Many people enjoy listening to music before bed. Nothing like your favorite tunes to relax with after a long day's work, right?
And guess what? Listening to your favorite beats before bed can actually improve the quality of your sleep.
Studies have overwhelmingly shown that music has a positive effect on sleep. It helps you sleep better, stay asleep for longer, and spend less time lying awake.
That alone is pretty awesome, but that's not all.
People who listen to music before bed also report less disturbances during the night, PLUS it can lessen depressive symptoms and increase brain function the following day.
You know when you don't get a good night's sleep, and the next day you feel a little out of it? Listening to music before sleep can eliminate that feeling.
File that away under 'useful things to know'.
However, we're not talking about any old song here. We apologize if this is your thing, but listening to heavy metal just before bed is probably not going to help you sleep.
There's only one criteria for a pre-bed playlist. The songs need to be slow so that they slow your heart rate.
Why? Well, there's a phenomenon that occurs when you listen to music. You might not have noticed it before, but it happens regularly.
Your heart synchronizes to the beat of the song.
When you go to bed, your heart rate needs to slow down to about 60 beats per minute. So when you listen to music with about 60 beats per minute, you're giving your heart something to synch up with.
This means you fall asleep quicker, and the quality of your sleep is hugely improved.
Plus, you may not know this, but your brain has a beat going as well. If the music synchronizes with the pulses in your brain, it can increase your brain function - improving your memory, decision making and problem solving skills.
And the approximate speed a song needs to be to have this effect?
You guessed it, 60 beats per minute.
It works for all age groups. Whether you're 15 or 57, listening to music before bed can help you sleep.
Just another reason to have a pair of sleep headphones!