Guitar, piano, violin, or any instrument can produce tunes that are soothing to the soul—and to your health.

Go ahead, turn on some of your favorite songs. Music has the ability to make us feel better. Most of us know this intuitively as listening to our favorite tunes just makes us feel happier and less stressed. But science is discovering that it can also help do more than just boost mood:

One recent study found that surgeons who listen to their preferred music during surgery took less time to close up surgical wounds—and the quality of these surgical closures improved, too1.

Music (just 30 minutes of soft music a day for three days) also seems to help reduce pain and anxiety, particularly in patients undergoing surgery2. Not to mention, these patients also had lower blood pressure and heart rate, too. Now, imagine what music can do for daily stress and anxiety levels...

None of this surprises me, though. Health—of body, mind, and spirit—is so much more than just what we eat and how much we exercise or sleep. It's the sum of everything we do—and how all of our senses interact with the world around us. So, for your health: turn on some of your favorite songs today—and sing along, too, if you want!

Happy listening!

Resources

1 "Prospective Randomized Study of the Effect of Music on the Efficiency of Surgical Closures," Shelby R. Lies, Andrew Y. Zhang, Aesthetic Surgery Journal, September 2015, 35(7), 858-863; http://asj.oxfordjournals.org/content/35/7/858

2 "Effects of Music Therapy on Pain, Anxiety, and Vital Signs in Patients After Thoracic Surgery," Yang Liu, Marcia A. Petrini, Complementary Therapies in Medicine, October 2015, 23(5), 714-718;http://www.complementarytherapiesinmedicine.com/article/S0965-2299%2815%2900126-0/fulltext;"New Study Confirms Listening to Music during Surgery Reduces Pain and Anxiety," Queen Mary University of London News, August 13, 2015; http://www.qmul.ac.uk/media/news/items/smd/160783.html