A familiar song. Rain on a window. A rhythm you can follow. Learn how music and sound can ease stress and support focus, rest and emotional wellbeing.
Sound reaches more than your ears.
Music engages parts of the brain involved in emotion, memory, attention and movement. A song can bring back a memory, change your mood or give you a rhythm to follow.
Nature has something to offer, too. A review of natural sounds found benefits for mood and lower stress and annoyance. Rain, birdsong and flowing water are simple places to start.
Music can support both how we feel and how our bodies respond to stress. A review of 104 trials found that music-based activities reduced physical signs of stress and feelings such as worry and tension.
What this can mean for you
Researchers measured heart rate, stress hormones and people’s own feelings. The studies included listening to music and guided music-based care. The benefit depends on the activity and the person.
Try it in your day
Choose a familiar song that helps you feel at ease. Keep the volume gentle. Take a few minutes to listen and notice how you feel.
Music you enjoy can make a simple task feel more engaging. In a study of 40 students, people reported less mind-wandering and more focus while listening to music they chose, compared with working in silence.
What this can mean for you
The benefit measured here was feeling more focused during a simple task. This gives us a useful starting point: choose music you enjoy and see how it fits the work in front of you.
Try it in your day
Try familiar background music during a routine task. Notice whether it helps you stay engaged. Adjust the track or volume as the task changes.
Gentle music can be part of winding down. A review of 13 trials found that adults with insomnia, or trouble sleeping, rated their sleep quality more highly after listening to music than those receiving usual care or no added treatment.
What this can mean for you
The clearest benefit was how people rated their sleep. The studies used regular listening over several days or weeks. You can explore music as one part of a bedtime routine.
Try it in your day
Choose music you find restful, keep it quiet and set a sleep timer if you like. Give yourself time to settle. For ongoing sleep problems, a health professional can help you find more support.
A qualified music therapist uses listening, singing or making music to help people express feelings and work toward care goals.
A review of nine studies found that adding music therapy to usual care improved depression symptoms in the short term. It also helped with anxiety and daily life for people with depression.
These benefits came from guided therapy alongside usual care. If this interests you, ask your care team about music therapy.
Hertz, or Hz, counts how many times a sound wave repeats each second. When each ear hears a slightly different tone, you may hear a slower pulse. This is a binaural beat.
Left ear200 Hz
Right ear210 Hz
Perceived beat10 Hz
The difference between the two tones.
The numbers explain the listening effect. They do not predict a particular mood or health benefit. Your comfort and response can guide what you choose.
Alternating audio moves a sound between your left and right ears. With stereo headphones, you can hear that change in direction.
Explore the movement
Start quietly and notice the sound moving from side to side. You might enjoy a slow pace or prefer a steady sound. Let comfort guide your choice.
Sound within guided care
Therapists may use alternating sound during EMDR, a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. The therapist guides the full process and helps the person work through difficult memories.
Listening to a track on its own is a different activity from this therapy.
For some neurodivergent people, headphones are already an everyday support. Less noise on the bus. A familiar song while working. A way to choose what comes in when the world feels loud.
73.5%
of autistic adults in one survey used earplugs or headphones to manage everyday sound.
QuietComfort headphones let you switch between noise cancellation and Aware mode, which lets outside sound in. You can adjust your listening as you move through the day.
A small study of six autistic children, ages 8–16, found lower physical signs of stress during the first week using Bose headphones in noisy daily activities. No music was playing. Bose partly funded the study.
Crusher ANC 2 headphones combine noise cancellation with adjustable bass you can feel. You can change the sound in the app and use Stay-Aware mode to hear more around you.
In the National Autistic Society’s adult forum, one member described using Skullcandy Hesh Evo headphones to soften outside noise. This is a personal experience with a different model, without active noise cancellation.
WH-1000XM6 headphones offer noise cancellation and an Ambient Sound mode. Use the Sony Sound Connect app to adjust the sound and how much of your surroundings you hear.
This is an example of listening features to explore. The product features do not establish a treatment benefit for ADHD or autism.
Bose, Skullcandy and Sony are examples. Orlo is not affiliated with these brands and receives no payment or commission for including them. Names, logos and product images belong to their respective owners.
Your comfort matters. Try the fit, keep listening at a comfortable volume, and choose how much of the world you want to hear.
Find a sound. Notice what changes.
Studies suggest that nature sounds may ease stress and help people feel better. Try a low volume. Notice how you feel, and stop or change the sound when you want.
myNoise is an interactive sound player. Its rain page has sliders that let you blend light patter with deeper rumbles, plus ready-made mixes to explore.
Make it yours.
Try a preset, then move one slider at a time. Keep the parts you enjoy and turn down anything that feels too much.
Brain.fm is a listening service with music for activities such as focused work, learning, unwinding and sleep. Its music is organized around what you want to do.
Make it yours.
Explore a mode that fits your next activity. The service offers a trial and paid subscriptions; check the current options on its website.
Brain.fm, Endel and Calm are examples. Orlo is not affiliated with these brands and receives no payment or commission for including them. Names, logos and images belong to their respective owners. Listening services open in a new tab. Some offer subscriptions.
You already have ways to find your way.
A movement. A rhythm. Cool water or a warm blanket. A gentle breath. Getting to know yourself starts with noticing how you feel.
Movement that feels like you.
Stimming means repeating a movement or sound. You might rock, move your hands or rub a soft fabric. It can help some people handle strong feelings, enjoy a sensation or express joy.
Safe stimming does not need to stop just to make someone fit in. Notice which movements feel good to you.
Some people gently tap one side of their body, then the other. This is used in practices such as the butterfly hug. The rhythm gives you something to notice right now.
Touch does not feel good to everyone. You can pause or try something else. These tips do not prove that tapping alone treats trauma. A full course of therapy involves much more.
What helps can change from one moment to the next. You can stop, try something else or ask for help.
Notice what you feel.
A thought, a feeling or an urge to leave the room can tell you something. Try putting it into words. It can still take practice and help to use what you learn.
