Doctor: 8-Minute Song Scientifically Proven To Help People Fall Asleep

NEW YORK (CBS) – There's some interesting news for those who have trouble falling asleep, but don't want to take medicine.

A new solution has been scientifically proven to work in just eight minutes and it doesn't involve the old wives' tales of counting sheep or drinking warm milk.

For centuries, mothers have been singing their babies to sleep. Now, new research proves what parents have instinctively known for a long time.

"Music, my friends, is a much better, much healthier way to restore the sleep back to normal," Dr. Svetlana Kogan said.

Kogan, an internist, said there is one song in particular that has been scientifically proven to help people fall asleep.

"They did measure the blood pressure of the people that were listening," she said. "They measured their heart rate, the activity in the brain and everything seems to have been subdued."

The eight-minute song called "Weightless" was designed by the English musical trio Marconi Union to replicate a heartbeat.

"We are constantly stimulating throughout the day, so by the time the evening comes around, it's very difficult for our nervous system to calm down," Kogan said.

But with the song, experts say your heart rate will gradually come to match that of the beat and as it slows, the blood pressure falls.

With no repeating melody, your brain can completely switch off, because it is not trying to predict what is coming next.

The study also found that the song reduced the overall anxiety of female listeners by 65 percent.

Dr. Kogan has actually prescribed listening to music and says the power of music is pretty astonishing.

For example, when soothing music is playing, crystals in water are symmetrical and balanced.

In contrast, Dr. Kogan said if you look at water crystals while loud, upbeat music is playing, you'll see complete chaos.

"Let's remember, that we are over 70 percent water, so you can imagine what happens inside of our bodies after we listen to these different types of music," Kogan said.

"Weightless" is said to work so well, researchers warn against listening to it while driving.

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