Music with slow breathing to relieve stress
It’s no surprise that music can relieve stress. It’s common sense. Unfortunately, the effects are usually only temporary; those suffering from chronic stress will be wound up again just a short time after listening to music. However, if you combine music with slow breathing the stress reduction is not only much more effective but long-lasting too.
The reason for this doubling up of effectiveness is that listening alone is merely passive. It calms the mind and then - slowly - the body. But slow breathing done at a certain rate and pattern affects the whole body. It relaxes muscles deep into the diaphragm, opening blood vessels and relieving the load on the heart. In this way it can even lower high blood pressure.
Slow breathing is also much more interesting than passive forms of relaxation like meditation and so people enjoy it and practice it more often. This further adds to its power to relieve stress in a long-lasting way.