If you’re lying awake at night staring in the darkness because you just can’t sleep, playing YouTube meditation music may be the answer to help you drift to dreamland. Meditation music is growing in popularity because it is a simple, drug-free way of clearing out your mind from the workday and prepping your brain for a night’s sleep.
Researchers say your brain processes the day right before bedtime, so playing meditation music can help you focus on the present and allow your mind to rest. The 5 best YouTube meditation music to help you sleep are videos that include nature sounds, ambient sounds, classical music, modern music, or binaural beats.
When you listen to meditation music, not only does your mind become clearer, but it also helps reduce your heart rate by encouraging you to slow down your breathing. But you just can’t listen to any type of music. There are reasons why certain meditation music helps you sleep better.
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Mindfulness MeditationWhat Kind of Music Helps You Sleep?
First, it’s important to select meditation music that you personally enjoy. If you really like the sound of nature, ocean waves, or birds, then you’ll enjoy meditation music with nature sounds. Researchers found that listening to nature sounds eases the body’s fight or flight response to stress because your brain interprets the noises as non-threatening.
A close cousin of nature sounds is ambient noise or background noise. While ambient noise can be nature sounds, it can also be the sounds of a noisy coffee shop or even an air purifier. Your brain is sensitive to noise and still processes sounds even when you’re trying to sleep, so having background noise can distract you enough from your thoughts, as well as drown out any other types of distracting noises.
The next type of meditation music that helps you sleep is classical music. According to the Sleep Foundation, classical music directly affects the parasympathetic nervous system, so it helps your body relax. Research shows that older adults who listen to 45 minutes of classical music before bed fall asleep faster, longer, and wake up less during the night!
If classical isn’t really your thing, even some modern music can help distract you from the day’s thoughts. Some favorites are ‘The Boxer’ by Simon and Garfunkel and ‘Daysleeper’ by R.E.M. The most important thing to remember is to select music that makes you feel relaxed.
Lastly, and the most technical of the meditation music, is binaural beats music. This is when different sound frequencies go to each ear via headphones in order to create one, new frequency. Your body then syncs up with this new frequency and helps you fall asleep.
Binaural beats are relatively new, but preliminary research results have many people trying out this new method. Many people say this method can also help with anxiety and difficulties concentrating.
The 5 Best YouTube Meditation Music to Help You Sleep
If you’re ready to try out which type of meditation music is best for you, the good news is that each method has little side effects. This allows you to try out each method and see which one has you catching your 40 winks.
Here are the best 5 YouTube meditation music videos that incorporate at least one kind of the meditation music discussed in this article.
1. Nature: Calming Seas 11 Hours Ocean Waves by #Relax24Ocean
This video incorporates 11 total hours of different ocean sounds. While listening to the waves crash against the shore, you can also view crystal blue waters or select the option of having a black screen. This is one of the most popular videos on YouTube, with nearly 50 million views.
If oceans aren’t a favorite, don’t worry. This YouTube channel has more than 50 different types of meditation music videos that incorporate different nature sounds, including thunderstorms, jungles, birds, frogs, crickets, owls, and much more.
2. Ambient: “Flying” Composed by Pender B. Helland for Soothing Relaxation
This video is one of the most popular meditation music videos on YouTube, with more than 207 million views. It incorporates both beautiful nature videos and ambient music. The music is extremely soft and light, just enough noise in the background to help distract you from your thoughts. And if the ambient noise isn’t enough, you can also view the images of mountains, fields, and flowers.
Another popular video composed by Pender B. Helland is called “Relaxing Piano Music,” which incorporates both ambient music and a touch of classical piano. This video has more than 90 million views.
If you’re looking for a video that is strictly ambient noise, an honorable mention is “Sleep Sounds Deep White Noise” by Relaxing White Noise with more than 5.3 million views.
3. Classical: The Best of Mozart by HALIDONMUSIC
This video is one of the most popular meditation music videos on YouTube, with more than 207 million views. It incorporates both beautiful nature videos and ambient music. The music is extremely soft and light, just enough noise in the background to help distract you from your thoughts. And if the ambient noise isn’t enough, you can also view the images of mountains, fields, and flowers.
Another popular video composed by Pender B. Helland is called “Relaxing Piano Music,” which incorporates both ambient music and a touch of classical piano. This video has more than 90 million views.
If you’re looking for a video that is strictly ambient noise, an honorable mention is “Sleep Sounds Deep White Noise” by Relaxing White Noise with more than 5.3 million views.
