New research from travel experts at SkyParkSecure analysed Spotify playlists to reveal the best nature sounds for travelling.
They found out the best BPMs to ease common emotions people may feel while flying and used this to discover which nature sounds are the best.
While many of us eagerly look forward to our next holiday, it’s still common for us to feel some form of stress and anxiety when it comes to flying. As we began to travel again following the pandemic, searches for ‘how do you get over a fear of flying’ rose by 100% in the last year.
Travelling is extremely beneficial to our well-being, giving us a break from daily life and allowing us to discover new sights, cultures and flavours – but sometimes, a fear of flying can hold us back from experience.
Considering this, experts at SkyParkSecure have collaborated with a well-being expert, Nichola Henderson, to ask about the best BPMs to calm negative emotions and analysed Spotify data from PlaylistMiner to discover the best nature sounds to help ease feelings of stress, fear and anxiety.
Which BPMs are the best to combat negative emotion?
Nichola advised: “For stress and anxiety, the BPM of your music should be around 60 beats per minute, which can “cause the brain to synchronise with the beat, inducing the brain into alpha brainwaves, which is perfect for relaxation.”
Regarding fear, she explained that this would typically be down to personal preference and the music that helps motivate the person, while to help a person sleep, the ideal BPM would be between 60-80, with no lyrics.
SkyParkSecure then analysed the top songs from Spotify playlists made to help with sleep or to combat fear, stress and anxiety to find out the average BPM of the songs.
The average BPMs are considerably higher than recommended, with the average BPM of songs on playlists made to ease anxiety being 115, compared to a recommended 60. The average BPM of songs on sleeping playlists was even higher, at 134.
The best nature sounds to help with a fear of flying
Nature sounds have been well known to help ease negative emotions, but which ones are the best?
We looked at the Top 50 songs featured in ‘calming nature playlists’ to find out which kind of sounds were the most popular among listeners, then analysed their BPM’s to discover which would be best for those with a fear of flying.
Sounds of lakes and running water were the most popular among listeners, with 16 sounds appearing in the top 50, followed by rainfall – with 12 sounds.
Rainfall was also the best sound to help ease anxiety and stress, with an average of 86 BPM. Lakes and running water followed with 94 BPM, and forest and bird sounds with 97.
Crickets and waterfalls were the least popular sounds and had the highest average BPMs – meaning they would be the least helpful sounds to listen to calm your nerves and could even make you feel worse.
