Loud thoughts, tossing and turning, either too hot or too cold; these are sleepless nights. Everyone has experienced these symptoms of not being able to fall asleep. It’s difficult to force your body when it is working against you. The most common causes are stress, travel or work schedule, poor sleeping habits, medicines, caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol. These can all be aided too and improve your sleep schedule which inadvertently improves your way of life. There are many ways to help prevent this from happening.
If you want to get better sleep you have to want to take action to improve it and be consistent. According to the article, Is it Normal to Take a Nap After a Workout, “Post-workout sleepiness is caused by the body’s natural response to physical activity.” Starting a simple exercise routine can help relieve stress and can cause drowsiness, which in return helps you fall asleep afterwards. Avoiding nicotine and caffeine is also important.
While some noises can be distracting, there is now a market for sounds that can help you fall asleep. After hearing about it Kimberly and I decided to try sleeping with white noise playing. We quickly learned why it is popular; it works. At least for us.
Rubi: I struggle falling asleep because my thoughts are loud. I have no problem staying awake but I have difficulty falling asleep and waking up early. I cannot fall asleep in under an hour unless I am extremely tired, which is rare or unless I took a sleeping pill. In the past I would listen to Mr. Nightmare, a YouTuber who reads true scary stories about various topics. I stumbled upon it by accident while listening to one of his videos at night and decided to close my eyes and ended up falling asleep. This would work for a while, but it became impractical because he doesn’t upload daily and other YouTubers with similar style wouldn’t compare.
Kimberly: A few years ago I would struggle with not being able to sleep. It became a really big problem for me and I would be extremely tired during the day. I found that taking a sleeping pill would work, but it was very unhealthy so I decided to try sleeping noise one day and I discovered a sound that made me fall into a deep sleep. During the night I sleep with a fan that provides white noise, which helps me to fall asleep. I have tried sleeping without any noises and I can’t simply sleep, and if I do sleep it won’t be for a long period of time. You can say I am a light sleeper because any little noise will make me wake up. My fan provides a very soothing sound that makes me fall asleep faster and for a longer period of time. In general, it just makes me feel relaxed and peaceful. But I was curious about the other sleep sounds, so I tried several different sleeping noises using YouTube to see if it would have the same effect as my fan. I choose to use YouTube because I am already familiar with the app and it is free so it will just make things easier.
Rubi: I gave white noise a try because of this story and to my surprise it helped a lot. The first night I listened to white noise I noticed my mind focused on it and my thoughts became tamed. It forces a sense of drowsiness in me which leads to me falling asleep. I don’t realize when I fall asleep as I just focus on it and talk myself into unconsciousness. My rate is 8/10.
Kimberly: I started with pink noise from Oken. It was very soothing and I went to sleep right away. This sound reminded me of rain, which is very relaxing. It made me go to sleep and it made me feel so calm. It gives me a nostalgic feeling and I really like how the videos are of a long duration, so they won’t stop playing the whole night. I also feel like this type of noise fades into the background and it makes me feel safe. I rate it a 10/10.
Rubi: I noticed pink noise sounded exactly the same as white except it’s sharper. The noise frequency is louder which I actually didn’t like at all. I preferred white noise as it was softer on my ears and pink noise caused a sense of disruption. I have not used pink noise since then. My rating is 6/10.
Kimberly: Next, I tried brown noise using BEST SLEEP NOISE. It really made me go into a deep sleep. It made me feel really relaxed and I felt like I was using a noise cancellation machine. This noise projects relaxation and blocks all external and disruptive noises. I usually wake up several times a night and when I tried brown noise I didn’t not wake up at all because it simulates deep sleep and relaxes your brain. This is a deeper version of pink noise. I rate it a 9/10.
Rubi: Relating to the name I expected brown noise to sound muddy. It was a presumption to the name but in reality it sounds exactly like white noise but much softer. I noticed the volume and frequency was lower. This was a pleasant surprise because with both white and pink noise I lowered my volume but with brown I had to raise it. I fell asleep faster than any other noise. My rating is 10/10.
Kimberly: Violet noise from DJ Crossman is comforting and it actually made me feel at peace. I was able to sleep through the whole night and I only woke up once, which is a good thing because I always wake up at least three times throughout the whole night. This noise also blocked any other noises, so it made me go to sleep right away. It’s like hearing waves the whole night, which gives me tranquility and comfort. I rate it a 8/10.
Rubi: I found violet noise to be high in pitch but low in frequency. The high pitch made it noticeable as an actual noise and not just a background noise I can lose myself in. I found this frustrating and couldn’t concentrate on sleeping. My rating is 0/10.
Kimberly: The last one was blue noise from The Ambient Warrior. It helped me feel so relaxed and put me to sleep. The sound is like leaning against a strong wind, which makes me feel calm. I do think this noise is very similar to violet noise, but it’s still very helpful. This type of noise elevated my sleep and made me feel less tired in the morning. The sound makes me concentrate the whole night on my sleep and not overthink. Sleeping noises will definitely help someone go to sleep or feel relaxed. They all give a different feeling, but my favorite noise out of all of them is pink noise because it’s the most suitable for me and it’s similar to white noise. I would recommend this noise to anyone who can’t sleep or that simply wants to relax or be peaceful and quiet. It’s very soothing and will definitely calm you down and make you feel like you’re in a safe space. I rate it a 8/10.
Rubi: My first initial thought listening to blue noise was that it was pleasant. It feels and sounds as if you put your head under water and all the voices and background noise turns muffled. It brought me peace thinking of myself isolated as sleeping. I focused on the noise and lost myself in my thoughts. My rating is 10/10.
Kimberly: Even though I enjoyed every sound and it helped me go to sleep, I will be sticking with my fan because it’s more comforting to me. It makes things easier rather than having my phone on all night and getting anxiety of my phone overheating which disrupts my sleep.
Rubi: Discovering these subcategories of noises was a pleasant experience. I now understand how it helps people with struggles of sleeping and became an avid user of these noises. Although not all of the sounds worked out for me I found some that worked better than others. I keep my phone charging throughout the night so I have no worry of my phone dying while it plays. My top three in order are brown, blue and white noise. All these noises helped the speed of me falling asleep but nothing else. I didn’t go into a deeper sleep or wake up refreshed. I slept normally and woke up tired as always. My main issue is losing sleep due to me not being able to fall asleep. I just have to make the conscious decision to go to bed early, put on the noise, and then fall asleep.
Kimberly: There are also apps which are free and you can download them both on Apple and Google that have thousands of sleeping noises to choose from. Some of those apps are Sleep Sounds – Relax & Sleep, Sleep Sounds by Sleep Pillow, and White Noise Lite. The benefits of using an app over using YouTube is that the app will pretty much know the kind of sounds you like. It will make it easier for you to choose one and fall asleep.
karlo • Sep 26, 2024 at 12:00 pm
ima try all of these