Why do we need to take care of our mental health?
Your mental health affects how you think, feel and act. It determines how you perform everyday tasks. If you are not doing well at school or in your hobbies, it’s not always because you aren’t smart or are lazy. It's because it’s very hard to perform our best if we’re not feeling good.
Everyone is aware of the things we need to do to take care of our physical health - eat nutritious food, exercise, sleep well, etc. I’m sure your family ensures that you do all this.
Taking care of mental health is as important, if not more, than physical health. Including more music in your life is one of the best ways to do that.
How does music affect our mood?
A good song can turn a bad day around. Researchers say that soothing, uplifting music enhances positive emotions. Hard rock and death metal songs will have the opposite effect.
Music is an effective stress-reliever. Jam to your favourite songs to wash away your stress. You’ll feel good as new and ready to hit the books again, refreshed.
How does music benefit our brain?
Listening to music provides a total workout to your brain. It sharpens attention, memory, focus, and problem-solving skills. Studies show that the benefits we get in our physical health from exercise are equal to the benefits our brains get from listening to music.
What’s the right way to listen to music?
You can listen to music any way you want. Here are a few things you can do to experience the healing powers of music effectively:
1. Sing out loud: Singing out loud is the best way to benefit from listening to music. This is because singing is an expression of your emotions. That doesn’t mean you have to sing out loudly each time you listen to music (you’d get into trouble for that). But be sure to do that a few times a week.
2. Listen to lots of different kinds of music: New music challenges your brain and pushes it out of its comfort zone in a way that old music doesn’t.
Happy listening!
