Anxiety sucks. Sometimes when having a particularly tough time with it, I wish I could crawl out of my skin and somehow chain my feet to the floor, because it starts to feel like my head is physically floating up into outer space. For a while, whenever my heart would start to race at the thought of some stressor, I had a very unscientific method of playing Van Morrison on repeat to try to somehow match my heart to its mellow beat.
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Scientists still debate whether our heart rate can actually sync up with music, but it sure feels like it works sometimes. Music might not be able to stop anxiety altogether, but it can’t hurt, right? To help calm you down your mind is racing, I rounded up a mesh of songs from scientific research, Frisky staffers, and stuff that has helped me in the past. The playlist starts with “Weightless” by Marconi Union, a song intentionally written to be the most relaxing song in the world.
That’s followed by songs that are roughly 60-80 beats per minute, since they have a particular relaxing quality for the psyche (“Into The Mystic,” at a low-key 85 bpm, is one of the most commonly played songs by surgeons while they’re operating). Once your mind has mellowed a bit with those slower jams, enjoy a totally unscientific mesh of slightly faster-paced grooves that I and others have found to be calming and mood-lifting.
Source: introvertdear.com
Finish on a chill note with Baroque-era classical music, known to decrease blood pressure and soothe anxious thoughts.
If you have a favorite song for calming down, let us know in the comments!
Original by Claire Hannum
