The pandemic isn’t going away, sadly, nor is COVID-somnia and the other stresses that can stop you from having a good night’s sleep. In addition to rituals and habits you can practice to improve your sleep, sleep apps can help too. Some are based on calming sounds, others on tracking and recording sleep patterns. Here are five to get you started.
Sleep Cycle
Sleep cycle places as much importance on waking up properly as it does getting a good night’s rest. Rather than shock you out of slumber, its smart alarm clock rouses you gently when you are already in a light sleep phase. The free version records snoring, sleep talking, coughing and other sounds and provides you with free sleep analysis that includes statistics and graphs. The premium version includes a customizable wake-up window, trend tracker and sleep aids.
Calm
Here’s your chance to get in bed with a celebrity. Calm enlists the likes of Matthew McConaughey, Stephen Fry and Keith Urban to provide guided meditations, bedtime stories and breathing exercises to lull you to dreamland. It tries to offer something for nearly everyone, with guided meditations that last from three to 25 minutes, Disney tracks for kids, and even videos that take you through light stretches before lights out.
Headspace
You probably already know about Headspace, the wildly popular, subscription-based meditation app. What you may not be aware of is that its dedicated sleep meditations are a core offering. This includes sleepcasts with calming stories paired with relaxing sounds, ambient nature recordings, sleep music to help you achieve deeper sleep, and wake up videos to get you bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for the day ahead.
Pzizz
Siestas aren’t just for summer holidays, they can help you get through the rest of the working day too. Pzizz treats napping as important business, with an entire module allowing for customized naps, alongside modules for a full night’s sleep. The app uses dreamscapes that are a mix of music, voiceovers and sound effects to encourage better sleep during the day or night. Sessions can be customized, with a huge variety of sound combinations available to ensure you don’t get bored of hearing the same thing over and over again.
Sleep Reset
Unlike other apps that claim to be customized, few can match Sleep Reset, which provides tailor-made solutions developed by an actual, real-life sleep coach. You start by undergoing an expert assessment to try and determine why you’re having sleep issues. Your sleep coach then puts together your programme, which is based on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy strategies to improve your sleep habits. Best of all, you get an introductory video call and access to your coach thereafter via text message.
