Table of contents:
- Benefits of singing for mental health
- 1. Make a hollow heart
- 2. The effect is similar to yoga and meditation
- 3. Reduce negative thoughts
- 4. Prevent anxiety
Whether your voice is good or not, singing is one of the favorite ways to express feelings. Not only from the rhythm and chanting of the melody, but the lyrics of our favorite songs can describe our true mood. Whether it's sad or happy. Apart from that, there are also other benefits of singing for your mental health, you know! Check out the explanation of the benefits of singing from the following experts.
Benefits of singing for mental health
1. Make a hollow heart
According to a 2017 study, singing together like in a choir makes you feel happier. These results were obtained after researchers asked a group of people who had symptoms of depression or anxiety disorders to sing together. Researchers do not require all participants to be good at singing or have a good voice.
After singing together regularly every week, everyone's mood seemed better. They also feel happier and better socialized in their daily life.
The researchers concluded that the combination of singing and socializing in a group is an important part of symptom relief because they both create a sense of togetherness, well-being, self-confidence, and sense of belonging (sense of belonging and involvement in the environment).
2. The effect is similar to yoga and meditation
Some studies believe that singing is as powerful as the benefits of yoga meditation. One of them is a study from the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. The research team studied the heart rate of the choir members while singing together.
According to the lead researcher who is also a music expert, Björn Vickhoff, the heart rate of the choir members not only slows down when they start singing, but gradually becomes synchronized. In the end, each child's heart beat in time to the tempo of the song.
Vickhoff said, when singing and exhaling, the human body will activate the vagus nerve from the brain stem to the heart. The active vagus nerve will make the heart beat slower and is believed to be good for improving emotional health.
Vickhoff then compared the effects of the benefits of singing with the benefits of yoga. In fact, they both have almost the same benefits. Vickhoff says that yoga and singing both keep the respiratory system well controlled.
Especially if your breathing is good, the positive effects will also stick in the long term for heart health and blood pressure.
3. Reduce negative thoughts
Connie Omari, a counselor and therapist in North Carolina, United States, also shares the same opinion about the benefits of singing.
Omari trains his patients to sing frequently, including when driving alone in a car. He thinks this exercise can be a way to reduce the negative thoughts that sometimes appear uninvited when you are idle for a long time. For example, when driving.
Now, by singing while driving, you may also simultaneously reduce your tendency to want to get angry and curse in the face of traffic jams.
4. Prevent anxiety
Katie Ziskind, a psychological therapist from Connecticut, also expressed the benefits of singing while listening to music. He said that singing a song can make the body release a large amount of the hormone oxytocin out.
The hormone oxytocin is the love hormone, which can be obtained from falling in love, having sex, and also when you hug someone. This hormone can also be a hormone that comes out when you feel happy.
The hormone oxytocin can also have a relaxing effect. Ziskind argues that this hormone derived from the benefits of singing can reduce symptoms of excessive anxiety.
