According to a Spotify study, music by Adele, Enya and Jack Johnson helps calm the nerves.

 

For some people who have to travel by plane, Valium, listening to babbling brook soundscapes or finding a happy place just aren't enough to quell fears of flying. If you're one of those people, then Spotify has a new playlist for you: Calming Music to Fly to. In a study commissioned by the prolific music streaming service, anxiety psychologist Becky Spelman found that music with a low bpm, preferably 60 bpm paired with slow, rhythmic breathing, is a powerful combo for calming rattled nerves.

 

While some songs make more sense (Someone Like You by Adele) than others (Space Oddity by David Bowie) and hit all over the musical spectrum (Enya? Red Hot Chili Peppers?), they're scientifically proven to chill you out.

 

Here's the full playlist:

 

Someone Like You – Adele

Orinoco Flow (Sail Away) – Enya

Piano on The Beach – Liborio Conti

Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major ("Elvira Madigan") K. 467 – Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus

Better Together – Jack Johnson

Pure Shores – All Saints

Buffalo Soldier – Bob Marley

Scar Tissue – Red Hot Chilli Peppers

Paradise – Coldplay

As I Lay Me Down – Sophie B. Hawkins

Inside Out – Britney Spears

Ignition – R Kelly

Flaws and All – Beyoncé

The Christmas song – Nat King Cole

Space Oddity – David Bowie

 

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Does flying make you feel stressed out? A new playlist from music streaming service Spotify hopes to calm your nerves and allow you to enjoy the flight.

 

Spotify commissioned anxiety psychologist Drd Becky Spelman from the Private Therapy Clinic in London to determine which songs calm our nerves. As it turns out a tempo of 67 beats per minute (bpm) and harmonious tones are what we need.

 

According to Dr. Spelman, breathing in time to music with a low bpm, at a controlled and reduced pace, is proven to lower heart rate and blood pressure, which in turn reduces anxiety. Dr. Spelman also found that listening to tracks that stimulate both sides of the brain while using headphones with your eyes closed can help reduce anxiety.

 

The study notes:

 

“Music which is harmonious and emotive is generally regarded as the best at achieving this type of stimulation, which induces Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR). This tried and tested method was originally developed for treating Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and is incredibly powerful at calming and relaxing the mind and body.”

 

So what does that mean for Spotify users? Dr. Spelman mixed together various genres from classical to alternative rock in order to create the perfect playlist to calm your nerves while flying.

 

What song wins the anxiety reducing race? Adele’s Someone Like You wins with an optimum bpm of around 60. According to Dr. Spelman, Adele’s song is the perfect pace for slowing down breathing associated with fear and anxiety; it is also a soulful and harmonious song, which helps to stimulate both sides of the brain, making it the ultimate song for calming anxious nerves.

 

According to Dr. Spellman:

 

“Travel anxiety is caused by irrational thoughts where the threat is exaggerated and inappropriate. Music that stimulates both the logical left and emotional right sides of the brain is said to stimulate the limbic system, which processes negative memories and emotions, which in turn helps people think in a more balanced, rational way suppressing anxiety. Piano on The Beach by Liborio Conti works using this method of music therapy but must be listened to with headphones to be effective.”

 

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Oh nice!

 

Better Together is a great song for airplanes. :nod:

This all very nice, but I don't think I'll ever listen to Space Oddity on a plane. Talk about bad omens!

Once, i listened to UWTB right after the plane had taken off :awesome:

That was so nice :awesome:

I have a fear of thunderstorms, the thunder, lightning and heavy rain spook me. If there is hail it's even worse. I think if I was listening to Orinoco Flow then it would probably make it farrrr worse

Great Playlist,

but i'll listen to Lost!

Interesting thank you. I know someone who has a fear of flying. I will direct her to this thread.

 

I don't have a fear of flying, but I can remember waking up as I was coming in over Ireland last summer flying back from America, the sun was just rising, sending golden colours over the wing and Cemeteries of London was playing in my ears. I still get goosebumps thinking of that.

 

That is my flying song. :heart: