From Stress to Serenity: How Playing Guitar Supports Mental Wellness

Millions of people say they spend most of their days feeling completely overwhelmed by excess stress. It interferes with many aspects of their lives, including their relationship with their family and their performance at work. Ongoing severe stress can increase your risks of developing anxiety and depression. It may affect your concentration and memory as well. Besides that, it can lead to numerous physical health issues, like heart disease, high blood pressure, chronic fatigue, and weakened immunity to list a few.

Those who suffer from extreme stress are on a constant mission to find ways to combat its effects. Different methods work for different people from meditation and medication to counseling and exercise. As it turns out, though, one of the most effective forms of therapy might be playing a musical instrument, like the guitar. Read on to learn more about some of the reasons to buy Epiphone acoustic guitars to battle the impacts of stress or maybe even prevent them altogether.

Escaping the Causes of Stress

For one, playing guitar can help you escape from the problems that are causing you stress. As you’re practicing finger placement, strumming, mastering different notes and chords, and eventually playing entire songs, it draws your focus away from stressors. It takes you into a happy, peaceful world where your stress factors don’t exist. Even short practice sessions can give you the temporary relief you need to prevent stress from taking over and causing you harm.

Relaxation Through Rhythm

Secondly, the cadence of music has been proven to promote relaxation. Listening to music can certainly help, but it doesn’t compare to actually creating the music yourself. Hearing and feeling the rhythmic strumming of the guitar activates portions of the parasympathetic nervous system. That, in turn, reduces your body’s production of cortisol, the stress hormone, and triggers the release of dopamine, the feel-good hormone. Along the way, your body and mind relax, and stress melts away.

Providing Emotional Release

Playing the guitar can also give you an emotional release. When you’re stressed, nervous energy keeps building up inside you. Without an emotional release, its effects will continually grow worse. It needs somewhere to go, and nothing is more effective than directing it into something constructive. Some people immerse themselves in baking while others take up boxing. In some cases, people channel their nervous energy into cleaning. Other times, they may direct it into creating beautiful works of art. If you’re passionate about music, though, the guitar could be the release you need.

Strengthening the Connection Between Mind and Body

Stress can cause a disconnect between the mind and body. You may get lost in your thoughts and become trapped in a downward spiral when you’re focusing on stressors. On the other hand, you may dissociate, which detaches you from your innermost feelings. Either way, the separation grows worse over time. Playing guitar takes coordination. It requires you to keep your mind, fingers, and emotions working together. That reduces the disconnect and gives you a healthier coping mechanism with a better outcome.

Combating Stress Through Musical Creativity

If you’re among the millions who are suffering from chronic stress and its detrimental effects, you need a release, a way to escape from your stressors at times. Playing an instrument can be that outlet, and the guitar is one of the most effective conduits you’ll find. From taking your mind off your worries and bringing together the mind and body to simply hearing the chords and feeling the vibrations of the strings, playing guitar can give you a positive way to deal with stress and alleviate its effects. It’s your path from stress to serenity.