4. Modern: Late Night Songs Playlist: Best Night Music for Sleep by #RedMusic: SmashParty
If classical music just isn’t your style, that is no problem. Modern music can also help you sleep if the selections aren’t too noisy.
This playlist incorporates some fan favorites that can help relax you, while at the same time not being so noisy that you can’t sleep. Some songs include “Perfect” by Ed Sheeran, “Cardigan” by Taylor Swift, “Easy” by Troye Sivan, and “Nobody’s Love” by Maroon 5.
Another honorable playlist is Music to Sleep To, which has more than 572,000 views. Some relaxing songs include “All of Me” by John Legend, “Birdy” by Skinny Love, and “Fix you” by Coldplay.
5. Binaural Beats: The DEEPEST Healing Sleep by SleepTube – Hypnotic Relaxation
With more than 4.7 million views, this video tops as one of the most popular meditation music videos that incorporate binaural beats. This meditation music claims to reduce your heart rate to 65 beats per minute, which is the ideal heart rate to fall asleep.
For an optimal listening experience, listen to this video on a low volume with a pair of headphones.
Does Listening to Music While Sleeping Affect Your Brain?
According to researchers at John Hopkins University, there are very few things that stimulate the brain the way music does. They say that music can help keep the brain young and also help reduce anxiety, blood pressure, and even pain.
So listening to music while you’re sleeping will have a variety of effects on your brain. According to researchers at McGill University in Toronto said one effect from listening to music while sleeping could be a change in your body chemistry and hormone levels.
One example is a boost in dopamine when listening to pleasant or soothing music. Dopamine is responsible for making us feel good, the same effect we get when we eat candy or when we are in love. The researchers at McGill University said that during their study, dopamine transmission was higher when the participants listened to music they enjoyed.
And since you have an increase of dopamine, this means that there is an overall improvement in your mood and emotional state. And if you’re in a better mood during the day, the more likely you can tackle whatever comes your way, and you are less stressed. It all comes full circle!
Listening to music while sleeping has also been attributed to helping those with certain mood disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and even schizophrenia. More research is needed in this area, but again, initial results of studying the effects of listening to music while sleeping are promising.
Another effect of listening to meditation music while sleeping is a boost in your long-term memory. According to SleepAdvisor, music triggers the hippocampus, which is the part of the brain responsible for long-term memory storage. That is why a song can help you recall a memory.
You may also find yourself able to solve problems easier. By listening to meditation music while sleeping, there can be an improvement in your problem-solving skills. Since you need both sides of your brain to process music, that means your brain can process problems easier. Your left side is your creative side, and the right is your logical side, so when they work together, you can figure out the toughest problems!
The power of listening to meditation music while sleeping has even been tested in the operating room. According to Psychology Today, an analysis of 70 studies shows that when patients listen to music before, during, and after surgery, it helps reduce pain and anxiety. Additionally, if you’re experiencing any physical pain at home, turning on meditation music can help you sleep through the night.
The only negative effects of listening to meditation music while sleeping are minimal and don’t have anything to do with affecting your brain. If you wear headphones to bed, watch out for necrosis and wax buildup. Lack of circulation and blood flow can cause tissue to die, which is very unlikely. And if you keep headphones in your ears, this may lead to extra wax. Special headphones can clear up these issues easily.
Music is Powerful
Without a doubt, music has some powerful, life-changing effects on your health. If you’re having trouble sleeping or just need a way to wind down after a long day, music can be the answer. Trying meditation music while sleeping is an extremely low-risk way of relaxing your body so you can get the rest your body needs.
You can also check out the the top sounds and channels for sleep noise on youtube for more sleep music.
When you don’t get the sleep you need, there are a variety of negative side effects, the most obvious being tiredness and irritability. But researchers also attribute lack of sleep to a higher risk of conditions such as obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. The rule is that most people need around 8 hours of quality sleep. If you wake up tired and feel like you need a nap, these are signs you aren’t getting enough sleep.
Sleep is essential to your overall health and well-being and it’s important that you get around 8 hours of quality sleep a night. Not only does it ward off long-term medical conditions, but researchers say getting enough sleep also helps maintain your weight, boosts your sex drive, stimulates your immune system, and increases fertility. All great reasons to make sure you’re getting the best sleep each night!
(After a wonderful night’s rest, you may need to be up focusing all day. We’ve got the best music to help you focus!)
