What is the Most Relaxing Music to Help You Sleep?

Some people find it difficult to get a good nights sleep. Music can help immensely. This article looks at the choices that you have when trying ti find the most relaxing music you sleep better.

What Music is Most Relaxing and Helps You Sleep?

Music and sleep have a long-time association. Many people ease their children into slumber by singing them to sleep.

There are even special lullabies that exist solely for this purpose. This type of soothing song has been in use since ancient times and modern-day scientists have conducted studies that prove how well lullabies work.

Dr. Jeffery Perlman, chief of newborn medicine at New York-Presbyterian Hospital’s Komansky Center for Children’s Health, conducted some interesting research in this area.

The results of his studies reveal gentle music therapy slowed down the heart rate of prematurely delivered infants and helped them to sleep better. The music encouraged them to eat better too.

Many other researchers have collected data that shows the soothing effect of lullabies. Some studies indicate a healing nature too but can the right choice of music help ease adults into sleep? Lots of people find that it can.

Apart from helping you to relax and go to sleep, the right kind of music can also be very good for alleviating stress

Of course, it’s important to choose the right type of music to help you unwind. Hard rock and thrash metal are unlikely to do the trick. Music of this nature provides too much stimulation and overexcites the mind.

Apart from helping you to relax and go to sleep, the right kind of music can also be very good for alleviating stress. By doing so, it may also help prevent many undesirable medical conditions, such as high blood pressure and heart disease, which can often be brought on by ongoing, unchecked stress.

Ensuring you have the right conditions for a good night sleep is many facetted and uniquely tailored to the individual. Some people like to sleep in a cold room in silence or total darkness, while other prefer ambient noise and warmer, duvet encased scenario.

Music, Sleep, and Relaxation

Although there is plenty of research that shows the way lullabies can benefit infants, there is a lack of evidence to show why music is good for helping adults to sleep.

Many sleep experts agree it may have something to do with the way certain songs and tunes relax the mind but the nuts and bolts of the processes involved remain a mystery. 

The scientists may have a long way to go before they can ascertain the exact relationship between music, sleep, and relaxation but it’s common knowledge the connection exists. 

Anyone who regularly seeks the help of Beethoven to unwind or chooses a different type of music to chill to knows how effective this mind-calming tactic can be. Furthermore, it can produce very notable physical effects.

Some research reveals listening to relaxing music can lower the heart rate and slow down respiration. Both are factors that are typical for sleep, so there may be a connection there. 

There is also speculation about music triggering the release of feel-good chemicals within the brain. 

But let’s get real here. You don’t have to understand how a thing works to benefit from what it does. Few people fully understand how electricity works but we all use it for many everyday tasks like charging mobile telephones and microwaving food.

Music to Sleep By – Which Category Is Best?

Several different categories of music can be good for relaxing the body and encouraging sleep. However, genre alone is not a deciding factor. Some genres contain music that is perfect for helping you to sleep and also have music that could help keep sleep away.

So, although you will always need to avoid the heavier genres of music, when it comes to the rest it may be best to evaluate your choice of nighttime music on a track by track basis.

Classical Music – A Sleepers Dream

Ask most people which is the best type of music to go to sleep to and classical music will probably be the first thing that comes to their minds.

That’s not surprising. However, although listening to Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata (first movement) or a similarly soothing piece of music is an excellent choice to help you to get to sleep, there are plenty of classical alternatives that won’t have the same effect. Wagner’s The Ride of the Valkyries, for example, would be a little too stimulating to be considered good music for bedtime.

The name of the game is relaxation, not exhilaration, and classical music is capable of providing both.

When you are looking for classical music tracks to help you relax and go to sleep, it may be best to choose symphonies and other options that predominantly use the piano. 

Contemporary Classical – for Snoozers

Contemporary classical music may also be a good option for helping you to go to sleep. Of course, with this or any other type of music, personal taste comes into play. You will never “sleep easy” with any form of music you find annoying or hate.

However, presuming this type of music is acceptable to you, contemporary classical has a slow, flowing nature that can work well as a sleep aid.

Contemporary classical music generally lacks substantial ups and downs and is unlikely to be overstimulating or excite the mind.

Chill-Out and Nod Off Music

Chill-out music! The name says it all. Music that of this type is a perfect choice for anyone who needs to unwind. 

Chill-out music is characterized by slow tempos and relaxed moods. Several genres are associated with this type of music including jazz, lounge, ambient, downtempo, and classical.

The main aim of chill-out music is to create an ambient environment that relaxes the mind and helps you to forget the trials and tribulations of the day.

World Music

When you pick the right tunes, world music can also be a great option for de-stressing and helping you to sleep. Pick the wrong tracks and it won’t.

World music is a broad category. It contains many different types of music and song types. If are already familiar with this category of music and already have a few favorite tracks you use to help ease yourself into sleep, you have an advantage.

However, if you have no experience with world music finding the right tracks may be a little like looking for a needle in a haystack.

There is no doubt that there is plenty of world music that can produce the desired effect though. So, if you want to go searching I wish you happy hunting and good luck.

Meditation Music

Meditation music is a fantastic choice for anyone who is looking for the right tracks to help them destress and sleep. Music of this type is specially designed to create the right frame of mind.

When you are meditating, you do not want anything that distracts you or gives your mind work to do. 

Meditation aims to foster a state of “no-mindedness” where the mind is no longer busy with thought or emotion. Zen Buddhists call this state Mushin.

Mushin—no thought or emotion to get in the way! Doesn’t that sound like a state mind that’s perfect for sleep?

Of course, music alone will not be enough to guide you into a state of Mushin but any track that aims to help with meditation should be equally good for helping you to sleep. Unless you find this type of music annoying, of course.

Music Alternatives

Some people turn to other audible sources to help them to sleep. Although tracks of this kind cannot be classed as music, they do work well for certain individuals.

White noise recordings are quite a popular option. Pink noise is another. 

White noise operates on all audible frequencies and its very good for neutralizing background noises that may interfere with sleep.

Pink noise is deeper than white noise and, though it’s not so well studied, it also helps prevent audible distractions from interfering with your sleep.

Listening to the song of dolphins and whales can also be very relaxing. Many people find doing so helps them to sleep. Others do so to aid meditation or relaxation.

What is the Most Relaxing Music to Help You Sleep – Summary

Music from many different categories has the ability to calm the mind and help people to sleep. Chill-out music and meditation music can be particularly good because music from both these categories aims to reduce stress and calm the mind.

However, an appropriate bedtime playlist needs to only contain tracks that you like. Even the best meditation music won’t cut it if you find it annoying or alien to your taste.

Although there can be no doubt that the right choice of music can help reduce stress and promote restful sleep, scientists don’t yet understand all the processes involved.  It slows the heart and respiration in a way that is conducive to sleep but, at this point, it’s unclear how.

The way white noise recordings work is a little easier to understand. Again, listening to white noise, is not going to be to everyone’s taste, but the noise operates on a frequency that masks distracting sounds.

Whether you choose to listen to white noise, dolphin song, or music before sleep. The most important thing is to choose the options you like. If a track works well for you make it part of your sleep music playlist. If it does not, discard it and find a more appropriate alternative. 

I hope you find the most relaxing music to help you sleep that suits you.