Neuroscientists reveal the world's most relaxing song — and it may even help reduce your anxiety

Mental health awareness is rising across the globe but at the same time, stress is increasingly becoming an issue for most people around the globe. This is dangerous in the long term as the effects of stress start to catch up as people grow older. Tunes that strike a chord are known to have a soothing effect on the nerves, and now the same has been proven through scientific research.

Heart issues, asthma, depression, and gastrointestinal issues are just some of the problems one may face if they don’t relieve their stress frequently. Music has always been one of the most popular forms of stress relief, but some tracks are more effective than others, according to a study.

According to a report in Inc., Dr. David Lewis-Hodgson of Mindlab International conducted the study to find out which song works best as a stress reliever. In his research, the participants were asked to solve a difficult puzzle that induces stress. The participants listened to different songs while solving these puzzles as researchers kept tabs on their brain activity, blood pressure levels, heart rate, and rate of breathing.

The researchers found that one particular song helped reduce anxiety by 65% and also led to a 35% reduction in their usual physiological resting rates. What makes it all the more interesting is that this particular song was created for the specific purpose of stress reduction. The song is called ‘Weightless’ and it was composed by the band ‘Marconi Union’ in collaboration with the British Academy of Sound Therapy based on science, as per Good.

The eight-minute track was performed primarily on the synthesizer and its genre may be considered to be ambient music. From a purely musical perspective, there are not many variations in the composition. But that’s not what it was composed for in the first place anyway.

“‘Weightless’ was so effective, many women became drowsy and I would advise against driving while listening to the song because it could be dangerous,” Dr. Lewis-Hodgson said. Some of the other songs used in the study were "Electra" by Airstream, "Watermark" by Enya, "Strawberry Swing" by Coldplay, and "Someone Like You" by Adele.

Sound therapy has been around for quite a while now as the human mind reacts differently to different kinds of music. Of course, taste in music is subjective but science is involved to a degree in determining the type of sound that generally helps relieve stress. A popular example of this is binaural beats.

According to Sleep.com, binaural beats are a sound that creates an auditory illusion for the listener. Two sounds are played, one in each ear, and they combine to create one low-frequency sound that has been proven to help one fall asleep. The frequency of both sounds needs to be less than 1000 Hz and the difference between the two frequencies has to be between 1 Hz and 30 Hz for the brain to experience that third illusionary sound.