What is an 8D music experience and 4 reasons why you should be listening to it.
What is an 8D music experience and 4 reasons why you should be listening to it.
This innovative relaxing sound experience is raved about by people with anxieties, stress, OCD & ADHD but what actually is an 8D music experience? And is it something you should add to your existing music for well-being playlist?
When you listen to live music, especially when there are multiple instruments playing, your ears perceive the sounds coming from different directions. This is a great exercise for your brain. Your brain receives the layers of sounds and works to unpack them by analysing each sound.
When listening to recorded music on a speaker for instance, not only have the sounds been compressed together making them more difficult for your brain to separate but also, all sounds are often coming from one direction - unless of course, you have a fancy sound system with all the bells and whistles and speakers arranged around the room - therefore music from speakers and headphones etc can lack a sort of richness you get from listening to a live band.
What happens when you experience 8D music
I should start by saying, it is always best when you listen to 8D that it is via headphones so that your ears can receive the sounds as intended irregardless of your position to the source. They don’t need to be special headphones although noise cancelling ones are best!
During the track you’ll notice you can hear sounds in one direction and then you can almost feel the sounds moving around your head. It is as if the sounds were dancing left to right, up and down, diagonally etc. You’ll be able to perceive the sounds in varying directions, sometimes just singular focused sounds and other times a whole range of pleasant sounds, music, nature sounds etc moving around your head. Some experiences can feel almost as if you are walking and can hear your surroundings pass you by without any actual physical movements.
Where you can experience 8D music
There are a wide range of songs available to listen to on platforms like YouTube and Spotify and various genres to suit many tastes including some popular music which has been edited in this way.
Generally I like to make listening to 8D music an experience, its not for when I am busy, or moving around and instead like a meditation wherein I am free from distractions, can lay down comfortably and listen. One or two tracks and I am usually good to carry on with the activities I was doing before but perhaps with a bit more gusto.
How does it compare to regular sound healing
Although this is a very pleasant immersive sound experience and is a fantastic way to be fully present, in the moment and out of your head which, can help with things like anxiety and stress, unless the music is recorded with specifically tuned sound healing instruments then it won’t have quite the same vibrational effect as a sound bath. Some tracks have been designed specifically for calming the mind and they contain binaural beats which is a form of sound healing, so bare this in mind when looking for tracks to listen to.
Why you should start listening to 8D music
8d music is reportedly very beneficial for people with
ADHD
Difficultly focusing/concentrating
High stress levels
Anxiety
4 Top reasons to add 8D music to your wellbeing playlists are:
It helps to lower stress levels
Can be very calming and good background music to help you with working and studying
There is a wide range of songs to suit different moods and genre preferences
Helps bring you into your body & out of your mind, brilliant when you’re feeling anxious, stressed or worried
What are your favourite 8D music tracks?
Comment below and let me know :-)