3 simple ways to heighten your sense of hearing
With age, our ability to hear diminishes, which isn’t helped by the increasingly noisy and loud society we live in. But that doesn’t have to be the end of it and there are many things you can do to help sharpen your hearing – here are three to try.
1. Spend time in silence
Your hearing becomes desensitise when you’re constantly in noisy surroundings. Spend some time in completely quiet places to give ears a rest. You’ll not only savour the silence but this practice will help you appreciate the intricacies of noise better.
2. Close your eyes
We rely on our vision so much that once your shut your eyes, it can heighten other senses. Plus, when we’re in the presence of noise from so many different sources, our ears select the noises we want to hear and ignores the rest. So close your eyes and focus solely on listening. Notice every individual sound – close, far, loud and quiet – and try and identify the direction from where the source of sound is coming.
3. Listen to different types of music
When listening to your favourite tunes, pay close attention to each instrument and try to follow separate sounds. Training your ears to single out individual sounds helps your brain recognise them more easily in the future, which all helps to sharpen your hearing. Classic and jazz music are good options as there are so many different instruments used but for the ultimate test, try listening to two different recordings on headphones: one in each ear. See if you can follow and understand both recordings!