Beneficial effects of running water sounds

It may seem random and surprising, but surrounding yourself with the soothing sound of falling water can affect your mental and physical health in more ways than you might think. In this post, we'll share with you the ways the sound of falling water can benefit you in your everyday life.
1. Relief from anxiety and stress
When we focus so much on staying busy, meeting deadlines and achieving goals, stress and anxiety creep in and become as much a part of our daily lives as brushing our teeth. If we don't take the time to find ways to get rid of it, it starts to take a toll on our mental and physical health.
Marine biologist Wallace J. Nichols describes this state of being stressed, anxious, overwhelmed and overstimulated as "red mind" - the current norm of our modern lives. Nichols is the author of a book called "Blue Mind," in which he explores the neurological, psychological and emotional changes our brains experience when we are near water. Nichols describes the "blue mind effect" as the meditative state we experience when we are near water (and turn off our phones to just enjoy it). This body of water can be the ocean, a lake, a river, a pool, or even your bathtub! The sight of water and the sound of flowing water reconnects us with nature.
2. Increased concentration
Do you sometimes feel scattered during the day, as if you are jumping from one task to another, and when the day is over, you wonder what you even accomplished? How we understand! With the constant distractions of emails, texts, so many phone notifications and impromptu meetings, it's sometimes hard to focus enough to finish a task.
Fortunately, increasing our concentration can be as simple as listening to the sounds of nature (like falling water) throughout the day. According to the popular meditation app Headspace, cognitive response to the sounds of nature has been shown to increase productivity, improve overall mood, and induce deeper relaxation. Which makes sense - it's hard to focus on a task when you're stressed, right?
A 2017 study from the University of Sussex looked deeper into the effects listening to nature sounds has on our minds and bodies. When participants listened to nature sounds, "brain connectivity reflected an outward focus of attention", while when participants listened to artificial sounds, "brain connectivity reflected an inward focus of attention, similar to conditions seen in anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and depression". Listening to natural sounds also increased the activity of the participants' resting nervous system (associated with relaxation of the body) and they were better able to focus on the task at hand.
3. Improve the quality of your sleep
Who wouldn't want to have better, higher quality sleep? There's nothing worse than feeling tired and sleepy all day, and then when it's finally time to go to bed, you suddenly wake up thinking about all the random things you need to do, or mindlessly scrolling through your phone until you fall asleep and start the cycle all over again in the morning...
If you've spent any time googling "how to fall asleep faster," you've probably read suggestions for playing nature sounds, specifically water sounds like falling rain or ocean waves, to help you fall asleep. This is because our brains interpret sounds as either threats or safe sounds, and the smooth and steady sound of moving water registers as natural, which helps put us in a more relaxed state.
Natural sounds are also like a version of white noise only created from Mother Nature. Soothing sounds help to tune out internal and external noise. If you have trouble sleeping because your mind is busy or because you live in a city that is filled with noise at all hours, the sound of falling water will give your mind something else to focus on so you can fall asleep peacefully.
4. A natural meditation aid
For years we have been hearing how meditation is great for our mental health. But it can be quite hard to sit still and pretty well think of nothing - there are so many distractions, sitting in one position can be uncomfortable or make you nervous, or you may start to get frustrated or even fall asleep. Well, the soothing sound of running water comes to your rescue again!
We've already touched on how the natural sounds of water can help create a more relaxed and focused mindset overall, and it's actually the same idea that comes into play again with the help of meditation. According to Michael Wenger, Dean of Buddhist Studies at the San Francisco Zen Center, "Moving water is 'white noise' in which you can hear many things. Everyone can hear a different song in the water. Just listening to the sound - without attaching it to anything, just letting the sound wash over you - is a way of letting go of your ideas and directly experiencing things as they are." Which is basically the idea of meditation, not to completely empty the mind of thoughts or feelings, but to observe them and understand them.
You may have tried meditation before with little success, but we challenge you to try it again. Create a quiet place in your home where you won't be disturbed for a few minutes, flip over the harmonizing rain column and begin with short breathing exercises. Keep them up and you will soon become a master mediator!