will discuss the science-backed benefits of listening to music while sleeping.
Let’s get started!
Benefits of listening to music while sleeping
1. Improve sleep quality
The quality of sleep is not just how many hours you sleep.
Sure, that matters. But often, the most important factor for sleep quality is whether we indeed rested during the state of sleep.
The lack of sleep quality is why you’ll find people complain that although they sleep for several hours, they wake tired.
More hours don’t necessarily equal better rest. A good rest depends on a few factors.
The primary one is how well your brain waves slow down 90 minutes after falling asleep.
That’s a stage referred to in the sleep cycle as Rapid Eye Movement. Listening to music while sleeping can help facilitate the stages that lead to that.
In one study, researchers studied 50 adults with chronic insomnia. The study’s goal was to understand the effects of music on sleep quality.
Researchers split the participants into two groups: 25 in the music group and the other 25 in the control group.
Participants in the music group listened to soothing music for 45 minutes at nocturnal sleep time. The control group did not.
It turns out that the group that listened to music significantly increased their rested state during sleep.
But that’s not all. They also shortened the time their brain waves shut down.
2. Facilitates deeper and longer sleep
If you like to take afternoon naps, it’s possible you need a deeper sleep in a short period.
Or maybe you have a busy night schedule and so have only a few hours to sleep. In any of these cases, deep sleep is important for you.
Listening to music while sleeping can be a powerful way to fall into a deep sleep.
In one study, researchers looked into the effect of sedative music on the sleep cycle.
Researchers enrolled 24 young adults and observed their sleep patterns.
So for two nights in a row, researchers assigned participants to two groups in a random way.
One group listened to sedative music composed by certified music therapists for the first hour the participant was in bed. The other group didn’t listen to any music.
The results showed that sedative music improved the quality of sleep by prolonging the duration of deep sleep.
Also, music provides an alternative and noninvasive way to improve sleep. This really helps if you experience sleep problems.
But that’s not all.
Another study in the Journal of Music Therapy found something fascinating.
Turns out people who listened to background music had significant improvement in sleep duration over time.
Indeed, 66.7 percent of those participants who listened to music slept longer hours.
They had more than 7 hours of sleep per night. So if you want to lose yourself in deep sleep, listening to music while sleeping can help.
3. Enhances relaxation
Our circadian rhythm plays an important role in determining how well we sleep. Let me explain.
The circadian rhythm is our body’s timekeeper for sleep.
For example, the circadian rhythm helps our bodies to respond to environmental cues. These cues inform our bodies to feel sleepy or awake.
Think of it as the body’s natural clock that helps us to wind down and wake up.
When we listen to music while sleeping, we send a powerful cue to the body’s circadian rhythm. It tells the body to start to wind down.
Take for example this study published in the Journal of Holistic Nursing.
Participants received a choice of 20 musical tapes to play at any time they wished. These tapes included light classical and jazz to country music.
The researchers also gave participants the choice to select music that he or they enjoyed. They also had the choice to change music as their moods changed.
The results suggest that listening to music made participants feel more relaxed and comfortable. One of the participants described:
"Listening to the music gave me a feeling of relaxation, comfort, taking me away to a safer nicer place. It was like a feeling of peace and calmness. It was just a comfortable feeling."
This relaxation feeling helps you to effectively wind down and fall asleep naturally.
4. Offers distraction from pain
Another benefit of listening to music while sleeping is that it provides an escape from pain. I’ll explain.
This was another finding from the study published in the Journal of Holistic Nursing.
Researchers reported that listening to music can help distract from pain in the postoperative period.
Here’s what one of the participants:
"The music helped me to forget about the pain for a while. I was able to concentrate on the music and not on the pain. It helped me feel better."
Besides the distraction from pain, there was something else.
If listening to music while sleeping is your jam, there
Plato once said music “gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.”
And he was right.
But music is not only impactful for our imagination, listening to music while sleeping can improve our bodies and health.
