Music As Wellness: Happy Women's Health Month!

May is national women's health month! With women's wellness at the forefront, we can mindfully reflect on where we could use more support. The American Psychological Association reported in the 2023 "Stress in America" survey that "women reported a higher average level of stress than men (5.3 versus 4.8 out of 10) and were more likely to rate their stress levels between an 8 and a 10 than men (27% versus 21%)." Yes, stress is a pressing matter for many Americans, but women seem to be especially affected. Licensed psychologist Taisha Caldwell-Harvey, PhD, surveyed her client's complaints and they mentioned, “the overwhelming sense of being burdened by the responsibilities of home life while trying to advance—and often just maintain a standard of excellence—in their career,” as well as "feeling that their male partners are not shouldering an equal share of these responsibilities, which exacerbates their frustration, stress levels, and overall well-being, significantly impacting their mental health.”

Today we are zeroing in on how to help women manage these types of stressors through music, our speciality here at Healing Waves!

Listening to music leads to a "decrease both in cortisol levels (a well-known stress-biomarker) and in sympathetic activity (reduction in heart rate frequency and blood pressure)" (Lata & Kourtesis, 2021). The 2021 study mostly utilized classical music, but reported that the relaxation effects were seen regardless of the music genre played. High frequency music, particularly of 528 Hz, was also shown to increase oxytocin levels. Oxytocin is a crucial hormone for female nervous system regulation, and research from University of Illinois reports that it "may play an important role in helping females manage both emotional and physiological responses during life-altering events such as childbirth-converting potentially stressful experiences into opportunities for expressing joy and love." So, turn up the music and turn down the stress!

We also produce oxytocin when we create music with others, whether that be with instruments or our voices or both! Community music making is a powerful tool that we can utilize as well as music listening. Music is not only art, but an opportunity to connect to yourself and others more deeply. Tap into your creativity next time you're feeling stressed and let us know what you discover!

Miss K