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Dec 2, 2024

The Sound of Relief: Music’s Role in Easing Pain

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In 2021, a fascinating study shadowed nearly 50 people during a notoriously painful experience: surgery. For five days after arthroplasty (joint) surgery, half of the group was instructed to listen to the music of their own choice in 30-minute increments. Lo and behold, the participants who listened to music reported significantly lower pain intensity and distress than those who didn’t—both in the hospital and after they returned home.

This is just one of many studies to conclude music can be a valuable pain intervention—and one that we need now more than ever. According to the latest NIH data, approximately 21% of adults in the U.S. suffer from chronic pain, making the condition even more common than diabetes, depression, and high blood pressure.

All pain responses are unique, multifaceted, and highly personal. This complexity makes it difficult to pinpoint how, exactly, music fits into the pain puzzle, but researchers are learning more with each passing tune.

Why does music help ease pain?

Here are five reasons why music may help ease pain quickly, cheaply, and without side effects:

Music takes advantage of the “gate control theory”‍

One of the earliest theories on the pain response is known as the “gate control theory.” Introduced in the 1960s, it states that pain happens when peripheral triggers (say, a burn on your leg) send signals up the spinal cord and into the brain. The pain pathways of the nervous system act as gates that can be opened or closed, the theory says.

Listening to music may be a way to close the gates, so to speak, and prevent pain signals from reaching the brain and triggering a response.

“If someone is listening to music [during a painful event], that would engage the auditory nerve pathway in the brain,” explains Concetta Tomaino, DA, the Executive Director of The Institute for Music & Neurologic Function and the Music Therapy Advisor at Spiritune. “Their brain networks would be engaged by music listening [and] that activation would actually close some of the upward-bound signals from the periphery into the brain.”

Listening to music provides a distraction from pain‍

As anyone who finds it hard to stay on-task when certain songs are playing knows, music can be distracting. But in the context of pain, a little distraction is a helpful thing.

In his book, I Heard There Was a Secret Chord, neuroscientist and musician Daniel J. Levitin writes: “The brain is bombarded with millions of inputs every hour, and we pay attention to only a small proportion of them. People who are in enriched environments—with lots of things to see, listen to, and do—experience less pain than those in simpler environments.” By this logic, he writes, music can provide a welcome distraction from pain.

This in-the-moment distraction is helpful temporarily, but it doesn’t explain why music can lead to longer-term decreases in pain (like those the joint surgery patients experienced after they returned home). To answer this question, researchers have started to dig deeper into the inner workings of the brain.

When we listen to enjoyable music, it releases dopamine and serotonin‍

Advancements in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technology have made it possible to look more closely at the regions of the brain that get activated when we listen to music.

These tests have demonstrated that music affects the brain’s pleasure pathways in a similar way to a tasty meal. When we prepare to listen to a favorite song, our brains go through a phase of expectation and anticipation. Then, when we press play, a reward is delivered in the form of positive neurochemicals.

“When you’re listening to pleasurable music, there’s a release of dopamine and serotonin which gives you a pleasurable feeling. That ends up diminishing the pain experience,” says Tomaino.

Music can soothe stress and anxiety‍

Pain and anxiety go hand-in-hand. Think about what happens when you know pain is coming, like in the case of a shot: Your anticipatory stress can make it feel even more extreme and intense. On the flip side, reducing your anxiety might also tone down your pain response.

Listening to music—particularly slow, calming music—is a well-established way to practice stress management: It can bring down cortisol levels (a stress hormone), reduce heart rate, and lower blood pressure, preventing anxiety from turning up the volume on pain.

Music provides the opportunity to socialize ‍

Finally, listening to (and playing!) music in a group is a wonderful way to build connections and interact with other people. The resulting social bonds can further reduce anxiety and provide a distraction from pain (as well as expand empathy, change perspectives, and incite awe).

The ins and outs of using music for pain management

With decades of experience administering music therapy in different medical settings, Tomaino has a wealth of knowledge on using music to address chronic and acute pain. Here are her top tips:

What types of music should I play?

Tomaino notes that a song that is calming and comforting to one person may not be to another. So in moments of pain, it’s best to listen to music you, personally, enjoy.