If you’re like the average human, you will spend about 26 years of your life sleeping. This equates to 9,490 days or 227,760 hours.
As if that’s not enough, you’d also spend 7 years trying to get to sleep. So if you’re looking for ways to get a good sleep and wake up more rested, keep reading.
In this article, we will discuss the science-backed benefits of listening to music while sleeping.
Let’s get started!
Benefits of listening to music while sleeping
1. Improve sleep quality
The quality of sleep is not just how many hours you sleep.
Sure, that matters. But often, the most important factor for sleep quality is whether we indeed rested during the state of sleep.
The lack of sleep quality is why you’ll find people complain that although they sleep for several hours, they wake tired.
More hours don’t necessarily equal better rest. A good rest depends on a few factors.
The primary one is how well your brain waves slow down 90 minutes after falling asleep.
That’s a stage referred to in the sleep cycle as Rapid Eye Movement. Listening to music while sleeping can help facilitate the stages that lead to that.
In one study, researchers studied 50 adults with chronic insomnia. The study’s goal was to understand the effects of music on sleep quality.
Researchers split the participants into two groups: 25 in the music group and the other 25 in the control group.
Participants in the music group listened to soothing music for 45 minutes at nocturnal sleep time. The control group did not.
It turns out that the group that listened to music significantly increased their rested state during sleep.
But that’s not all. They also shortened the time their brain waves shut down.
2. Facilitates deeper and longer sleep
If you like to take afternoon naps, it’s possible you need a deeper sleep in a short period.
Or maybe you have a busy night schedule and so have only a few hours to sleep. In any of these cases, deep sleep is important for you.
Listening to music while sleeping can be a powerful way to fall into a deep sleep.
In one study, researchers looked into the effect of sedative music on the sleep cycle.
Researchers enrolled 24 young adults and observed their sleep patterns.
So for two nights in a row, researchers assigned participants to two groups in a random way.
One group listened to sedative music composed by certified music therapists for the first hour the participant was in bed. The other group didn’t listen to any music.
The results showed that sedative music improved the quality of sleep by prolonging the duration of deep sleep.
Also, music provides an alternative and noninvasive way to improve sleep. This really helps if you experience sleep problems.
But that’s not all.
Another study in the Journal of Music Therapy found something fascinating.
Turns out people who listened to background music had significant improvement in sleep duration over time.
Indeed, 66.7 percent of those participants who listened to music slept longer hours.
They had more than 7 hours of sleep per night. So if you want to lose yourself in deep sleep, listening to music while sleeping can help.
3. Enhances relaxation
Our circadian rhythm plays an important role in determining how well we sleep. Let me explain.
The circadian rhythm is our body’s timekeeper for sleep.
For example, the circadian rhythm helps our bodies to respond to environmental cues. These cues inform our bodies to feel sleepy or awake.
Think of it as the body’s natural clock that helps us to wind down and wake up.
When we listen to music while sleeping, we send a powerful cue to the body’s circadian rhythm. It tells the body to start to wind down.
Take for example this study published in the Journal of Holistic Nursing.
Participants received a choice of 20 musical tapes to play at any time they wished. These tapes included light classical and jazz to country music.
The researchers also gave participants the choice to select music that he or they enjoyed. They also had the choice to change music as their moods changed.
The results suggest that listening to music made participants feel more relaxed and comfortable. One of the participants described:
"Listening to the music gave me a feeling of relaxation, comfort, taking me away to a safer nicer place. It was like a feeling of peace and calmness. It was just a comfortable feeling."
This relaxation feeling helps you to effectively wind down and fall asleep naturally.
4. Offers distraction from pain
Another benefit of listening to music while sleeping is that it provides an escape from pain. I’ll explain.
This was another finding from the study published in the Journal of Holistic Nursing.
Researchers reported that listening to music can help distract from pain in the postoperative period.
Here’s what one of the participants:
"The music helped me to forget about the pain for a while. I was able to concentrate on the music and not on the pain. It helped me feel better."
Besides the distraction from pain, there was something else.
