Certainly music softens morals but, when it is well chosen, it can also help us to calm stress and anxieties. How about a moment of pure relaxation with the best relaxing song of all time according to science…
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We’ve known for a long time that listening to music can help calm the stress and anxieties. Primitive peoples and indigenous tribes have used rhythms and melodies for healing purposes for centuries. Yes but what music? What rhythms? What pieces? What songs?
Rejoice, we give you the scientific answer to this question and, as a bonus, we make you listen to it!
The anti-stress effects of music
Music therapy is a field of study that has fascinated science for many years. Of the neuroscience researchers Britons have thus examined a number of songs known for their relaxing atmospheres. The study carried out by Mindlab International took place at the University of Sussex in 2016.
For the experiment, participants equipped with sensory sensors were asked to solve challenging puzzles within intentionally limited time frames. The situation in which they found themselves was therefore stressful in nature.
During the exercises, they were played various musical pieces (from Coldplay to Mozart) while the researchers followed their brain activity and their psychological state by measuring their heart rate, their blood pressure and breathing.
And the winner is… a relaxing song
During the experiment, the researchers showed that listening to the song ” Weightless of the English group Marconi Union was able to reduce the level of anxiety of participants by 65%. Just that!
No piece of music tested in previous experiments had ever reached such a score, which makes this title the best relaxing song ever.
You can listen below to the shortened version of “Weightless” (4:13 instead of 8:00) which was re-released in 2019.
Other relaxing songs tested and approved
This remarkable result is no coincidence. Marconi Union’s song was originally composed with music therapy experts. Its harmonies and rhythms have been mixed and arranged with the will of slow heart rate of the listener, to reduce their blood pressure and their level of cortisol (the stress hormone). And it works !
Of all the songs tested in the experiments conducted by the international Mindlab, other titles achieved excellent results in terms of stress reduction.
In addition to the winning title, the top-5 is thus composed in the order of ” Electra by Airstream“ Mellomaniac by DJ Shah, “ Watermark » by Enya and finally « Strawberry Swing by superstar band Coldplay.
Now try to isolate yourself, empty your mind and listen to “Weightless” to reduce your stress level and your nervous tension. Admit you don’t have much to lose…
