Can Music Reduce Stress and Anxiety?

I'm John Legend, Chief Music Officer at Headspace and I'm hosting a new series about the different ways that music can improve our lives. So let's talk about stress and anxiety. We all have moments when things can feel overwhelming and I know music can help calm me. Those certain songs break through when you need them most. But are there other ways that music can help us combat everyday stress? I'm met with Dr. Yewande Pearse to find out. So John, what we're gonna do is going to test one of your physiological responses to fear, which is your heart rate. Okay. Tell me what you can see. Okay, I'm in an elevator and I'm going up. Okay. Tell me when you get to... Oh God. Oh, there you go! (laughs) Okay. I see the plank. Okay. Tell me how you're feeling. This is literally what my nightmares feel like. Well this is perfect for this demonstration. So you having any physical reactions right now? How's your breathing? I guess I'm breathing normally. Okay, well this scenario is really realistic and what I'm gonna get you to do is... (laughs) Just walk slowly across the plank. This is scary. I'm really am going to have more nightmares because of you, thank you so much. You're welcome. Okay, so John now that you're at the end of the plank, you've got a choice. Mm-hmm. You can jump off the plank or you can walk backwards slowly. Oh, I am definitely walking backwards. Let's turn around. Okay. Great. Back in the elevator. Back in the elevator. So, John, how are you feeling? Happy to be back in the elevator? Yes. I'm happy to be on the ground floor for sure. That's good to hear, but we're not quite done yet. I'm going to try something different this time. Okay. So I'm gonna just put some earphones in your ear. Okay. I'm hearing some music. Okay, going back to the plank. This music is very peaceful. We'll see if it helps. You let me know when you can see the plank ahead of you. I can see the plank. Perfect. Okay, we're gonna go again. So John look down, and then walk that plank. I definitely feel a little more relaxed just because the music helps, I'm sure. That's good to hear. I'm glad this is a little less stressful for you. Again, you have the option to just dismount or you can turn around and walk back. I'm still not dismounting. I don't even know... I don't know how that's going to feel in Virtual Reality but I don't want to feel it. Okay. Okay John, so I'm gonna go away and I'm gonna find out how you scored on this anxiety assessment. I'm gonna look at your heart rate and then we're going to meet, and I'm gonna unpack what happened in that demonstration. You can relax now. No more walking the plank for now. (sighs) I'm on solid ground. So Johnny,...