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If You Want to Sleep Better & Improve Your Brainpower, Try Music!
by SixWise.com


Ever find that playing your favorite CD after a hard day, or listening to your favorite radio station before you go to bed, is soothing or actually helps put you in a better mood? There's a reason why many people are inherently drawn to music, and that's because music is far more than just noise in the background--it can actually help you to sleep better, improve your brainpower, reduce stress and more.

Listening to your own sleep "lullaby" will have you sleeping like a baby.

And this news couldn't have come at a better time, as a poll by the National Sleep Foundation found that three-quarters of American adults report problems with sleep. And as anyone who's ever had a restless night's sleep knows, not getting enough sleep can wreak havoc on your ability to function the next day.

Said Richard Gelula, the National Sleep Foundation's CEO, "People who sleep well, in general, are happier and healthier ... But when sleep is poor or inadequate, people feel tired or fatigued, their social and intimate relationships suffer, work productivity is negatively affected, and they make our roads more dangerous by driving while sleepy and less alert."

Fortunately, another study, published in the February 2005 edition of The Journal of Advanced Nursing, found that older adults with sleep problems who listened to soft music at bedtime reported a 35 percent improvement in their sleep. The participants slept longer and better, and had less daytime dysfunction, after listening to 45 minutes of music before bed.

"The difference between the music group and the control group was clinically significant," said Hui-Ling Lai, lead author of the study. "The music group reported a 26 percent overall improvement in the first week and this figure continued to rise as they mastered the technique of relaxing to the sedative music."

If you're interested in trying this technique out for yourself, Sixwise.com highly recommends the SleepEasy CD, which has guided sleep meditations by a leading meditation expert, Mary Maddux, and music by a renowned meditation music composer with 20 years experience. The CD contains both the Sleep Easy guided meditation with music in the background, as well as a track of music alone, which can be used at any time for its relaxing effect.

Music has real affects on our mood, stress level, and even our ability to tolerate pain.

Music, Your Brain, and Your Mood

Music is not only good for sleeping, it's also good for your brain, according to a study published last year in the journal Heart & Lung. Researchers found that people who listened to music while they exercised performed more than twice as well on a verbal fluency test than people who listened to no music. The test was designed to challenge the part of the brain that deals with planning and abstract thought.

Said the study's lead author, Charles Emery, " ... Listening to music may influence cognitive function through different pathways in the brain. The combination of music and exercise may stimulate and increase cognitive arousal while helping to organize cognitive output."

Further, music can have an amazing impact on many aspects of our health, including our mood, stress level and even ability to tolerate pain. There's even a growing area of study called music therapy, in which music therapists work in medical and mental hospitals, day care centers, senior centers and more to help people with health problems ranging from Alzheimer's disease to acute and chronic pain.

Sleep Easy With the Ultimate Soothing Music & Meditation CD on the Market!

Sleep Easy CD: Guided Meditations for Deep Rest. With guided sleep meditations by a leading meditation expert, Mary Maddux, and music by a renowned meditation music composer with 20 years experience, this CD will help you find deep rest and sleep ... at an incredible price.

Sleep Easy CD users have reported:

  • Falling asleep faster
  • Waking up less throughout the night
  • Falling back to sleep faster when awakened during the night
  • Feeling more rested the next morning

Some Recent Testimonials

"I was surprised by how quickly I drifted off to sleep ... The music is phenomenal, ethereal. Mary's voice has a musical, relaxing and trance-inducing quality. There was a difference, also, in the quality of my sleep. Upon awakening, I felt more rested."

-- SR, Mother, CA

"I fell asleep more easily with the CD--not sleeping with all this stuff on my mind and all the unfinished business of the day. The music is relaxing, calming, nurturing ... "

--Kitty Alder, Energy Consultant, NE

Limited Time: FREE Shipping!
Read More About the Sleep Easy CD Now!

According to the American Music Therapy Association, music can be used to:

  • Reduce stress (either by making music, such as drumming, or listening to music passively for relaxation)

  • Provide support for exercise

  • Assist a woman with labor and delivery

  • Alleviate pain in conjunction with anesthesia or pain medication

  • Elevate mood and counteract depression

  • Promote movement for physical rehabilitation

  • Calm or sedate a person to induce sleep

  • Relieve fear or apprehension

  • Lesson muscle tension

As Americans are constantly on the go, whether at work, with the kids or even during our "off time," one of the most popular uses for music is simple relaxation. If you're looking for a perfect CD to relax to, we recommend the Pure Relaxation CD. It uses guided mediations and music that will calm your mind, soothe your emotions and create a state of deep relaxation in your body. It's just the thing to calm your nerves after a tough day.

Aside from music, if you're looking for some other keys to relaxation (and who isn't?), check out our past article, How to Relax (and Lower Your Cortisol Levels): A Golden Key to Your Health.

Recommended Reading

Smile! The Remarkable Personal Benefits of Smiling

Why Do We Need to Sleep? The Latest Fascinating Theories on This Mystery Phenomenon


Sources

American Music Therapy Association

Health Orbit April 22, 2004

ABC News

EurekAlert

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