Why music is good for your mental health…
Whether you love to blast hard rock, sing along to pop, rap along with your fave grunge artist or can’t get enough of K-pop, all types of music can have a positive effect on your mental health and wellbeing. Music can:
- Lift your mood
- Make you feel motivated
- Reduce your stress levels
- Help you focus on a task
- Help you to relax and unwind
- Reduce anxiety
Here’s how you can use music in your everyday life to help take care of your mental health:
Feeling Blue?
Blast a bad mood away with an upbeat tune or two! Resist the urge to wallow in sad songs and pop on a playlist of feel-good, upbeat music instead. A happy song can really lift your spirits when you’re feeling down.
Feeling Unmotivated?
Playing a fast-paced tune can make you feel motivated to get up and go! Stream a ‘running music’ playlist when you go for a jog or walk or play dance music when you want to start a workout. If you struggle to get up in the mornings, try setting an up-tempo, upbeat tune as your alarm. You won’t want to hit snooze when the beat drops!
Feeling Stressed?
Run a bath and play gentle music in the background to help you relax. There are lots of ready-made playlists available on Spotify and other music streaming services – try searching ‘relaxing music’ or ‘chill’ to find calming, gentle tunes you might never have heard before.
Feeling Distracted?
It can be difficult to concentrate on a task sometimes, especially if it’s boring or difficult, but did you know that music can help you focus? Most people would recommend classical music but if that’s not your thing, don’t worry – you could play the instrumental version of your favourite album instead.
Feeling Uptight?
You need to r-e-l-a-x. Play gentle music, lay back on your bed and stretch out your arms and legs to loosen up. Concentrate only on the music and relaxing your muscles. If you often have difficulty falling asleep, you can play music, very quietly, to help you unwind.
Feeling Anxious?
Music can make you feel less anxious. Try playing music if you’re feeling particularly worried or panicky to distract your thoughts and focus your mind. Take slow deep breaths (you could do this in time with the music if you’re listening to a slower-paced song) and focus on the beat and the lyrics.
If all else fails, turn your music up loud and dance like no-one’s watching! It feels so freeing to move in time to the music without worrying about how you look or what others might think. Close your bedroom door and just let yourself go! If you need some dance inspiration, check out our dance-off challenge here.
