Optimize your Quality of Life with Self-Care

Listening to Music as Self-Care

Optimize your quality of life with self-care. A way to do that is by reducing stress.  Research has proven that listening to music improves mood, helps regulate emotions, and helps to create happiness and relaxation.

I was a Lyft driver for a concise period, and one thing the company suggested was playing music for your rideshare customers. As a driver, you can ask your customer what type of music they prefer to listen to.

My experience was that most of my rides were between 15 and 20 minutes in length. I realized that I would be changing my radio station every few hours. Therefore, I decided to stick with one station, Watercolors, on Sirius XM radio. This station plays contemporary Jazz. This was a hit.

I would follow my customer’s lead as to whether they wanted to talk or not. Some would get in and be on their phone, texting or talking. But most would speak, and most times, the conversation started with the music playing.

I had a customer I believed to be in his 20’s ask me if I only listened to Jazz music. He told me that he was angry when he got in the car to start the rideshare, but he forgot what he was mad about after listening to the music.

I had another customer who said he loved Jazz, from modern to contemporary. Another customer asked me if I always listened to music without words.  I told her most of the time. When I asked if she wanted me to change the station she replied “absolutely no, I love it.”

My favorite example was a customer who fell asleep during the ride and snored. When we got to his destination, I woke him, and he said he was a little embarrassed, but the music was so relaxing it put him to sleep.

I got some excellent reviews and tips for playing music that was relaxing and put my customers in a better state of mind.

Morale of this story is to utilize music as a way of using self-care to optimize your quality of life.

Optimize your Quality of Life with Self-Care through Exercise

Exercise is a form of self care and can be an amazing way to improve your health and happiness. 

Here are some reasons why exercise makes you happier and healthier in the long run. Let these reasons inspire you on your quest for better health!

• Feel Better:  The benefits of exercise are extensive, but one of them might surprise you: It can help reduce stress. In fact, a study from Carnegie Mellon University found that people who exercised reported less stress than those who didn’t. Researchers aren’t entirely sure why exactly, but exercise has been linked to reduced levels of cortisol (the hormone responsible for making us feel stressed), increased dopamine (the neurotransmitter behind feelings of motivation and reward), and decreased anxiety. Feeling happier? That would be all these awesome chemicals!
• Sleep Better:  Exercising helps you to exert more energy during the day so you will feel tired and fall asleep naturally and faster at night.