That said, certain frequencies and tempos do seem to incite a more widespread positive response, she says. Music medicine platforms like Spiritune harness these universal sounds to help listeners of all ages, preferences, and backgrounds move from one mental state to another. Think of Spiritune’s expert-crafted playlist as “audio elixirs” you can take any time, anywhere.

How should I listen to it?

To address intense pain in the moment, Tomaino typically asks patients to give a song their full attention. “They need to slow their breath down and become mindful of the sounds of the music so they can induce a state of well-being and calm, and also distract from the pain signal,” she says.

For those with lingering dull pain, this level of attention may not be necessary. Instead, she says, “If they have something in the background that keeps them comfortable and soothed, their experience of pain should be diminished.”

In the case of chronic pain, Tomaino recommends creating a personal affirmation or mantra to call on when things get intense. You can then craft a playlist of songs that remind you of your mantra’s theme—be it power, strength, or inner peace. That way, the playlist is there for you to listen to as needed to help you break the pain cycle in the brain. Spiritune's prompts in app can be a hybrid version of the mantra approach (i.e. "I feel tense and I'm moving to peaceful").

Appreciating and accepting music's therapeutic powers is a great starting point, then taking it seriously and being intentional about your approach will help you reap the biggest rewards.

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Mar 2, 2024

“Sad Girl” Music and the Iso Principle

“Sad girl” pop isn’t a new genre, but it’s been having a renaissance over the last decade. That’s thanks to artists like Billie Eilish, Gracie Abrams, Olivia Rodrigo, Japanese Breakfast, Phoebe Bridgers, and so much more who are dropping hits lilting in melancholy.

It also comes at a time when the generations consuming pop music are increasingly open and intimate about their mental health, and music has long been a natural vehicle for people to self-regulate their emotions.

"There's a cliche about pop that it represents a retreat from reality, an escapist fantasy world where listeners get to leave their fears and anxieties in a vision of Katy Perry's 'Teenage Dream' or fun.'s 'We Are Young,'" Nate Sloan, host of Switched on Pop and assistant professor of musicology at USC Thornton School of Music, told Grammy news. "But modern listeners — especially young people — are pushing back against that paradigm, celebrating artists like Billie Eilish, Halsey, and girl in red, who don't shy away from the troubles of the world but sublimate them into their music."

He adds that this music helps them deal with their own "lived realities."

And so it makes sense that music streaming services are teeming with these soft and somber “sad girl” playlists, ones that listeners might turn to when they’re feeling sad or overwhelmed or wistful.

Music psychology expert Dr. Michael Bonshor told Esquire that people, especially young people, can and often use music to complement emotions. “If we want to continue feeling a certain way, we can choose songs that reinforce it. If we want to change our mood, then we can use music to change it, too.”

He adds that listening to “sad girl” music doesn’t inherently suggest someone is sad. They might want to relax, since that music tends to be slower, less intense, and melodic.

And a carefully curated “sad girl” playlist might cater or facilitate a mood, to a point. But if you’re looking to move from one undesired emotion (sadness, anxiety, stress) to a more desired one (content, focused, calm), you’ll want to get a bit more scientific with your music choices.

That’s why, at Spiritune, you won’t find a Billie Eilish song on one of our playlists. It’s a great song that might be slightly self-soothing, but it doesn’t follow the iso principle.

The iso principle is all about the journey. It follows that, if you’re trying to achieve a certain emotion, the music should first match your current emotional state and then gradually shift toward music that aligns with how you’d like to feel.

We utilize the iso principle as a cornerstone in our Spiritune music compositions. That's why, when you open up the Spiritune app, we always ask you how you *currently* feel, and then how you want to feel.

When the music meets the user where they are, it helps them feel validated, seen and embraced in whatever emotion they’re feeling. Then as the musical features gradually shift towards their desired emotion, the listener is able to feel tangible relief as the music helps gently guide them towards where they want to be.

“Our music is all about facilitating emotional transitions, offering a pathway to catharsis and understanding, like a musical GPS, leading you through your ups and downs,” Spiritune founder Jamie Pabst says. “In a world where mental health seems to be deteriorating by the day, people are craving tunes that get them, that speak to their real-life struggles, offering a shoulder to lean on and a hand to pull them through.”

