Have you ever noticed your mood change when a certain song comes on? 

Perhaps the tune holds some special memories for you, and takes you back to a moment in time when you felt joy, love, or pain? Whatever the emotion, something in the music resonates and your subconscious mind listens. In this respect, a DJ is like a mood doctor, prescribing beats to suit the room, uplifting, energising and taking you away.

As a DJ I play house and dance music all around the world, and I’ve found a common ground in certain types of music. When I pair my background in dance with my love of fitness, I know the type of music, as well as the bass, frequency, vocal and style, that will energise a crowd and keep them dancing.

That’s my job as a DJ. When I joined the Morning Gloryville family, a sober morning rave that creates all the joy of a party without any toxins, I played the same music as I would in a traditional dance club alongside Fatboy Slim, Groove Armada, Basement Jaxx and Rob Da Bank. The Morning Gloryville parties were unforgettable, and I loved watching the crowd in daylight, experiencing euphoria from start to finish. The crowds were listening and reacting to the music with pure joy.

In 2016, I qualified as a Vinyasa flow instructor, and I wanted to learn how to incorporate music to suit this new environment. The music I chose for yoga had a slower BPM (beats per minute) than usual – there was still pace, but it had a more ambient sound. 

Music from artists like Bonobo, Andreya Triana, James Blake, Jodie Abacus, Fink and Half Moon Run support the flow of the breath as you practise yoga. Their music resonates deeply with me, helping me feel into my chakras as my physical body flows. Music like this encourages people to tune into their own rhythm and breath, acting as a support. 

It was during this experimentation that I discovered that different frequencies of music resonated especially powerfully during meditation and breath work. This is backed up by science, too: a study from the Institute of Man and Science found that the influence of music on the nervous system varies depending on the frequency of the music. The study, published in the journal Health, found that 528 Hz music has an especially strong stress-reducing effect.

It stands to reason that this calming music could help us fall asleep, too. And with the NHS estimating that a third of us will suffer from insomnia at some point in our lives, anything that can help us drift off is a blessing.

Professor Matthew Walker, director of the Center For Human Sleep Science and author of Why We Sleep, beautifully summarises why we should take the amount of sleep we get seriously in this passage from his book: “Scientists have discovered a revolutionary new treatment that makes you live longer… It protects you from cancer and dementia. It wards off colds and flu. It lowers your risk of heart attacks and stroke, not to mention diabetes. You’ll even feel happier, less depressed and less anxious. 

“Are you interested? It’s free and it’s called sleep.”

This got me thinking about the best music to play to help us fall asleep, and led me to create a soothing playlist of songs that I believe aid a restful night’s sleep.

So from the club, to the yoga studio, and now to bed, the music in the playlist below is designed to give you the best night’s sleep of your life. It works by matching your breath, body and mind with rhythms and frequencies to help you heal and rest. I may never get out of bed again!

Images: Getty, Unsplash