Most people are unaware of the effects of sound and silence on the body and mind, even in the midst of the noise pollution so characteristic of cities. It is vital for your emotional health to take control of the soundscape that surrounds you. If you cannot escape disturbing sounds, the new technology of noise cancellation gives you a way to protect yourself from them. Noise-canceling headphones detect environmental noise with built-in microphones and generate signals that neutralize it; they are readily available and affordable.
Another possibility, especially useful in the bedroom, is to mask annoying sounds with white noise, which sounds like hissing air or rushing water. Portable white noise generators are also readily available and affordable, and there are larger systems that can cover offices and whole houses. Some allow you to select from a range of sounds, from ocean waves to rain.
Apart from neutralizing or masking unwanted sounds, you can, of course, choose to listen to those that have positive effects on your moods. Unlike most electronic sounds, sounds of nature, such as wind blowing through trees and water running over rocks, are complex and may "nourish" the brain in some way. We evolved with the sounds of nature, and the relative lack of them in our artificial environments of today may be yet another cause of emotional malaise...read more>>>...