When you think about “sad girl” music from the lens of the iso principle—or the power of musical transition on our mood—it makes sense that someone might turn to it when they’re already feeling sad, or want to feel a little wistful.

But to move from one mood to another, you can’t simply dwell in the same musical space and hope to magically feel like a new person.

There’s a science to the transition - and that’s where the magic happens.

Mar 22, 2024

Spiritune joins Galileo’s suite of mental health care services

We’re excited to share that modern medical practice Galileo now offers Spiritune as part of its mental health services offered to employers with 20+ employees.

What exactly does that mean? Well, it means that employers that partner with Galileo this year can provide their workforces with our therapeutic music app for a more integrated and comprehensive health care offering.

Galileo works with employers to make 24/7 access to the highest quality virtual primary and specialty care (including mental health care) more affordable – for employees and employers alike.

Galileo’s mental health care programs have proven deeply successful when it comes to reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression and generally improving overall wellbeing: 90% of patients experienced clinically significant improvement in six weeks and the average time to find a mental health treatment plan is 12 hours compared to the national average of six weeks.

That success can be attributed to Galileo’s evidence-based and programmatic approach to therapy and coaching.

And the medical practice is already seeing success with the recent inclusion of Spiritune: Over the course of a six week period, patients with access to music-based therapy saw a 30% improvement in their mental health scores.

“Our partnership with Galileo represents what exceptional care can look like from a whole-person health perspective. I’m thrilled to see our shared vision of holistic, integrated care come to life, where multidimensional care can be achieved for multi-dimensional people,” Spiritune founder Jamie Pabst says. “By combining Spiritune's therapeutic music approach with Galileo's modern medical practice, we've already seen significant improvement in mental health engagement and outcomes, representing a great example of what a great integrated care partnership can look like, and I’m excited that Spiritune is now available through Galileo employer contracts going forward.”

We deeply align with Galileo’s mission to make health care more accessible, affordable, and effective. Since Spiritune's inception, we've been dedicated to delivering science-grounded music medicine at your fingertips, so we are thrilled to extend our mission as part of Galileo’s suite of mental health solutions to broaden the clinical benefits of music through this integrated care partnership.

The full suite of offerings also include primary-care physician led mental health care, a self-guided CBT skills program, and virtual therapy and coaching.

"It can be challenging for people to ascertain not only when to seek out mental healthcare but also which level of services are appropriate for their current symptoms,” Kristen Scarlett, Galileo’s behavioral health lead, says. “Galileo’s integrated approach allows providers to identify behavioral health needs early, and the robust suite of mental health services allows people to engage in care at the right level so their treatment is both efficient and effective.”

You can read more about how Galileo is deepening their integrated behavioral healthcare offering for employees with Spiritune here.

May 8, 2024

From Waves To Wind: How Nature Sounds Support Our Health.

The music starts with the soft, universal sound of rain. Gradually, hand pans and chimes come in to form a pattern with eventually rhythm and momentum. By the end of the arrangement, everything melds together into an unexpectedly delicious sonic soup.

This nature-inspired track from Spiritune, “Release Control,” proves how captivating, enriching, and ultimately health-promoting the sounds of the outdoors can be once we give them our full attention.

How the brain processes nature sounds

By now, many of us know (and intuitively feel) that spending time outdoors can boost brain function, ease stress, and lower blood pressure. The role that the sounds of nature play in this equation is less obvious, but Daniel Bowling, Ph.D., an acoustic instructor at the Stanford School of Medicine and neuroscience advisor at Spiritune, has a few ideas.

“One general thing about environmental sound is that it has a specific shape in its frequency spectrum,” Bowling says. He explains that nature sounds like waves, wind, and certain animal calls carry more low-frequency energy, which gives them a lower pitch. While higher-frequency sounds (think: motors, machines, and television static) demand our attention, these lower-frequency sounds tend to be more stable and comforting.

Indeed, research shows that natural sounds are better at facilitating recovery from stress than more anthropogenic (human-caused) ones. Plus, certain sounds, like running water, rustling leaves, and birdsong, convey that we are in a safe, resource-rich environment, further promoting recovery and easing worry. Bowling adds that they can also form an “acoustic blanket” that masks less pleasing sounds like honking cars or whirring machines.

