The Best Nature Sounds for Nervous Flyers – Based on Spotify Data and BPM

• New research from travel experts at SkyParkSecure have teamed up with a well-being expert and analysed Spotify playlists to reveal the best nature sounds for travelling.
• They found out the best BPMs to ease common emotions people may feel whilst flying and used this to discover which nature sounds are the best.

Whilst many of us eagerly look forward to our next holiday, it’s still common for us to feel some form of stress and anxiety when it comes to flying. This is reflected through searches for ‘how do you get over a fear of flying’ rising by 100% in the last year*.

Travelling is extremely beneficial to our well-being, giving us a break from daily life and allowing us to discover new sights, cultures, and flavours – but sometimes, a fear of flying can hold us back from the experience.

Considering this, experts at SkyParkSecure have collaborated with a well-being expert, Nichola Henderson, to ask about the best BPMs to calm negative emotions and analysed Spotify data from PlaylistMiner.com to discover the best nature sounds to help ease feelings of stress, fear, and anxiety.

Which BPMs are the best to combat negative emotion?

Nichola advised that for stress and anxiety, the BPM of your music should be around 60 beats per minute, which can “cause the brain to synchronise with the beat, inducing the brain into alpha brainwaves, which is perfect for relaxation”

Regarding fear, she explained that this would typically be down to personal preference and the music that helps motivate the person, whilst to help a person sleep, the ideal BPM would be between 60-80, with no lyrics.

SkyParkSecure, then analysed the top songs from Spotify playlists made to help with sleep or to combat fear, stress, and anxiety to find out the average BPM of the songs.

The average BPMs are considerably higher than what has been recommended, with the average BPM of songs on playlists that were made to ease anxiety was 115, compared to a recommended 60. Whilst the average BPM of songs on sleeping playlists was even higher, at 134.

The best nature sounds to help with a fear of flying

Nature sounds have been well known to help ease negative emotions, but which ones are the best?

We looked at the Top 50 songs featured in ‘calming nature playlists’ to find out which kind of sounds were the most popular amongst listeners, then analysed their BPM’s to discover which would be best for those with a fear of flying.

Sounds of lakes and running water were the most popular amongst listeners, with 16 sounds appearing in the top 50, followed by rainfall – with 12 sounds.

Rainfall was also found to be the best sound to help ease anxiety and stress, with an average of 86 BPM. Lakes and running water followed with 94 BPM, and forest and bird sounds with 97.

Crickets and waterfalls were the least popular sounds and also had the highest average BPMs – meaning they would be the least helpful sounds to listen to calm your nerves and could even potentially make you feel worse.

The full research and the perfect playlist for flying can be found here: https://www.skyparksecure.com/blog/nature-sounds-for-nervous-flyers/