Courtesy: Linkedin
The lights are off and I am curled up in bed, but my mind won’t shut off. No matter how hard I try, I can’t stop thinking about all that I have to do the next day and what needs to get done by the end of the week. I glance at the clock, 1:30 a.m. The pressing thought that I am continuing to lose precious minutes of sleep builds on top of the stress that has already towered itself up in my brain. Not able to stand the fact that I can’t fall asleep any longer, I quietly sit up, climb out of bed, and grab my earbuds. I place each earbud into my ears, plug the cord into my phone, and curl back up in bed. I turn on my music and a few minutes later I am asleep.
Although everyone copes with stress differently, one way that helps me de-stress is listening to music. Whenever I can’t fall asleep or I am feeling especially stressed out during the day, I always pull out my phone to listen to music. There is something about listening to music that allows me to shut out my thoughts and just focus on the sounds filling my ears. I have a variety of playlists on my phone: “sleep”, “calm songs”, “study songs,” that I have ready to go for when I need something relaxing to listen to. Having different playlists for whatever mood I am is really useful.
Although everyone has a different music taste, below is a short list of some of my favorite calm songs to play when I am feeling stressed out.
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“Middle Ground”–Mark Wilkinson
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“Re:stacks”–Bon Iver
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“Bright Lights and Cityscapes”–Sara Bareilles
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“It’s Time-Live London Sessions”–Imagine Dragons
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“Say (All I Need)”–One Republic
If you don’t have a “de-stress playlist,” my advice is to create one. And it doesn’t have to have a ton of songs. Just start out with a few songs that make you feel relaxed. It is super simple and an easy way to creating a coping mechanism for the next time you are feeling overwhelmed.
If you want more ideas for calm songs, check out my article:
http://www.hercampus.com/school/northeastern/calm-songs-studying