Children have fallen asleep to bedtime stories for centuries. Why shouldn’t adults enjoy the same luxury? We live in a turbulent world and switching off and relaxing is difficult for many. The Mental Health Foundation states that “Sleep is essential – it is as important to our bodies as eating, drinking, and breathing, and it vital for maintaining good mental and physical health.” Insomnia affects between 30-50% of the population at some point during their lives. If you have sleep concerns, here are some tips for dealing with sleep insomnia.
So, if a warm glass of milk just isn’t cutting it – why not give a podcast a try? Grab a pair of sleep earplugs and try one of these top-recommended podcasts for sleep.
Fiction to take you to dreamland
1. Great Detectives Of Old Time Radio
Our Rating: 8/10
These whodunnit tales focus on detective stories from prior to 1972 (making the historic shows fair-game in terms of copyright). This podcast will take your mind of the troubles of your day and transport you back in time through musing crime fiction.
2. Sleep With Me: A Sleep Inducing Podcast
Our Rating: 9/10
Drew Ackerman is the creator and host of Sleep With Me, a unique bedtime story podcast featured in The New York Times, The New Yorker, Buzzfeed, Mental Floss, and Dr. Oz. The podcast ranges from one to two hours long per episode, but chances are you won’t make it till the end. Ackerman takes a story and add his own special labyrinthine of monotony to make it about as boring as possible. His soothing raspy voice will have you counting sheep in no time.
3. Stories from the Borders of Sleep
Our Rating: 10/10
This UK-based storyteller uses beautiful, eloquent words, gentle music and and dream-like tales to drift you gently into an alternate reality and peaceful sleep. Stories are between 10 and 25 minutes in length, but we’ve not made it to the end of one yet without drifting off! His brilliant use of language and calm clear voice give the stories a classic, Dickensian charm.
Sleepytime spirituality
4. The Daily Meditation Podcast
Our Rating: 7/10
If your head hits the pillow but can’t seem to sleep because you are stressed or anxious, try some meditation to slow yourself down before hitting the mattress. In this podcast a mediation coach share and teaches different techniques in each episode.
5. Meditation Minis
Our Rating: 7/10
A guided meditation that are designed to create relaxation before bedtime, or anytime through the day. Episodes range from 10 to 15 minutes, just the right length to bring you to the edge of sleep.
Stories to sleep soundly
6. Calm.com
Our Rating: 10/10
A Canadian-made podcast by author Chris Advansun will lull you off to la-la land. His 120 stories have been listened to more than 100 million times and are voiced by famous actors like Mathew McConaughey. Written with the goal for the listener to never reach the end, this podcast has a cadence that will have you off to dream land way before ‘happily ever after’.
Music to tune out to
7. Deep Energy 2.0: Music for Sleep, Meditation, Relaxation, Massage and Yoga
Our Rating: 7/10
This podcast presents 30- or 60-minute showcases of relaxing music meant to help with meditation, yoga, and relaxation. Of course, music is all subjective, but if a story isn’t your idea of nighttime relaxation, this might just be the right podcast for you.
It may take some trial and error to find what works for you. If you’re concerned about your phone battery being drained, use your podcast app’s sleep timer to automatically turn off. Once you get accustomed to the work of sleep podcasts, you’ll find your sleep timer getting shorter each night.
If podcasts don’t work and you think it may be your mattress keeping you up at night, Sleep Boutique can help. We do things differently. In fact, we’re kind of the opposite of most mattress stores you’ve probably checked out. We provide built-to-order mattress solutions that fit you into the right mattress with a perfect sleep guarantee.