20/07/2022
The more I learn about nature the more I believe we are meant to share this planet, respecting and living in harmony with nature 💚
10 MINUTES OF LISTENING TO BIRDSONG COULD BE THE ULTIMATE STRESS RELIEF
Research has found that listening to the warbling of birds, even a recorded version, has a powerful effect on our wellbeing, helping to relieve stress and improve mood.
Birdsong became the sound of lockdown when Covid stripped the streets of traffic in 2020, but now that life is pretty much ‘business as usual’ it’s time to tune into that birdsong again. It could be the ultimate stress reliever for city living.
In 2020, researchers from California Polytechnic State University tested the effect of birdsong on mood by placing speakers playing recordings of birds along a hiking trail. The hikers who heard it reported a marked increase in wellbeing compared to those that didn’t, even from listening to a recorded version of bird sounds. When the results were published Professor Clinton Francis, who oversaw the study, said: “I’m still kind of flabbergasted that only seven to ten minutes of exposure to these sounds improved people’s wellbeing.”
A new study commissioned by the National Trust has found that listening to birdsong, along with other woodland sounds such as a trickling stream and crunching leaves, was 30% better at increasing feelings of relaxation than a voiced meditation app.
The woodland sounds, of which birdsong was by far the favourite of participants, reduced stress and anxiety by a quarter and a fifth, respectively.
Dr Eleanor Radcliffe, lecturer in environmental psychology at University of Surrey, led a three-year study into the impact of birdsong on mental wellbeing and concluded that most people associate birdsong with feeling happy, relaxed and removed from everyday stresses.
However, not all birds are equal. “Some sounds, like garden songbirds, are regarded as very pleasant and helpful for relaxation, but the sounds of others, corvids and gulls for example, are experienced as stressful, irritating and even scary to some people,” says Dr Radcliffe.
After releasing the top 20 single ‘Let Nature Sing’ to highlight the loss of 40 million birds in the UK over the past 50 years, the RSPB launched Birdsong Radio. Available to stream via their website, you can also download the app (for iPhone and Android) allowing you to listen to beautiful birdsong on your commute or even set it as your wake-up alarm.