This is why Spiritune weaves low-frequency nature sounds into so many of its personalized tracks. The low-frequency tones of nature are expertly deployed throughout its compositions to help guide the listener towards their desired state—be it relaxed, content, or excited. Spiritune draws upon expertise in music therapy and neuroscience to play these nature-inspired sounds at just the right moments, effectively taking the guesswork out of music medicine for any listener seeking to self-medicate through music. “Listening to nature sounds alone lacks the dynamic journey that music provides. At Spiritune, we understand that to truly harness the healing power of nature, it is beneficial to be woven into a rich musical tapestry,” says Jamie Pabst, Spiritune’s Founder & CEO. “Our compositions offer not only the calming essence of nature but also the depth and variety that keep the mind engaged and the spirit uplifted with other musical features. In doing this in a nuanced way, we can help listeners with multi-dimensional needs with multi-faceted music."

Because, as Bowling caveats, “not all nature sounds are created equal.” While some are steady and relaxing, others can be unpredictable and arousing. A cacophony of insects, birds, and mammals in a jungle will likely raise alarm bells—especially in groups of people who didn’t grow up with these sounds. Just as all cultures have different tastes in food, there’s a level of cultural variability to natural soundscape preferences. This is why Spiritune opts to use universally pleasing nature sounds in its tracks, and stays away from more polarizing ones.

The same landscape can also sound vastly different based on the creatures present. “Organisms evolve to acoustically structure their signals in special relationships to one another—cooperative or competitive—much like an orchestral ensemble,” sound ecologist Bernie Krause writes in The Great Animal Orchestra. This ensemble is constantly playing new tunes as animals change their voices. In The Sounds Of Life, Karen Bakker explains how bats, for example, have dozens of calls they can use in different situations. These can include “territorial songs, courtship whistles, physical distress calls, alarm calls, foraging coordination calls, and instructional calls that guide others,” she writes. Tuning into these extraordinarily complex, layered soundscapes is a way to tune out the sounds of the mind—which can be needlessly critical, fearful, and downright exhausting.

Coming off winter’s relatively quiet, spring is the perfect time to watch (or rather, hear) the world around you come back to life again.

How to start a nature sound practice this season

Everyone can tune into the sounds of spring to change their perspective and boost their mood. Here are a few ideas on how to get started:

Head to a familiar landscape: As Bowling points out, we all have our own preferences when it comes to nature sounds. The songs of the outdoors can also evoke deeply personal memories. If you grew up vacationing on the coast, you might find the sounds of waves particularly relaxing, for example, so you can experiment with heading to the water to allow your mind to wander back in time.
Consider how you want to feel: Since natural soundscapes are so varied, they can make us feel every type of way. Sure, you can head to a trickling stream when you want to feel relaxed, but you can also take a trip to a waterfall when you want to feel energized, or go to a calm meadow when you want to be more focused. Customize your sound practice based on your desired state.
Tune into Spiritune: Spiritune makes it possible to feel better using a nuanced deployment of musical features that often includes nature sounds or tones of similar frequencies even if you live in a bustling city or don’t have time to sneak out for a walk. Just open the app, choose what mental state you want to move towards, and listen to an expertly designed track that combines musical features and nature sounds to get you there in minutes.
When in doubt, go to the water: Anecdotally speaking, many people find water sounds soothing, and there’s scientific evidence to back this up: In research on soundscapes in U.S. national parks, water sounds led to the most positive outcomes for human health. This makes sense, considering that we depend on water for life and it’s great at masking less pleasant noises. Put this research into practice by seeking out the sound of water—be it from a stream, a park fountain, or a recording—as part of your well-being routine.
Give birdsongs your full attention: In the national park study, birdsongs were also found to be very effective at relieving stress and annoyance, and more recent research concludes they can also reduce symptoms of depression, anxiety, and paranoia. Fascinatingly enough, with every 10% increase in bird species diversity in an area, the people living there tend to have a higher life satisfaction equivalent to a 1.53 times increase in income. Live a richer life by turning off the podcast while you walk and tuning into the birdsongs around you instead.

Nature sounds clearly have a strong influence on us, but we impact them too. As our anthropogenic noises become louder, they threaten natural soundscapes. These soundscapes are an invaluable natural resource like any other, so be sure to cherish them by exploring nature quietly and respectfully.