Trouble sleeping? Try listening to these three soothing soundscapes at bedtime

Whether it’s an afternoon 40 winks or a deeper, through-the-night sleep experience you seek, one of these three, very different, aural sleep enhancers is sure to aid you in your quest to the land of nod.

If they don’t actually put you firmly to sleep, they will, at the very least, provide you with a thoroughly relaxing daytime soundtrack that may help to keep your stresses at bay, which is half the battle, particularly for minds that tend to fret.

So, plug in, tune out and drop off …

The Full Eight Hours

Max Richter’s Sleep is a soporific masterpiece. Soothing, slow, repetitive, pleasantly melancholy, this feels like the soundtrack to your heart and puts one very firmly in their own physical space. Turn it on as you’re settling down for the night and let its softness wash over you. This also works as an effective soundtrack to working from home, but be aware, if you start listening to it as a work soundtrack, it probably won’t work as a sleep aid, so choose wisely.

A Spot of Relaxation

Spotify bunnies have any number of sleepy soundtracks to choose from to accompany their snooze times, however, there is a lot of poor-quality stuff contained in the endless playlists. One good one – recommended by a number of sleep-loving friends (sleepies?) – is Half-Hibernating Modus (deep ambient), which comprises more than 22 hours of pleasantly tiring, mellifluous tinkles and tones. As with the others, this also – ironically – works well as a work-from-home soundtrack.

The Dude Abides

Jeff Bridges’ Sleep Tapes is a left-of-centre sleep-enhancer experience that may, for some, be more engaging than is strictly required. Think of it more as a ‘sleepitiser’, putting you in the right frame of mind to start thinking sleepy thoughts, rather than something to knock you out. In that respect, this is also an excellent soundtrack to general relaxation. Bridges has the perfect voice to help you unwind, and elements of his Big Lebowski character, The Dude, slip in and out (possibly unconsciously, possibly not, but always welcome) of the narrative as we follow his pleasantly meandering ruminations on the concept of sleep… super relaxing.

This article was originally published in September 2020. Photo by Adrian Swancar on Unsplash