6 Playlists Curated For You. Make Music Your Fitness Motivator

Playlists:

1. Running 2. Cardio 3. Weight Training 4. Zumba 5. Walking 6. Meditation

What can motivate you to follow through on your new year health and fitness resolutions? Listening to music can benefit you mentally, physically, and emotionally. It is natural for many individuals to sway or bust into a dance move on listening to a foot-tapping number.

Aditya Birla Health Insurance presents to you #LetTheMindGamesBegin. This is a 14-day health program on our Activ Living Community, where you will learn how to make up your mind to follow through on your new year health resolutions. Avoid giving up on this year’s resolution using expert advice in fitness, nutrition, and mindfulness. Aditya Birla Health Insurance has curated 6 playlists for different workouts, which you can stream on Spotify.

What you need to know:

• How does our brain perceive music?
• Benefits of listening to music

How does our brain perceive music?

Do you ever wonder how your brain classifies sound as music? A stereo system emits vibrations through an audio source which travels through air and is picked up by the ear canal. These vibrations are transmitted into an electric signal that travels through the auditory nerve to the brain stem, which is perceived as music. The moment music enters our brains, it triggers the pleasure centre, which releases dopamine, the happy hormone.

Benefits of listening to music

Take a look at the many benefits of listening to music:

• Music works your brain out. Listening to music or playing instruments can stimulate your brain. It also builds task endurance. Music results in the enlargement of the cerebellum, which is associated with balance and coordination. No wonder why musicians have excellent coordination.

• Try practising cardio and aerobics to fulfil your new year fitness goals. Listening to fast tracks can help you stay motivated.
• Music can reduce anxiety, stress, and depression and boost your mood. Music is a medium for music therapy which addresses the social, physical, emotional, and cognitive needs of an individual or a group of individuals.
• It can boost mental awareness and improve your memory, making music memory a brain function that resists dementia.
• The lyrics of a song can enhance your linguistic and vocabulary skills. Since music and the lyrics often resemble poetry, it exercises your brain to focus and interpret the meaning of each word.
• It also improves the quality of your sleep. If you are unable to sleep, you can try listening to relaxing instrumental music, which can lull you to sleep.
• It pushes you to exercise harder.

• Listening to music while working out can immensely benefit your body. If you put your playlist with upbeat songs on shuffle, each song will motivate you to lift weights, strength train, and exercise with vigor.
• Listening to music releases opioids, a natural pain reliever. Once you are invested in the music, the pain will lessen.

• Music greatly benefits your heart health. When you listen to catchy music, you would feel like dancing to it. The music’s intensity and tempo can regulate your heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing. Even Zumba, a combination of aerobics and dance, is done to the tune of high-energy music. Bhangra is another high-intensity activity wherein people dance to Punjabi bhangra beats.

• Music can help you stay active and lessens fatigue. When listening to music, there is no particular time or place. You can listen to it while cooking, cleaning, gardening, walking, running, or working out – the list is endless.
• Music also releases oxytocin and a feeling of goodwill, which makes you kinder toward others. Thus, it improves your social relationships, fostering greater connection.

No matter which genre of music you listen to, it has the same positive effect on you as long as it aligns with your preference. Considering the style of music you listen to, it is advisable to play different genres of music for various purposes. Upbeat music can energize you and can get your brain ready for learning. Instrumental music and soothing genres can help you concentrate while reading or studying. Similarly, you can meditate or practise yoga to binaural music, as it can calm you down.

Music has a powerful impact on human beings. You are never too old to experiment with different genres of music.

Stay healthy with the Activ Living Community – your everyday health expert. Stay tuned for more lifestyle and fitness-related information. For more mind hacks, check out the #LetTheMindGamesBegin section here.