Spotify Reveals ‘Calming Music To Fly To’ Playlist, Uses Study To Create Perfect Set
Does flying make you feel stressed out? A new playlist from music streaming service Spotify hopes to calm your nerves and allow you to enjoy the flight.
Spotify commissioned anxiety psychologist Dr Rebecca Spelman from the Private Therapy Clinic in London to determine which songs calm our nerves. As it turns out a tempo of 67 beats per minute (bpm) and harmonious tones are what we need.
According to Dr. Spelman, breathing in time to music with a low bpm, at a controlled and reduced pace, is proven to lower heart rate and blood pressure, which in turn reduces anxiety. Dr. Spelman also found that listening to tracks that stimulate both sides of the brain while using headphones with your eyes closed can help reduce anxiety.
The study notes:
“Music which is harmonious and emotive is generally regarded as the best at achieving this type of stimulation, which induces Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR). This tried and tested method was originally developed for treating Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and is incredibly powerful at calming and relaxing the mind and body.”
So what does that mean for Spotify users? Dr. Spelman mixed together various genres from classical to alternative rock in order to create the perfect playlist to calm your nerves while flying.
What song wins the anxiety reducing race? Adele’s Someone Like You wins with an optimum bpm of around 60. According to Dr. Spelman, Adele’s song is the perfect pace for slowing down breathing associated with fear and anxiety; it is also a soulful and harmonious song, which helps to stimulate both sides of the brain, making it the ultimate song for calming anxious nerves.
Here is the full Calming Music To Fly To Playlist
- Someone Like You – Adele
- Orinoco Flow (Sail Away) – Enya
- Piano on The Beach – Liborio Conti
- ·Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major (“Elvira Madigan”) K. 467 – Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus
- Better Together – Jack Johnson
- Pure Shores – All Saints
- Buffalo Soldier – Bob Marley
- Scar Tissue – Red Hot Chilli Peppers
- Paradise – Coldplay
- As I Lay Me Down – Sophie B. Hawkins
- Inside Out – Britney Spears
- Ignition – R Kelly
- Flaws and All – Beyoncé
- The Christmas song – Nat King Cole
- Space Oddity – David Bowie
According to Dr. Spellman:
“Travel anxiety is caused by irrational thoughts where the threat is exaggerated and inappropriate. Music that stimulates both the logical left and emotional right sides of the brain is said to stimulate the limbic system, which processes negative memories and emotions, which in turn helps people think in a more balanced, rational way suppressing anxiety. Piano on The Beach by Liborio Conti works using this method of music therapy but must be listened to with headphones to be effective.”
Take a listen to Spotify’s calming playlist and let us know if it relaxes your nerves.
