In his book Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain, famed neurologist Oliver Sacks says, “our auditory systems, our nervous systems are, indeed, exquisitely tuned for music. The emotional responses to music can be unbelievably complex and mysterious and deep.” It is scientific confirmation of what humans have known for centuries: music has tremendous power to shape our emotions.

Music cuts to our core. It hits us. It makes us feel - making calm music is the perfect refuge from our busy lives, the responsibilities of work and family, and from 24/7 connectivity.

The calming power of music is why we started Calm Radio. Over 10 years ago, we launched with a solo piano channel. Since then, we have added over 500 channels, all with the same goal: to help you live a more relaxing, calmer life. Here’s why this type of music is so essential.

What Calm Music Does to You

Many believe that music can actually heal our mind, body, and soul. We do. There’s no denying that music has a powerful ability to shape our environment. Science is providing significant insights into the power of music.

A recent meta-analysis of 400 studies in the journal Trends in Cognitive Sciences concluded that music can dramatically lower the level of the stress hormone cortisol and reduce anxiety by up to 65 percent. Amazingly, relaxing music can even slow our heartbeat.

Learn more about music’s powerful ability to help us relax.

The Calming Power of Classical Music

Numerous studies have uncovered the physical power of classical music in particular. Aided by modern-medical equipment, studies are revealing the power of Mozart, Bach, and others on our brains, including areas responsible for movement, language, attention, memory, and emotion.

Classical music has the power to:

• Decrease Blood Pressure
• Decrease Pain
• Make You Feel Good
• Reduce Stress Levels
• Improve Focus and Study
• Reduce Sleeping Problems

Read more about how Classical Music has the power to calm us.

Music For Meditation

A key benefit of listening to music while meditating is a reduction in your levels of stress and anxiety. When you listen to pleasant and soft music during meditation, you will feel calmer and the pressures of life fade - allowing for a better meditation experience.

Outside of meditation, studies show that workplaces where meditation music is playing experience much lower levels of stress and anxiety than those that have loud music or no music playing at all.

Discover more about the benefits of meditation music.

Activating Your Parasympathetic Zone With Relaxing Music

The parasympathetic nervous system (PSNS) is where our body wants to be when we are not in danger. It lets us conduct the day to day business of life like eating, sleeping, and recovering. The more time we spend in PSNS, the healthier we are. Listening to relaxing music helps put us there. Here’s how it does that.

Find Calm in Relaxing Music and Nature Sounds

Make Calm Radio part of your de-stressing routine. We have many calming music channels, like sleep music, meditation music, and nature sounds.

Enjoy all Calm Radio free online music channels in the Calm app available for iPhone, iPad, Android, Alexa, Roku, Sonos, Bluesound, Kindle and many other mobile apps.

Thanks for listening. Remember to be calm, invite harmony.

Tranquillity, peacefulness, and quiet are things that we all seek, but it is easier said than done in our fast-paced, go! go! world. Between work, commuting, responsibilities, and family life, we are increasingly maxed out and stressed out.

We all know that too much stress is not good for you, but it just feels like an unavoidable part of life. There’s never enough time, and stress never goes away. Though we can’t escape our responsibilities, we can control our reaction. We can meet stress with calm.

Relaxation may cure stress, but keeping calm is the prevention. It is the skill of having peace of mind despite the chaos of life. It is a mental state we should all be striving for – an inner place that lessens the grip of anxiety, worry, excitement, and troubles.

Give yourself permission to slow down in a world that strives to be faster. Unplug. Switch off. Be calm. Here’s why it is so important.

The Benefits of Calm

Calm is having the absence of strong emotions. It is a place you can go. A refuge. It lets you feel more in control of your emotions and your life. Here are some of the main benefits of a calm life:

• Better health.
• Increased breathing capacity.
• Hearing your own thoughts.
• Fuel your creative passions.
• Reduce your blood pressure and heart rate.
• Produce “feel-good” chemicals in the brain.

Tips for Adding Calm To Your Life

You cannot change your environment. You cannot change other people. However, you are in control of your response. Here are some tips for greeting life from a calmer place.

• Create a Daily Ritual of Calm: How you do this is up to you. What is your calm place? It is a morning ritual like sipping tea before your house comes alive. Maybe meditation, yoga, or writing thoughts in a journal. The importance of taking a few minutes out of your day to unwind cannot be overstated.
• Exercise: Exercise creates extra endorphins that give you a positive mood boost and make you feel better, which in turn reduces stress.
• Sleep: Permit yourself to rest. It is essential for our well being. Short naps when you need them and a night of deep, restful sleep are vital to a calm life.
• Music: Calm music is why we started this whole thing. Music is a quick and easy way to ground yourself - use calming, soothing music and nature sounds.
• Eat Right: Improve your diet by eating less, eliminating sugar, eliminating junk foods, pop, and sugary drinks.
• Breathing/Mindfulness/Meditation: Mindfulness meditation is a great way to calm yourself. By focusing on your breath and centring yourself, you can activate your parasympathetic nervous system - the calming response in your body.
• Be Kind To Yourself: This is vital. Self-compassion starts from an understanding that everyone makes mistakes and that it’s part of being human. Speak to yourself the way you would speak to a friend who just failed.

Science of Calm

It is imperative that we cultivate a more restful, relaxed state of mind. Research suggests it will bring us greater attention, energy, and creativity. Science shows that calmness does benefit us. It’s all about our parasympathetic nervous system (PSNS). It is our rest and digest response. The more time we spend in PSNS the healthier we are.

Read more about the science behind this response and activating your parasympathetic zone with relaxing music.

Find Calm in Relaxing Music and Nature Sounds

Enjoy all Calm Radio free online music channels in the Calm app available for iPhone, iPad, Android, Alexa, Roku, Sonos, Bluesound, Kindle and many other mobile apps.

We have over 500 channels to reduce stress and enhance your productivity. From light classical, relaxing jazz, laid-back acoustic pop, soothing sleep music and guided meditation, we got it.

Thanks for listening. Remember to be calm, invite harmony.

Stop and listen to what’s going on around you. Chances are, you hear more than just one sound — perhaps the rumble of cars passing, the microwave whirring and people chatting close by. If the daily cacophony tends to overwhelm you, you might be hesitant to add more sound to your routine. But the right sounds may be the key to helping you relax, rest and function better — which is where “binaural beats” come in.

How to choose headphones that are best for you? Calm Radio has put together a guide for choosing headphones that are best suited to your listening needs, including noise-cancelling headphones, over-ear, in-ear headphones and more.