How the Rain Relaxes the Brain
The Science Behind the Beauty
Living in the not so sunny North of England, being subject to torrential downpours of rain during the summer months is somewhat the norm. We have been known as people to subconsciously think the sun to be good and the rain to be bad. But is the rain as bad as we think? How can we use it to find calmness in the busy lives that we all live?
What are the benefits of rain?
If you have ever thought why the rain brings calmness from the sound that it produces, then you’re in the right place.
Let’s talk noises
In general, loud abrupt noises are hardly ignorable. Take, for example, a phone ringing, or a loud bang heard in the dead of night. These noises appear instantly without warning. However, there are other noises that we hear in the background. A constant noise that most of the time we ignore, and are not distracted by such as the birds chirping or the sound of rainfall.
Orfeu Buxton’s study in 2012, an associate professor of biobehavioral health at Pennsylvania State University, was borne out of the distinction we have between an abrupt threat and a gradual non-threat.
The answer lies in how our brains interpret the noises we hear. As primates call to alert their troops of a threat, we humans also interpret a loud instant noise to be a threat.
But slow, whooshing noises are perceived as a non-threat therefore they work to calm people.
What’s different about the sound of rain?
The sounding pitter-patter of rain has a certain frequency that resonates in our mind without causing any sudden loud impacts. It’s constant. The intensity may change and it may get louder or quieter, but the change is gradual.
The frequency at which the rain falls also can drown out any noises in and around the house such as a toilet flush. It puts our mind at ease and avoids it from being distracted.
This is why over the last decade or so, water-themed apps have been used as sleeping aids.
If you are struggling to sleep or want to get some Z’s without being distracted by other happening noises, it is well recommended to download an app that uses the noise of water to create white noise.
However, the worst thing you can probably do is to use your phone as the source. There is nothing worse than being in a zone of calmness and receiving a beeping sound of notifications to distract you and raise your alertness.
You can think you’ve got every notification off, every beep and boop for text and updates and whatever else, but if that phone is not off, you have a decent likelihood of an unintended interruption.
I have found a lot of peace and calmness from the sound of the rain. It is the one thing that can distract me from life and allows me to concentrate on myself for some time. I am listening to the sound of rain as I write this article.
It’s almost Hypnotysing.
If you’re struggling to keep calm or just want some time alone to relax, I highly recommend using the sound of the rain to find that focus on your inner self.
Youtube is excellent to find hours and hours of rainfall. It’s free, easily accessible and you can use them on devices where you won’t receive any notifications.
Another great app you can use is Calm. This app gives you a range of repeated sounds, not only rain, that keeps your brain in a state of non-threat, helping to reduce your anxiety and also allowing your mind to feel at ease.
We spend so much time occupied in our busy lives that we forget that we need to take some time for ourselves. You can only sustain a busy lifestyle for a short period of time before your mind starts to suffer.
Take 10 mins out before bed, put down your phone and focus on the sound of rain.
Take care of your mind, and your mind will take of you.
Find calm, be happy and listen to those droplets fall.
